3. These best National Geographic covers span the entire history of the
publication, and provide a good overview of the stories and issues
National Geographic has covered over the years. Iconic magazine
covers capture images of historic and cultural landmarks that persist in
the collective consciousness.
National Geographic is the monthly journal of the National Geographic
Society, currently printed in 34 languages around the world. First printed
in 1888, the magazine features articles about physical and human
geography around the world. National Geographic is famous for its eye-
opening photography stories about cultures and crises that are ignored
or skewed by other publications.
4. July 1959—First Photograph Appears on the Cover
Seventy years after its founding in 1888, the National
Geographic Society introduces the first photograph on the
cover of its increasingly popular journal. Following a
tradition of American flag covers in July that began during
World War II, the July 1959 issue features the new, 49-star
banner. Alaska, admitted to the Union in January 1959, is
profiled in several articles, and a map of the newest state is
included as a supplement with the issue.
5. April 1960—Jacques Cousteau and National Geographic
Less than a year after the first photograph appears on
National Geographic, a jet-propelled diving saucer appears
on the April 1960 cover. The underwater test of a new
submarine is the most recent in a series of National
Geographic Society-Calypso expeditions led by Capt.
Jacques-Yves Cousteau, a partnership of ocean exploration
that began in 1950 and continued for 15 years.
6. January 1961—The White House
At the end of the eight-year Eisenhower presidency, First
Lady Mamie Eisenhower introduces the National
Geographic article "Inside the White House." The
mansion's famous façade is featured on the issue's cover,
photographed at dusk and standing ready to welcome its
next residents—President John F. Kennedy and his family.
7. June 1962—John Glenn Orbits the Earth
Friendship 7 rockets across the cover of National
Geographic after John Glenn's historic orbital voyage.
Glenn agreed to carry a small National Geographic flag
on his journey, returning it to the Society in April 1962.
National Geographic photographer Dean Conger's
photos of Friendship 7's recovery from the ocean were
featured in the issue and published around the world.
8. October 1963—75th Anniversary Issue
Celebrating 75 years of publication National
Geographic magazine—in its largest issue to date—
recounts the Society's triumphs in exploration and
discovery, including in-depth reports on the first
American conquest of Mount Everest and the rescue
of Nile antiquities. The special issue also presents a
retrospective on photographic firsts and an essay
by former President and Editor Gilbert H. Grosvenor
on "The Romance of the Geographic."
9. July 1964—Redwoods: Tallest Tree Discovered
Conveying the tallest redwood's awesome height requires
the full length of the magazine's cover. Long involved in
redwood conservation efforts, National Geographic
presents the findings of staff naturalist Paul Zahl, who
discovered the tallest of the tallest trees, a redwood
reaching 367 feet. The cover design—featuring a rare
break in the famous yellow border—is echoed in the
October 2009 issue.
10. August 1965—Remembering Winston Churchill
Following the death of Sir Winston Churchill, former President
Dwight D. Eisenhower introduces National Geographic's tribute
to the British prime minister, featured on the issue's cover. The
70-page tribute includes photos, recollections, and a look at
Churchill's political life and personal achievements.
11. March 1966
Built by Ivan the Terrible in the 16th century, St. Basil's
Cathedral in Moscow embodies the splendor and mystique
of old Russia. The capital city is profiled in depth by writer
Thomas T. Hammond, with photographs by Dean Conger
that illustrate urban life in the Soviet Union of the mid-
1960s.
12. January 1967
Dressed for Eid al-Fitr festivities, two young girls play on
a swing in Pakistan, then made up of two lands located
on opposite sides of the Indian subcontinent. The
cover's traditional interior border of oak leaves and
acorns, first introduced in 1910, begins to recede around
the increasingly bold feature photographs.
13. October 1968
Sixteen-year-old Robin Lee Graham, featured on
the cover aboard his fiberglass sloop, recounts
his journey to become the youngest person to
sail solo around the world.
