The cover story for the December 1969 issue was about Apollo 11—the first walk on the moon. Here, Dr. Robert Gilruth, director of the Manned Spacecraft Center at NASA, celebrates the astronauts' safe return to Earth.
PHOTOGRAPH BY OTIS IMBODEN, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
In Odisha, India, a pastor blesses a child and prays for Christian refugees. Sixty families fled to these apartments after their village was attacked in 2008.
PHOTOGRAPH BY LYNN JOHNSON, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
To celebrate its 21st year of independence in 1983, Jamaica started a program called Agro 21. Among the increased agricultural output were ornamental plants, like the anthuriums shown here.
An ice cream shop in New Delhi, India, keeps up with the demand of customers in the early 1980s. Called Nirula's 21, the shop is part of the oldest fast food chain in India.
PHOTOGRAPH BY STEVE RAYMER, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION