"A thousand years ago Viking ships carried traders, settlers, and raiders west to America, south to Italy, and east to Russia. Scandinavia's power would never be greater. In time the expeditions dwindled and the Norse joined Christian Europe, but their ways live on in parts of the former Viking dominion. On Vestmannaeyjar, Icelanders celebrate at midsummer as did their forefathers—with fire, song, and plenty to drink.".
From "In Search of Vikings," May 2000, National Geographic magazine
Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin became the second person to set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969. Commander Neil Armstrong, the first on the moon, captured this image—one of the most famous photographs of the 20th century—soon after the lunar lander Eagle touched down in the Sea of Tranquility.
A lone Atlantic walrus rests on what looks to be an undersized ice floe amid a glassy sea in Canada's Foxe Basin. Walruses can reach some 11 feet (3.3 meters) in length and weigh up to 3,000 pounds (1.4 metric tons).
A crowd of pilgrims arrives at the mosque in Tanta for Ragabiya, a three-day festival honoring the most venerated saint in Egypt, Sidi Ahmad Al-Badawi.
From the National Geographic book Reza War + Peace, 2009
Dressed in traditional Islamic abayas, two women search for a place to picnic near Beirut, Lebanon famous Pigeon Rocks in 2005. Although Lebanon is about 60 percent Muslim, it also has large Christian and Druze populations, making it one of the most diverse countries in the Middle East.
Just over four miles (seven kilometers) from Beirut's city center, Israeli aircraft bombed Lebanon's international airport on July 13, 2006. The air strikes were in retaliation for the capture of two Israeli soldiers and the killing of eight more the day before in a cross-border raid by Hezbollah, a Shiite Muslim militant group based in Lebanon. Today, the conflict continues as Israel targets Hezbollah strongholds in Beirut and its suburbs and Hezbollah sends rockets deep into Israel.
Photograph shot on assignment for National Geographic magazine
A blast of highly explosive magnesium flash powder allowed photographers Longley and Martin to photograph underwater life for the first time. When the men wanted to take a photograph, they clicked the camera’s shutter, which tripped a battery on a raft they dragged behind them. The battery, in turn, triggered the magnesium powder explosion, which illuminated the sea down to 15 feet (4.6 meters).
In a scene captured before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, a crowd awaits the November 7 fireworks to celebrate the communist revolution of 1917. Now Ukrainians celebrate their own Independence Day on August 24, the day they declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Ukraine," May 1987, National Geographic magazine
I was hurrying to an appointment when something stopped me. It was an austere, brilliantly lit plaza. I took it in, stepped back to include the black edge of the building beside me, and gathered myself to make a photograph. Moments later a woman rounded the corner and completed the composition.—Sam Abell[br]
From the National Geographic book The Life of a Photograph, 2008