In Laos, the new year is celebrated in mid-April. In this photo from the April 2010 special issue on water, a woman sets a fiery offering on the Mekong River, known to Laotians as "the mother of waters."
PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN STANMEYER, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
Mongolian children play chess in this image from the March 1962 issue. Red patches on their sleeves indicate the children's affiliation with the Young Pioneers, an organization run by the Communist Party.
PHOTOGRAPH BY DEAN CONGER, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
Steaming volcanic rock in the South Sandwich Islands sets the dramatic background for a 65-foot yacht by the name Golden Fleece. The islands are so remote that it took this crew six days to reach them after leaving the southernmost tip of South America.
PHOTOGRAPH BY MARIA STENZEL, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
Photographer Des Bartlett photographs snow and blue geese from the back of a station wagon in the Arizona desert. For the December 1973 issue, Bartlett and his wife Jen studied geese as they flew from the Canadian subarctic to the Gulf of Mexico.
PHOTOGRAPH BY DES AND JEN BARTLETT, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
In this picture from the March 1966 issue, a woman lights a candle in a Russian Orthodox church in Moscow. At the time, atheism was state-mandated, and membership to a religious organization could disqualify you from jobs.
PHOTOGRAPH BY DEAN CONGER, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
While this scene of a hostess checking a nightclub-goer's temperature in Singapore seems eerily familiar now, it first appeared in a January 2010 story about the swine flu epidemic.
PHOTOGRAPH BY DAVID MCLAIN, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
A monk hoists prayer flags during Losar, the Tibetan New Year, in Lhasa, Tibet. During the 15-day celebration, observers participate in a series of rituals to set the course for the year ahead.
PHOTOGRAPH BY MARIA STENZEL, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
The air is 20 degrees below zero, but an overflowing thermal spring near Gardiner, Montana, makes this portion of the Yellowstone River a delightful place for a winter dip.
PHOTOGRAPH BY ANNIE GRIFFITHS, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
In Isfahan, Iran, a betrothed couple—and their chaperone—relax on a bridge. This photo originally appeared in the July 1999 issue, documenting Iran under President Mohammad Khatami, who advocated for a more open society.
PHOTOGRAPH BY ALEXANDRA AVAKIAN, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
The February 1988 issue celebrated Australia's bicentennial. One story covered Kakadu National Park, protected land leased to the government by Aboriginal people. This photo shows cave paintings in the park thought to be 20,000 years old.
PHOTOGRAPH BY BELINDA WRIGHT, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
In this photo from the December 1950 issue, monks flank the Patriarch of the Cathedral of St. James, the Armenian Church in Jerusalem. The ornate service was held on Maundy Thursday, which remembers the day Jesus Christ washed his disciples' feet the day before his crucifixion.
PHOTOGRAPH BY MAYNARD OWEN WILLIAMS, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION