The Babylonian captivity, or Babylonian exile, was a period in Jewish history during the 6th century BCE when thousands of Judeans from the ancient Kingdom of Judah were deported to Babylonia. A major deportation occurred in 597 BCE, following the conquest of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar II, with further expulsions after the destruction of the city and Solomon's Temple in 587 BCE. In the aftermath of the Persian conquest of Babylon in 539 BCE, Cyrus the Great permitted the exiles to return to Judah, although many remained in Mesopotamia. The exile had a significant influence on the development of Judaism and is recounted in detail in the Hebrew Bible. This 1896 James Tissot painting The Flight of the Prisoners depicts the exile of the Jews from Judea to Babylon.
The picture must already be a featured picture. To nominate a picture to be featured, see Featured picture candidates.
Featured pictures are currently selected in roughly the order in which they were promoted (i.e. a first in, first out order). See the category of featured pictures that have not appeared on the Main Page for this order. Exceptions are made for birthdays, anniversaries of events, national holidays or other occasions worth commemorating.
Linked articles must be up to scratch– at a minimum, the article should not be a stub, and the image used must appear in the article.
All facts mentioned in the blurb must be found in the target article, or in the description linked to the image itself (if it's a specific detail not relevant to the article topic).
All facts used in the blurb must have a citation to a reliable source, either in the linked article or in the image description page.
Not all featured pictures will appear as the picture of the day. Wikipedia:Picture of the day/Unused has a list of those that have been skipped.
Pictures of the day on your user page
You can insert the picture of the day on your user page or talk page by adding the text {{Pic of the day}}. It will be displayed in a box of no more than 600 pixels wide and will include the blurb associated with the picture. A version without text is also available via {{POTD}}.
It is also possible to create your own custom POTD layouts, in case you do not wish to use the existing versions. Mix and match the following components to make your own. This system will only work for pictures of the day beginning January1, 2007. Be sure to replace [date] with an appropriate date value. For a dynamically updating version, use {{#time:Y-m-d}} (example: {{POTD/{{#time:Y-m-d}}|image}}).
{{POTD/{{#time:Y-m-d}}|column}}: This has the image and caption above each other with no borders. Used on some of the Main Page alternatives and also suitable for user pages.
{{POTD/{{#time:Y-m-d}}|row}}: This has the image and caption encapsulated in (usually) a single table row. This is the version used on the current Main Page.
It is also possible to permanently feature a POTD for a selected day. Just add a specific value for the date you want. For example, today's picture of the day is {{POTD/2026-10-26|image}}. Likewise, you can use date parameters with the other templates as well. If you like the pre-made formats, you can use date parameters there as well, like this: {{Pic of the day|date=2026-10-26}} or {{POTD|date=2026-10-26}}. Again, this system will only work for pictures of the day beginning January1, 2007.
{{User:Tyw7/picofday}} also displays a randomly selected POTD, but without the header and footer.
As a thumbnail
When you want to display the picture of the day like an ordinary thumbnail, similar to {{WP:Wikimedia Commons/POTD}}, you can use {{POTD Wikipedia}}. For instance, if you want a thumbnailed version, floated right, you can use {{POTD Wikipedia|float=right|title=yes|thumb=yes}}.
Older pictures of the day
If you want to permanently include a POTD that was selected between November 1, 2004 and December 31, 2006, use the following: {{Wikipedia:Picture of the day/[month] [day], [year]}} or {{Wikipedia:POTD/[month] [day], [year]}}. For example, {{Wikipedia:Picture of the day/December 31, 2006}}.
Pictures of the day selected from May 2004 through October 2004 are only accessible in month-at-a-time archives (see below) and can only be placed on user pages by using standard image syntax.