14. December 1969—Apollo 11 Moon Landing
Neil Armstrong's famous photo of Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin
walking across the surface of the moon lands on the
cover of National Geographic five months after the
astronauts' historic voyage. Like John Glenn before him,
Armstrong carried a small National Geographic flag to the
moon and back, which he presented to Society President
Melvin Payne when the Apollo 11 crew was awarded the
Hubbard Medal in 1970.
15. December 1970—Our Ecological Crisis
A western grebe wears a fatal coat of oil from a spill off
California in 1969. The issue's series of articles on the
ecological crisis is the first full-blown National Geographic
contribution to growing concerns over the state of the
environment, calling attention to the fragility of the planet
under the strain of the growing human population. It is the
last issue for retiring magazine Editor Frederick G.
Vosburgh, who pushed daringly into the controversial field
of ecology.
16. November 1971—Antarctica
In the service of science, a gentoo penguin waddles
through the Antarctica snow wearing a radio backpack
that monitors its blood flow and pressure. "Antarctica's
Nearer Side" continues National Geographic's long history
of exploration on the continent, beginning with support
for Robert E. Byrd's pioneering expeditions in the 1920s
and '30s. The issue also features the first photographs of
snow leopards in the wild.
17. July 1972
To bring knowledge and understanding at a time of conflict
and tension, National Geographic prints "The Sword and the
Sermon," an American Muslim's account of his yearlong, 22-
country exploration of Arab history and culture. An
accompanying map supplement expands on the region's
language, politics, land use, and physical geography.
18. March 1973
The last whale hunters in the United States, native
Alaskans ply slushy waters off the state's coast in a
walrus-skin boat. The cover story follows the hunt for
a bowhead whale and includes a report on the fight
for traditional whaling rights, answered by Congress
with an exemption written into the Marine Mammal
Protection Act in 1972.
19. October 1974
With his great-great-grandfather's five-colored scarf on
his shoulders, 18-year-old Jigme Singye Wangchuck
formally becomes monarch in the tiny kingdom of
Bhutan. John Scofield's picture story highlights the
color and enduring traditions of the sequestered
nation. A second feature in the issue presents
remarkable photos of the Earth and sun taken from
Skylab.
20. March 1975
After collecting a sample of fresh spatter, a geologist is
silhouetted against a fountain of molten lava spouting
from Hawaii's Mauna Ulu. Photos within the magazine
reveal the natural contrasts of Hawaii's Big Island, built
over eons by lava flows welling up from the ocean floor.
21. December 1976
A fleet of ships, some colliding, begin a race from Bermuda to
Newport, Rhode Island, to honor the U.S. Bicentennial in this
cover photograph by Gilbert M. Grosvenor, Editor of the
magazine for a decade before assuming the presidency of the
National Geographic Society in 1980. The issue also features a
double supplement on the "Whales of the World," and
Grosvenor concludes his editor's note with "hope for a better
day for both whales and men."
22. February 1977
Displaying the American flag and the flag of the National
Geographic Society, the Silver Fox drifts above the Gulf of
St. Lawrence at the start of Ed Yost's record-breaking
transatlantic journey. His article for National Geographic
details the challenges he undertook to achieve the longest
manned balloon flight.
23. March 1978
Inhabitant of the last Shangri-la, a young Ladakhi woman
wears a turquoise-covered insignia of wealth. Four years
after India opens Ladakh to foreign visitors, National
Geographic explores the lost valleys that were for centuries
isolated by the rigors of Himalayan travel.
24. September 1979
An array of stone points, knives, and bone spear parts date to
Ice Age hunters roaming Montana 11,000 years ago. National
Geographic's "Search for the First Americans" uses photos,
maps, and illustrations to create a time line of the earliest
human activity in the Americas. As introduced on the July 1979
cover, the oak leaf interior border crowning the magazine's title
is replaced by a single garland, which remains on the cover until
the end of the millennium.
25. November 1980
A snow shower dusts Windsor Castle as Prince Phillip
drives a four-in-hand toward the Long Walk. In its profile
of the 900-year-old fortress, National Geographic
includes images of the young Charles, Prince of Wales;
the interior grandeur of Windsor; and the miniature
charm of the Queen's Dolls' House, built for Queen Mary
in the 1920s.
