President Franklin Delano Roosevelt reads his annual address to the members of Congress in January 1937. This photo represents the first time a color camera recorded a joint session in the Hall of Representatives.
PHOTOGRAPH BY J. BAYLOR ROBERTS, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
Candidates compete for admission to the prestigious Repin Institute in St. Petersburg, Russia. This photo originally appeared in the September 1998 issue in a story tracking the lasting influence of Catherine the Great, who expanded and renamed the famous school in 1764.
PHOTOGRAPH BY SISSE BRIMBERG, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
Children fly kites at a boarding school in Kathmandu, Nepal. Their parents are Sherpas on Mount Everest, some of whom risk their lives in hopes of making enough money to provide a more secure future for their families.
PHOTOGRAPH BY AARON HUEY, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
A woman dances to bomba music at a bar in Loiza Aldea, Puerto Rico. The music originated more than 200 years ago with Africans who had been enslaved by Spanish colonizers to work the island's sugar plantations.
PHOTOGRAPH BY AMY TOENSING, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
Ice and snow encrust the workings at an oil rig in western Siberia. Oil is a key component of Russia's economy; the country is the second largest exporter.
PHOTOGRAPH BY GERD LUDWIG, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
Oceanographer Sylvia Earle shows engineer Peggy Lucas a handful of algae through the window of the Tektite habitat. They were two of five women who lived in the underwater habitat for two weeks in 1970, studying various aspects of marine life.
PHOTOGRAPH BY BATES LITTLEHALES, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
Abraham Lincoln lived in this home in Springfield, Illinois, for 17 years before becoming the 16th President of the United States. Today, the home and surrounding land are preserved as a National Historic Site.
PHOTOGRAPH BY JOE SCHERSCHEL, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
A couple shares a tender moment on a summer Sunday in London. A sweeping story in the June 2000 issue posited that London had returned to the world stage for the first time since the 1960s.
An August 2008 story documented the seemingly mysterious world of Moscow at night. Here, a flash mob congregates to kiss among the crowd near Red Square.
PHOTOGRAPH BY GERD LUDWIG, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
Hippos fight in the Luangwa River, Zambia, as their water supplies shrink toward the end of the dry season. Zambia has the largest population of hippos in all of Africa.
PHOTOGRAPH BY FRANS LANTING, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
In this picture from the November 1971 issue, a woman in an elaborate costume celebrates Carnival on the island of Trinidad. The annual celebrations include parades, calypso music, and limbo competitions.
PHOTOGRAPH BY WINFIELD PARKS, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION