People splash each other in downtown Yerevan, Armenia during an annual Vardavar holiday on July 16, 2023. Vardavar is a traditional Armenian water festival, with people drenching each other, dating back to pagan times. The ancient festival is traditionally associated with the goddess Astghik, who was the goddess of water, beauty, love, and fertility. (Photo by Karen Minasyan/AFP Photo)

“Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (March 13, 1911 – January 24, 1986), better known as L. Ron Hubbard (and often referred to by his initials, LRH), was an American pulp fiction author and religious leader who founded the Church of Scientology. After establishing a career as a writer, becoming best known for his science fiction and fantasy stories, he developed a self-help system called Dianetics which was first published in May 1950. He subsequently developed his ideas into a wide-ranging set of doctrines and rituals as part of a new religious movement that he called Scientology. His writings became the guiding texts for the Church of Scientology and a number of affiliated organizations that address such diverse topics as business administration, literacy and drug rehabilitation”. – Wikipedia

Photo: American science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Church of Scientology, uses his Hubbard Electrometer (patent pending) to determine whether tomatoes experience pain, 1959. His work led him to the conclusion that tomatoes “scream when sliced”. (Photo by Scott Lauder/Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Iranian Shiite Muslim women gather around a bonfire after rubbing mud on their body during the “Kharrah Mali” (Mud Rubbing) ritual to mark the Ashura religious ceremony in the city of Khorramabad, some 470 kms southwest of Tehran, early in the morning on October 1, 2017. “Khrreh Mali” or “Mud Rubbing” is a ritual that is held in the city of Khorramabad every year to commemorate the seventh century slaying of Prophet Mohammed' s grandson Imam Hussein, in which Iranian men roll over in mud and dry themselves by gathering around the bonfires before flagellating themselves. (Photo by Atta Kenare/AFP Photo)

The festival marks the end of the monsoon season and beginning of autumn. More than hundred girls under the age of nine gathered for the tradition of worshiping young pre-pubescent girls as manifestations of the divine female energy. The ritual holds a strong religious significance in Newar community. It is a community affair held primarily to save small girls from diseases and bad luck in the years to come. Photo: A young Nepalese girl dressed as a Kumari or living Goddess, smiles for camera as she waits for Kumari puja at Hanuman Dhoka, Basantapur Durbar Square in Katmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, September 17, 2013. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)

A parrot stuck on a roof for three days greeted firefighters sent to its aid on August 13, 2018 with a four-letter tirade. Jessie, the multi-lingual Macaw, flipped the bird after escaping from her owner's home in Edmonton, north London, UK. When she could not be lured down from a neighbour's roof, firefighters were called out and told to tell the bird “I love you” – to which Jessie replied “I love you back”. But she then ruffled her would-be rescuers' feathers by telling them to “f**k off” before flying off to another nearby rooftop. The foul-mouthed pet also speaks Turkish and Greek according to its owner, but had its own choice words in English for the rescue team. As Jessie wasn't injured, the firefighters, who had been called in by the RSPCA, left her on her perch. The parrot was later reunited with its owner. (Photo by Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Shortlisted images in the running to be crowned Photobox Instagram photograph of the year range from furry friends to the Holi festival to the meaning of love. Judges, including the Guardian’s former picture editor Eamonn McCabe, have whittled down 180,000 submissions to unearth a shortlist that celebrates the best of social media. Winners will be announced October 3, 2018. Here: Najac, France. Travel shortlist. (Photo by Aaron Jenkin/@aaronjenkin)

“Most cats run away at the first sign of water but this jaguar shows that some just love to make a splash. The fierce-looking feline was spotted doing an impressive moggy paddle as it swam for meat at Taman Safari in Indonesia. The spectacular shots were captured by professional photographer, Erfin Nugroho, who was visiting the centre for endangered animals with his family”. – Richard Hartley-Parkinson. (Photo by Erfin Nugroho/Caters News)