26. August 1981
A 1,200-year-old cave painting of a Maya ballplayer is a recent
find when it appears on the August 1981 cover of National
Geographic. Discovered in a remote cavern in Guatemala, the
artworks and writings of the ancient Maya identify dates and
notables of the Classic period.
27. May 1982
In the fall of 1981, following a decade of atrocities
committed by the Khmer Rouge regime, National
Geographic traveled inside Vietnamese-controlled
areas of what is now Cambodia to report on the
condition of the vast complex of crumbling temples
and sculptures—including the deity featured on the
May 1982 cover—at Angkor Wat, the sacred site first
glimpsed in the magazine in 1912 and featured
recently in a July 2009 cover story.
28. July 1983
Outfitted in a WASP suit, Phil Nuytten is the first man to
dive on the northernmost shipwreck ever discovered on
the seafloor. The British Breadalbane was lost beneath
the Arctic ice while aiding in the search for survivors of
the ill-fated Franklin Expedition. Both the submersible
WASP suit and the photographs taken by a National
Geographic camera mounted on a remotely piloted
vehicle are revolutionary devices for exploring the deep.
29. May 1984—New Discoveries at Pompeii and Herculaneum
Her bones preserved in Herculaneum's volcanic tomb for
nearly 2,000 years, a Roman woman is still adorned in rings
of gold, carnelian, and jasper. Two years after macabre new
relics are discovered at the site of the ancient seaside
town, National Geographic provides haunting photos and
new details on the long-dead victims of Vesuvius.
30. June 1985—Afghan Girl
When photographer Steve McCurry took a young girl's
picture one morning in Pakistan, he created an image that
would captivate millions around the world. The haunting
green eyes that stared out from the June 1985 cover of
National Geographic belonged to an unknown refugee
who for 17 years was identified simply as the "Afghan
girl." She has since been located and was once again
featured on the magazine's cover in April 2002.
31. June 1986
A female snow leopard takes an inadvertent self-portrait
when she triggers a hidden camera, a resource that provided
researchers—and National Geographic readers—with rare
photographic coverage of the shy, solitary, and elusive cat.
In the last 20 years, her species has not escaped its
endangered status, today numbering only around 6,000 in
the wild.
32. October 1987—Women of Saudi Arabia
Photographer Jodi Cobb captures a child's present and
future for National Geographic's landmark 1987 article on
the women of Saudi Arabia. Created in the palaces of
princesses and in the tents of Bedouin, Cobb's images
shed rare light on one of the world's most conservative
societies.
33. January 1988—One Hundred Years
From Robert E. Peary's expedition to the North Pole
to the discovery of the Titanic, National Geographic
highlights a century of exploration on its centennial
cover. The special issue includes a reprint of the
introductory address by founding President Gardiner
Greene Hubbard, a glimpse back at the Victorian era
into which the Society was born, and a look at those
who are carrying on the tradition, "that we may all
know more of the world."
34. July 1989—France Celebrates Its Bicentennial
A special issue of National Geographic celebrates
France's bicentennial with nearly 200 hundred pages of
photos, illustrations, maps, and reporting, bringing
readers into the turmoil and romance of the republic since
its historic revolution. The Eiffel Tower, built for France's
centennial in 1889 and backlit by celebratory fireworks on
the magazine's cover, still stands as a symbol of French
ingenuity and independence.
35. March 1990
During the waning days of the Soviet Union, National
Geographic takes a look at dismantled labor camps,
glasnost sweeping across resource-rich Siberia, and
the geography, people, and events that shaped the
history of the empire. On the cover, a Nentsy woman—
part of a group of nomadic reindeer herders—chops
wood at a campsite on the Siberian tundra.
36. January 1991
The land and people of "the far side of down under" are
beautifully photographed by Sam Abell in National
Geographic's profile of Australia's vast and sparsely
populated Northwest. On the cover, a rancher poses with
her three children while waiting to take part in a rodeo. A
second feature photographed by David Doubilet
highlights the marine life found off the region's ragged
coastline.
