“Josephine Baker (June 3, 1906 – April 12, 1975) was an American-born French dancer, singer, and actress. Nicknamed the “Bronze Venus”, the “Black Pearl”, and even the “Créole Goddess” in anglophone nations.

Baker was the first African American female to star in a major motion picture and to integrate an American concert hall, and to become a world-famous entertainer. She is also noted for her contributions to the Civil Rights Movement in the United States (she was offered the unofficial leadership of the movement by Coretta Scott King in 1968 following Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination, but turned it down), for assisting the French Resistance during World War II and for being the first American-born woman to receive the French military honor, the Croix de guerre”.

Photo: American entertainer Josephine Baker in costume for her famous “banana dance”. Baker was an overnight sensation when she arrived in Paris in the mid-1920s. (Photo by Walery/Getty Images)

“Yucca is a genus of perennial shrubs and trees in the agave family, Agavaceae. Its 40-50 species are notable for their rosettes of evergreen, tough, sword-shaped leaves and large terminal panicles of white or whitish flowers. They are native to the hot and dry (arid) parts of North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. Early reports of the species were confused with the cassava (Manihot esculenta). Consequently, Linnaeus mistakenly derived the generic name from the Carib word for the latter, yuca. It is also colloquially known in the midwest United States as “Ghosts in the graveyard”, as it is commonly found growing in rural graveyards and when in bloom the flowers appear as an apparition floating.” – Wikipedia

Photo: A yucca standing among flowers bursts forth a very large stalk of flowers as a heavy wildflower bloom on June 21, 2005 in the Angeles National Forest northwest of La Canada, California. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

“The Eiffel Tower (French: La Tour Eiffel, nickname La dame de fer, the iron lady) is a puddle iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris. Built in 1889, it has become both a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. The tower is the tallest building in Paris and the most-visited paid monument in the world. Named for its designer, engineer Gustave Eiffel, the tower was built as the entrance arch to the 1889 World's Fair. The tower stands 324 metres (1,063 ft) tall, about the same height as an 81-storey building”. – Wikipedia

Photo: French engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (1832–1923), left, poses high on the steps of the completed Eiffel Tower, which he designed for the 1889 Paris Exposition. (Photo by General Photographic Agency/Getty Images)

“Pilot whales are cetaceans belonging to the genus Globicephala. There are two extant species, the long-finned pilot whale (G. melas) and the short-finned pilot whale (G. macrorhynchus). The two are not readily distinguished at sea and analysis of the skulls is the best way to tell the difference between the two species. Between the two species, pilot whales range in waters nearly worldwide with long-finned pilot whales living in cooler waters and short-finned pilot whales living in warmer waters. Pilot whales are among the largest of the oceanic dolphins, exceeded in size only by the killer whale. They and other large members of the dolphin family are also known as blackfish”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Pilot whales swim in Loch Carron on May 20, 2011 in South Uist, Scotland. A major operation is underway to prevent up to 100 pilot whales from stranding on the rocky shoreline of Loch Carron on South Uist in the Western Isles. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

“HA Schult, born Hans-Jürgen Schult on June 24, 1939 in Parchim, Mecklenburg is a German installation, happening and conceptual artist known primarily for his object and performance art and more specifically his work with garbage”. – Wikipedia

Photo: German artist Ha Schult stands with his “trash people” below the pyramids May 15, 2002 in Giza, Egypt. Inspired by the statues of the terracotta army of Chinese Emperor Quin Shi Huangdi (247–206 B.C.), the thousand piece sulpture has stood in Red Square in Moscow, La Defense in Paris and the Great Wall in China. Schult, born in 1939 wants to bring the “trash war” to the world's attention beause trash is the greatest battle facing mankind. (Photo by Norbert Schiller/Getty Images)

“Wells Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral in Wells, Somerset, England. Built between 1175 and 1490, Wells Cathedral has been described as “the most poetic of the English Cathedrals”. The Wells clock, an astronomical clock, is located in the north transept. The surviving mechanism, dated to between 1386 and 1392, was replaced in the 19th century, and was eventually moved to the Science Museum in London, where it continues to operate. It is the second-oldest surviving clock in England”. – Wikipedia

Photo: The clock face of world's oldest continually-working mechanical clock is seen as it is hand wound for the very last time on August 21, 2010 in Wells, England. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

A Guarani Indian woman jokes with her son in the village of Pyau at Jaragua district, in Sao Paulo April 27, 2015. The National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) has recognised 521 hectares of this area as indigenous territory, making it the smallest indigenous reserve in Brazil. Members of the Guarani community have now established a new village outside the demarcation and are being threatened with an eviction through a court order. (Photo by Nacho Doce/Reuters)

Fighters from Germany take up position before competing in the Medieval Combat World Championship at Malbork Castle, northern Poland, April 30, 2015. Medieval combat is a full contact sport that revives the foot based tournament fighting of medieval Europe. Countries fight in refereed matches where the objective is to get the opposing team to the floor. There are also duels with polearms, swords and shields where the number of hits landed are scored. The fighters, both male and female, wear heavy armours and weapons, mostly replicas of authentic pieces, and fight following the knights code of conduct. According to organizers, 25 nations from 6 continents are taking part in the Championships, which started on April 30 and will go on until May 3. (Photo by Kacper Pempel/Reuters)