Cirsium palustre, the marsh thistle, is a herbaceous biennial (or often perennial) flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to Europe, where it is particularly common on damp ground such as marshes, wet fields, moorland and beside streams. In Canada and the northern United States it is an introduced species that has become invasive. It grows in dense thickets that can crowd out slower-growing native plants. Cirsium palustre can reach up to 2 metres (7 ft) in height. The strong stems have few branches and are covered in small spines. In its first year the plant grows as a dense rosette and in subsequent years a candelabra of dark purple or occasionally white flowers, 10–20 millimetres (0.4–0.8 in) with purple-tipped bracts. In the Northern Hemisphere these are produced from June to September. The plant provides an important source of nectar for pollinators. This C. palustre flower was photographed in Niitvälja, Estonia.

Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus

George Washington is a 1780 oil-on-canvas painting by John Trumbull, depicting George Washington, the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army and later the first president of the United States, standing on a bluff above the Hudson River. His enslaved personal servant, William "Billy" Lee, is attending Washington's horse. The view across the river encompasses West Point, New York, with a red-and-white striped banner – possibly the Navy ensign adopted in 1775 – flying atop the fortress. Trumbull served on Washington's staff as an aide-de-camp early in the American Revolutionary War and painted this portrait from memory about five years later while studying in London. It was the first authoritative representation of Washington available in Europe and was soon copied throughout the continent. The painting has been in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City since 1924.

Painting credit: John Trumbull

Ectophasia crassipennis is a species of fly in the family Tachinidae and the subfamily Phasiinae. It is present in southern Europe and warmer parts of central Europe. Adults can reach a length of about 5 to 9 millimetres (0.20 to 0.35 inches). Their large compound eyes are red, while the body varies between black and orange-brown, with large wings featuring wide brown or grey dots. The broad abdomen is flattened and sternite 7 is ventrally folded. This male E. crassipennis fly was photographed in Keila, Estonia.

Photograph credit: Ivar Leidus

The Canadian National Railway (CN) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. It is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue and the physical size of its rail network, spanning the country from the Atlantic coast in Nova Scotia to the Pacific coast in British Columbia across approximately 20,000 route miles (32,000 kilometres) of track. In the late 20th century, CN gained extensive capacity in the United States by taking over railroads such as the Illinois Central and others. This photograph shows a CN EMD SD70M-2, SD75I and SD60F unit in the Canadian Rockies north of Jasper, Alberta.

Photograph credit: David Gubler