International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend Aug. 17, 2024

The lighthouse featured in today"s image stands in Carvoeiro in the Algarve on the southern coast of Portugal. Built in 1919, the Alfanzina lighthouse shines out over the ocean to help ships navigate the dangerous waters that surround the area. A popular tourist destination, the lighthouse also has become a symbol of the region"s deep links to the sea.

© Andreas Kunz/Getty Images

palette

Today in History

Gravity-defying wonders of the world
So fresh, so clean
Aug. 17, 2025International Lighthouse Lightship Weekend

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Feb. 8, 2024Mount Hood, Oregon
Dec. 5, 2023Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau Castles, Bavaria, Germany
Apr. 18, 2024International Day for Monuments and Sites
Walking a rocky rainbow
Dec. 9, 2023Los Glaciares National Park, Patagonia, Argentina
Nature at its colourful best
Aug. 20, 2024Sunrise at Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, USA
May 23, 2025World Turtle Day
More of a moustache than a beard?
Nothing says ‘San Francisco’ quite like...
Sep. 25, 2023Sea Otter Awareness Week
Jan. 28, 2024Channel Country, Australia
Ride the wave
Aug. 16, 2024Canadian National Exhibition 2024
Aug. 9, 2025International Day of the Worlds Indigenous Peoples
Nov. 13, 2024Sea lion in a kelp forest, Baja California, Mexico
Mar. 14, 2025Celebrating Pi Day
Nov. 27, 2025Eastbourne Pier, East Sussex, England
Widespread and long-eared
Mar. 25, 2024Happy Holi!
A legend sprung from the ground
Feb. 13, 2024Mardi Gras
Dec. 17, 2023Bohemian waxwings
Shades of Fall
A glimpse of Yoho National Park
Oct. 14, 2025Village of Oia in Santorini, Greece
Jan. 14, 2025Village of Zahara de la Sierra, Cadiz, Spain
Ive got a lot of problems with you penguins!
Jun. 21, 2024National Indigenous Peoples Day
Oct. 21, 2024Cypress trees in George L. Smith State Park, Georgia, United States