37. September 1992—Dolphins in Crisis
A pair of Atlantic spotted dolphins hovers in the clear
waters of the Bahamas in Flip Nicklen's cover photograph.
In the decade before the accompanying article was
published, millions of the intelligent marine mammals were
drowned in nets or poisoned by polluted waters. Though
only limited dolphin fishing occurs today, they continue to
be threatened by commercial fishing for other species.
38. April 1993—Andrew Aftermath
After meeting at a Florida relief center, Marine David
Ketchum and three-year-old Jarvis Williams embody both
the struggle and unity that followed the destruction
wrought by Hurricane Andrew in the summer of 1992. With
stunning photographs and personal stories, National
Geographic recounts the devastation of what was then
America's most destructive storm.
39. September 1994
Representing modern Ireland in 1994, three ruddy-
cheeked Dublin children are featured with a pony at a
time when cars still dodged horse-drawn carts in the
country's capital. Sam Abell's photographs of shifting
Irish life and storied landscapes capture the island's
moral and economic evolution.
40. December 1995—Honoring Jane Goodall
Recognizing 35 years of pioneering work, National Geographic
features primatologist Jane Goodall on its cover for the
second time since 1965, when she was depicted in an
illustration. In 1995, Goodall is presented with the Society's
Hubbard Medal as a tribute to her influential study of
chimpanzees, described by former Society President Gilbert M.
Grosvenor as the "longest continuous field research ever
conducted on a wild animal."
41. June 1996
Cape York Peninsula, one of Australia's last frontiers and
home to several hundred endangered plant and animal
species, is profiled in this issue's cover story. The face of
the continent's northern stronghold of native culture is an
Aboriginal teenager wearing a mask of mud while swimming
in a waterhole.
42. December 1997
Wild tigress Sita, cub gently in mouth, gets her close-up
when National Geographic addresses the plight of her
species' vanishing habitat and vulnerability to poachers.
Unmanned remote cameras helped photographer Michael
Nichols capture startling images of the endangered cats in
their shrinking range. The issue features 45 pages of photos
and maps and an account of Sita's years successfully
breeding in the wild.
43. December 1998
Continuing a tradition of bringing the world's most
remarkable sites, no matter how remote, to National
Geographic readers, the December 1998 issue features a
look at the ancient city of Petra, the mysterious Nabataean
capital carved into cliffs in the desert of present-day
Jordan.
44. August 1999—Global Culture
Near the end of the millennium, a mother and daughter are
a study in contrasts as they represent the new global
culture, the subject of this special issue that examines
cultures emerging and vanishing amid the increased
exchange of information, products, and ideas. This year is
the last in which the magazine's cover still features a crown
of laurels, the final remnant of the oak leaf border first
introduced in 1910.
45. April 2000
A shot inside the notorious mouth of a great white shark is a
fitting introduction to Jaws author Peter Benchley's feature
article on the threats facing the surprisingly fragile predator.
Twenty-five years after the box-office hit based on his novel
terrified moviegoers, Benchley and photographer David
Doubilet set out to portray the ocean's great hunters in a
different light.
46. May 2001
Marco Polo likely encountered the forebears of this
masked woman in Minab, Iran, during his journey east to
the court of Kublai Kahn in the 13th century. In his three-
part feature, Mike Edwards follows Marco's route through
lands that still evoke the Venetian explorer's amazing
finds.
47. September 2002
A meerkat pops up on National Geographic's cover after an
international team discovers that the small, chatty mammals
are among the most cooperative on Earth. The colorful close-
ups illustrating the feature story show group members
providing daycare, keeping sentinel, and sleeping in furry piles
for warmth.
48. July 2003—Divided Korea
Fifty years after the end of the Korean War, National
Geographic goes inside the Demilitarized Zone, the cease-fire
line where soldiers from north and south of the 38th parallel
face off in a tense display of might and will—a reminder that a
half century of fragile peace could be broken at any moment.
