Women play mahjong to celebrate the new year in Guizhou Province, China. The Chinese New Year celebration begins on the day of the first new moon between January 21 and February 20. Traditions for the holiday vary widely by region, but can include lighting firecrackers, cleaning the house, and gifting money in lucky red envelopes.
PHOTOGRAPH BY LYNN JOHNSON, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
Men pole canoes through the swamps of Everglades National Park, Florida. The canoes are modeled off of those of the Seminole, a group indigenous to Florida.
PHOTOGRAPH BY CHRIS JOHNS, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
Dancers in a performance called “125th and Freedom” proceed down Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard in Harlem. Part protest and part parade, the choreographed production along what is also known as 125th Street explores migration, gentrification, and emancipation in a society that, in King’s words, puts profits over people.
PHOTOGRAPH BY ELIAS WILLIAMS, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
"A young harp seal, called a ""whitecoat,"" rests under a colorful twilight sky in Canada's Gulf of St. Lawrence. Harp seals were the cover story of the March 2004 issue, which examined the tension and controversy surrounding seal hunting policies in Canada."
PHOTOGRAPH BY BRIAN SKERRY, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
In this picture from the February 1959 issue, teenaged skiing phenom Starr Walton competes in a downhill event at California's Sugar Bowl. She would go on to compete in the women's downhill at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria.
PHOTOGRAPH BY KATHLEEN REVIS, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
A child enjoys a bowl of noodles at a kindergarten in Quemoy, Taiwan. This picture originally appeared in a January 1969 story documenting the island of Taiwan and its tension with communist China.
PHOTOGRAPH BY FRANK AND HELEN SCHREIDER, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
A gray fox crouches in Chile's Atacama Desert, the driest place on earth. An August 2003 story illustrated the flora and fauna of the Atacama Desert, that exist in spite of the harsh climate.
PHOTOGRAPH BY JOEL SARTORE, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
A group of children play with a kite in Johannesburg, South Africa. This picture originally appeared in the April 2004 issue, in a story about South Africa a decade after the end of apartheid.
PHOTOGRAPH BY TOMASZ TOMAZEWSKI, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
In this picture from the December 1953 issue, women compete in a curling match in Ontario, while wearing coordinating tartan outfits. Each curling stone is made up of 44 pounds of granite.
PHOTOGRAPH BY B. ANTHONY STEWART, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
In this picture from the June 1961 issue, a Thai craftsman smears a parasol with waterproof paint. The 40-page story illustrated aspects of life and culture throughout the nation.
PHOTOGRAPH BY W. ROBERT MOORE, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
Rodney the emperor penguin wears a "Crittercam" on his back in this picture from the August 2007 issue. Crittercam was invented by National Geographic's Greg Marshall to capture audio, video, and environmental data, and has been utilized to study dozens of species around the world.
PHOTOGRAPH BY GREG MARSHALL, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
A married Inuit couple shares a kiss in the settlement of Umingmaktok in the far reaches of Canada's Northwest Territories. This picture originally appeared in the November 1977 issue in a story about the settlement. But by the 2016 Census, the settlement had been completely abandoned.
PHOTOGRAPH BY YVA MOMATIUK AND JOHN EASTCOTT, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
Teens practice football at Southeast High School in Kansas City, Missouri. This picture originally appeared in the July 1976 issue, in a story documenting the culture of the Midwestern metropolis.
PHOTOGRAPH BY TED SPIEGEL, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
A couple shares a romantic moment on a first-class train car to Yekaterinburg, Russia. A story in the June 1998 issue followed the Trans-Siberian Railroad, which stretches 5,778 miles.
PHOTOGRAPH BY GERD LUDWIG, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
Lanterns light up the Scholar's Courtyard at the Lan Su Chinese Garden in Portland, Oregon. A story in the March 2013 issue featured beautiful pictures of the world's most famous gardens at night.
PHOTOGRAPH BY DIANE COOL AND LEN JENSHEL, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
A nurse greets a new mother at the maternity ward in Sri Lanka's Jaffna Teaching Hospital. The photo appeared in a November 2016 story about Sri Lanka's recovery from a civil war that lasted from 1983 to 2009.
PHOTOGRAPH BY AMI VITALE, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
Drag performers prepare to compete in the 1995 Miss Fire Island pageant, an annual tradition since 1966. Fire Island lies off the shore of Long Island, and has a long history of LGBT-friendly tourism.
PHOTOGRAPH BY ANNIE GRIFFITHS, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
Weaned elephant seal pups lounge on the ice before their first season at sea. A November 2008 story documented the lives of elephant seals on South Georgia Island.
PHOTOGRAPH BY YVA MOMATIUK AND JOHN EASTCOTT, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
At Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume in France, a nun gazes upon a piece of bone said to be Mary Magdalene's. This previously unpublished picture was taken as part of the assignment for a March 2012 story on the apostles of Jesus Christ.
PHOTOGRAPH BY LYNN JOHNSON, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
On March 3rd, 1913, thousands of women marched down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., to demand voting rights. But as visible in this photograph, a much larger and hostile crowd surrounded them, cutting off the parade route and threatening the women with violence. It would be seven more years until the 19th Amendment was passed.
PHOTOGRAPH BY LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, PRINTS AND PHOTOGRAPHS DIVISION, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION