Asian Elephants were once milked by their owners.

Resplendent Quetzal (Southern Mexico to western Panama)

Tufted Titmouse (Eastern US, southern Canada, Great Lakes)

European Robin (Most of Europe, areas of northern Africa)

Emerald Toucanet (Mountains of Mexico and Central America, the Andes)

Black-Capped Chickadee (Woodlands of Canada, Alaska & northern US, Appalachian Mountains)

Least Grebe (Parts of Mexico, Central America, parts of South America)

Mandarin Duck (China, Japan, eastern Russia)

Rainbow Lorikeet (Australasia) - Picture by ben5069

American Flamingo (Galapagos Islands, Colombia, Central America, northern Caribbean, introduced populations in southern Florida)

Wood Duck (Southern Canada, western and northeastern Mexico, US, sightings in the UK)

Lesser Flamingo (Africa, southern Asia) - Picture by Laramie_Coyote

Keel-Billed Toucan (Southern Mexico to Venezuela and Colombia)

Indian Peafowl (South Asia, Indian subcontinent, worldwide introductions) - Only males are called peacocks.  Females are called peafowls.

White Indian Peafowl - Caused by selective breeding, not albinism.  I personally saw a wild or semi-wild one at the park around the Fountain of Youth in Florida. (btw worst water I’ve ever tasted)

Hoatzin (Areas of the Amazon and Orinoco Delta) - To further highlight its creepy dinosaur appearance, its chicks are born with claws on their wings.

Helmeted Hornbill (Malay peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo)

Sri Lanka Frogmouth (Western Ghats, Sri Lanka)

Marabou Stork (Sub-Saharan Africa)

Ground Hornbill (Sub-Saharan Africa)

Shoebill (East Africa)

California Condor (Areas of the southwestern US, Baja California)

Turkey Vulture (Most of the Americas except Alaska and northern Canada) - I had one of these guys in my yard once.  Pictures honestly don’t do their ugliness justice.  You have to see them irl

Bird pictures for a couple days

Greater Bird-of-Paradise (New Guinea, Aru Islands)

Wilson’s Bird-of-Paradise (Indonesia)

Blue Bird-of-Paradise (Papua New Guinea) - This is a female.  The plume on males is violet-blue.

King of Saxony Bird-of-Paradise (New Guinea)

Ribbon-Tailed Astrapia (Western central highlands of Papua New Guinea)

Roseate Spoonbill (South America, the Caribbean, coastal Central America and Mexico, US Gulf Coast)

Victoria Crowned Pigeon (Northern New Guinea)

Scarlet Ibis (Trinidad and Tobago, tropical areas of South America)

St. Vincent Amazon (St. Vincent)

Hoopoe (Much of Africa, Asia and Europe)

Scarlet Macaw (Mexico to Bolivia)

Golden Pheasant (Western China, other worldwide introductions)

Successful banker Jacques Récamier had an affair with Marie-Julie Bernard in the years before the birth of her daughter, Jeanne-Françoise Julie Adélaïde Bernard, who came to be known as “Juliette”.  In 1793 at age 15, Juliette married Récamier even though he was over thirty years older than her.  It is believed that they married because Jacques was (or thought he was) the biological father of Juliette and wanted her to be able to inherit his fortune if he were to not survive the Revolution.  He lived a long life and died in 1830 but lost much of his money through the years.

Depicted: Portrait of Madame Récamier by François Gérard, 1805

creepylittleworld:

The belief in the Grim Reaper most likely stems from an old practice dating as far back as the 9th century in Romania and Hungary. When a person died, a sickle was laid on his/her body to remind them that they could no longer wander the land of the living. The sickle portrayed the cutting down of life - the sickle being used for cutting crops.

(via coffeespook-deactivated20111108)

Zoom into the tiniest particles and then zoom out into the viewable universe and beyond.  Mind-blowing stuff.