Foto del día: diciembre 2020

Veinte toneladas de fuegos artificiales explotan sobre el puerto de Sídney a medianoche, anunciando la llegada del año 2000. El reportaje de portada de agosto del 2000 celebró la ciudad como sede de las Olimpiadas de verano.

Tres jóvenes disfrazados de Papá Noel venden Coca Cola en una celebración del día de Año Nuevo en las calles cerca de la Plaza Roja de Moscú. Esta foto apareció en el número de noviembre de 2001, conmemorando el décimo aniversario de la desintegración de la URSS.

Un hombre cabalga por las Rattlesnake Hills en el condado de Yakima, Washington. El exuberante valle de Yakima es un centro agrícola y produce el 70 por ciento de las manzanas de los Estados Unidos.

La Scott's Hut se construyó en 1911 como base para una expedición en la Antártida dirigida por el capitán Robert Scott, que más adelante falleció en un intento de travesía al Polo Sur. Hoy, se preserva como museo.

En Telfs, Austria, los hombres se ponen trajes de liquen durante el Schleicherlaufen, un festival celebrado cada cinco años que conmemora el final del invierno. Los orígenes del festival están poco claros, pero se remonta hasta el siglo XVI.

A lone bison stands in snow-covered Yellowstone National Park. The bison's skin, fat reserves, and fur coat make it especially suited to survive temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit and winds as wild as 50 miles an hour.

Un grupo de Papás Noel de grandes almacenes espera al metro en Nueva York. Sacarse una foto con Santa Claus es una tradición para muchas familias.

En esta fotografía del número de mayo de 1969, los niños ven la retransmisión de Nochebuena de los astronautas de la Apolo 8 en el espacio. La tripulación fue la primera que logró orbitar la Luna y regresar a la Tierra.

Unos esquiadores saltan en Zermatt, Suiza, con el icónico Matterhorn de fondo.

En un monasterio tibetano de Bamei, China, los cuencos de té negro mantienen despiertos a los visitantes durante las meditaciones. Tras ellos hay velas hechas con mantequilla de yak.

A summer snowstorm swirls around evergreen trees in Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, a partnership between Glacier National Park in the United States and Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada.

In this picture from the January 1938 issue, young boys dress as wise men, prophets, and shepherds to sing Christmas carols across the countryside in northern Hungary.

Men attend a service at a synagogue in Kiev, Ukraine. When this photo was published in 1987, it was the only remaining synagogue in the city and did not have a rabbi. Now, there are some 20,000 Jews in Kiev, and two synagogues.

The December 1955 issue featured a personal essay by Louise Parker La Gorce, detailing her Christmas tradition of baking dozens of cookies with which to decorate the family's tree. Here, she uses hairpins to create whiskers on a cookie cat.

The Wright brothers made the first powered flight on this day in 1903. Orville mans the plane, lying on his stomach to reduce wind resistance, while Wilbur runs alongside. The flight lasted 12 seconds and covered about 120 feet.

In this picture from the April 1954 issue, the owner of a sugarbush grove in New Hampshire demonstrates an antique yoke once used for hauling buckets of sap. The red building behind him is the sugarhouse, where the sap will be made into maple syrup.

The April 1964 issue featured a 34-page spread on the beloved pet cat. Today, approximately a quarter of U.S. households are home to a cat.

In Jigokudani, Japan, a couple of snow monkeys, also known as Japanese macaques, enjoy a dip in a hot spring. Their special coats keep them warm in subzero temperatures.

When Sudan achieved independence in 1956, 96 percent of women were illiterate. This picture from the March 1982 issue shows a classroom full of women eager to learn. And the efforts for equality continue—in 2019, the Sudanese government repealed a restrictive law that governed how women were to look and act in public.

In this picture from the October 1973 issue, young boys play the violin and tambourine along Istanbul's Flower Passage—a street lined with bars and restaurants—in an effort to earn some money.

A woman prays at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Millions of pilgrims visit the holy site each year, and some leave little notes of prayer in the crevices of the wall.

Civil rights leader Albert A. Raby sits for a portrait in the offices of the Coordinating Council of Community Organizations in Chicago in 1967. Chief among the CCCO's goals was the desegregation of Chicago schools.

The November 1984 issue told the worldwide story of chocolate. Here, a famous bakery in Vienna, Austria, displays its scrumptious sweets for customers.

Residents of Cooperstown, New York, decorate Main Street for Christmas. Cooperstown, home to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, welcomes more than 300,000 tourists annually.

December 7 marks the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Dick Fiske, pictured, was on the U.S.S. West Virginia during the attack. Here, he plays "Taps" in remembrance.

A story in the February 2006 issue examined the ways climate change threatened tourism and the ecosystem in the Alps. Here, synthetic blankets lie on Austria's Pitztal Glacier, reflecting solar radiation in an attempt to slow down summer melt.

A full moon rises over Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Australia. The 512-square-mile park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is home to—and named after—two of Australia's most famous landmarks.

During the day, the view from the top of Mount Fuji in Japan goes on forever. But at night, many climbers need a break. Here, a rest stop worker airs out futons used by climbers to catch some sleep before descending the mountain.

Los pingüinos barbijos anidan con sus polluelos en la isla Thule. Esta isla deshabitada forma parte de las islas Sándwich del Sur, ubicadas entre Sudamérica y la Antártida.

Las nubes de tormenta se ciernen sobre "the Wall" en el parque nacional de las Badlands, Dakota del Sur. Tres sistemas fluviales erosionaron estas formaciones de arcilla a lo largo de más de medio millón de años.

En una aldea afgana remota, las mujeres asisten a clases de salud e higiene impartidas por una comadrona itinerante, que en la foto lleva un hiyab blanco y gafas.