49. February 2004
Standing nearly nine feet tall, two male polar bears engage
in play combat on the February 2004 cover. A photo spread
within reveals the bears during their downtime: Unable to
hunt seals and seal pups until the ice freezes solid in
winter and spring, the bears live off fat reserves from July
to November. With ice tending to melt earlier in the spring,
the winter hunt grows urgent.
50. June 2005
King Tutankhamun leaves his tomb for the first time in
almost 80 years to undergo a CT scan, a process that
provides data for this forensic reconstruction of the boyish
pharaoh's face. The scan—overseen by Zahi Hawass, head
of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities and a National
Geographic Explorer-in-Residence—also offers clues about
Tut's life and death.
51. July 2006—Panda, Inc.
A year after his celebrated birth at the Smithsonian
National Zoo in Washington, D.C., panda cub Tai Shan
appears on the cover of National Geographic with
mother Mei Xiang. Unapologetic cuteness abounds on
the pages within—something feature author Lynne
Warren writes may, along with their persistent
scarcity, largely contribute to the popularity of China's
beloved bear.
52. June 2007
This issue's icy blue pages profiling polar life and thawing
glaciers communicate what is at stake as the climate warms.
Photographer James Balog's startling survey on retreating ice
presents visual evidence of changing conditions at the Poles
and elsewhere around the globe.
53. October 2008—Neanderthals Revealed
The face of a Neanderthal woman, part of a life-size
reconstruction informed by fossil anatomy and ancient
DNA, peers out from the past for the first time. DNA
results suggest that Neanderthals and modern humans
are separate species, and National Geographic explores
who these close ancestors were and the question of why
one group survived while the other perished.
54. October 2009—Redwoods
For the October 2009 article on Pacific Coast redwoods,
photographer Michael Nichols and his team create an
unprecedented photographic portrait of a complete
redwood tree, a mosaic made up of 87 images. The
cover shot of the redwood trunk shooting through the
yellow border is only part of the 300-foot-tall, 1,500-
year-old titan. The full photo unfolds from within the
magazine, revealing the most complex crown scientists
have mapped.
55. September 2010
King Tut's Family Secrets To me the story of Tutankhamun
is like a play whose ending is still being written.
56. July 2011
The Search for Cleopatra Archaeologists
search for the true face-and the burial place-
of the “world’s first celebrity.”
57. February 2012
How to Build a Dog
Scientists have found the secret recipe behind the
spectacular variety of dog shapes and sizes, and it could
help unravel the complexity of human genetic disease.
58. April 2013
Of Mammoths and Men
Ancient hunters killed woolly mammoths for their meat.
Today in Russia’s Arctic the search is on for their valuable
tusks.
60. January 2014
Revealing the true colors of a powerful
Brazilian tribe The Amazon tribe has
beaten back ranchers and gold miners
and famously stopped a dam. Now its
leaders must fight again or risk losing a
way of life.
61. February 2014
Secrets of the Brain
New technologies are shedding light on biology’s greatest
unsolved mystery: how the brain really works.
62. March 2014
Star-Eater
Albert Einstein thought that a black hole
—a collapsed star so dense that even
light could not escape its thrall—was
too preposterous a notion to be real.
Einstein was wrong.
64. May 2014
Feeding Nine Billion
To feed our hungry planet, we must change the way we
farm—and the way we think.
65. June 2014
The Dogs of War
Out in front of America’s troops, combat
canines and their handlers lead the way onto
the most dangerous battlefields on Earth.
66. July 2014
Life Beyond Earth
One of the oldest questions may be
answered in our lifetimes. Are we alone?
67. August 2014
Before Stonehenge
One long-ago day around 3200 B.C., the farmers and
herdsmen on Scotland’s remote Orkney Islands
decided to build something big...
68. September 2014
Rethinking Nero
He killed two of his wives and possibly his
mother. He may have presided over the burning
of Rome. But he never fiddled, and now some
scholars say he wasn’t all bad.
73. cast Best National Geographic Magazine Covers
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