Bao Bao the panda, one of the National Zoological Park’s cutest inhabitants in Washington, D.C., recently celebrated her first birthday on August 23rd. As part of the celebration, Bao Bao got her very own cake. The large tiered cake showcased a big number 1.

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Based on the layout of Helm’s Deep featured in Peter Jackson’s film adaptation, this 150,000 brick set piece is astounding. The artists, who go by the names Rich-K and Big J, apparently, nail the atmosphere and scale of the conflict of one Lord of the Rings most iconic scenes. At the time these photos were taken, the model was about 90% complete, with an estimated four months worth of work. The time, money and personal investment that must have gone into this project is impressive.

A fan looks at the Germany flag before the 2014 World Cup final between Germany and Argentina at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro July 13, 2014. (Photo by Darren Staples/Reuters)

A villager pours pesticide from a bucket as Mount Sinabung spews ash at Kebayaken village in Karo district, Indonesia's North Sumatra province, on December 4, 2013. The country has ordered the evacuation of 15,000 residents near the active volcano. (Photo by Roni Bintang/Reuters)

While communism, collectivism, worms, dry rot and casual looting failed to destroy the majestic wooden churches of Russia, it may be ordinary neglect that finally does them in. Dwindled now to several hundred remaining examples, these glories of vernacular architecture lie scattered amid the vastness of the world’s largest country. Just over a decade ago, Richard Davies, a British architectural photographer, struck out on a mission to record the fragile and poetic structures. Austerely beautiful and haunting, “Wooden Churches: Traveling in the Russian North” (White Sea Publishing; $132) is the result. Covering thousands of miles, Mr. Davies described how he and the writer Matilda Moreton tracked down the survivors from among the thousands of onion-domed structures built after Prince Vladimir converted to Christianity in 988.

A runner takes part in the International World's coldest marathon at minus 53 degrees (–63.4 Fahrenheit) near Oymyakon, the republic of Sakha, also known as Yakutia, Russian Far East, Saturday, January 22, 2022. Sixty five runners, including athletes from the United Arab Emirates, United States and Belarus, started the run at extremely low temperature in Oymyakon, Yakutia's Pole of Cold. The international team of men and women ran full distance and half-marathon. (Photo by Ivan Nikiforov/AP Photo)

North Korean women in colorful traditional dresses are surrounded by flower blossoms known as “Kimilsungia” as they wait to guide guests at a flower exhibition in Pyongyang, North Korea, April 14, 2014. The flowers, named after Kim Il Sung, are on display to celebrate the late leader's official birth date of April 15, 1912. (Photo by David Guttenfelder/AP Photo)

International artist Yvette Mattern shows her stunning laser rainbow projection, Global Rainbow, on March 1, 2012 in Whitley Bay, England. The light installation celebrates the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad in the north-east of England. The Global Rainbow has previously lit up the skies of Germany, France and the United States. The projection will shine along the North Tyneside coastline for 4 days, before moving to other locations in the UK. (Photo by Bethany Clarke/Getty Images)