The mute swan is a symbol of beauty and elegance, thanks in no small part to the beloved fairy tale "The Ugly Duckling," about an awkward and unsightly duckling who upon growing up discovers he is actually a swan. The proverbial story is often used as a lesson in transformation and the relative nature of beauty. One glance at this swan, seen here holding a feather in a nature preserve in the Netherlands, and it"s easy to see how the idiom "graceful as a swan" came about.
Mute swan
Today in History
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Hoodoos, Sunset Point, Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah
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A delta in the Venetian Lagoon, Italy
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National Mushroom Month
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Flooded crypt, Basilica of San Francesco, Ravenna, Italy
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Penguin Awareness Day
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In the Supertree Grove
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Happy trees = Clean air
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In the footsteps of Leopold Bloom
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International Jazz Day
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Birds of a feather
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Mount Hood, Oregon
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Engineering an artificial harbor in Normandy
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Zion National Park, Utah
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Last stop before leaving the solar system
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World Bicycle Day
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Gulf Islands National Seashore, Florida
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Make way for robots
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Looking back on 150 years of rail travel
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Mada in Saleh, Saudi Arabia
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A whale of a hug
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Quebec City for Winter Carnival
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A keel-billed toucan in Costa Rica
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Queen Elizabeth s Platinum Jubilee
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Ahh-tumn
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Walruses in Svalbard, Norway
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Penguin Awareness Day
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St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland
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Ancient art in the Amazon
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Mountain hare hopping into Lunar New Year
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Lizard of mystery
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