30 fascinating pictures from the National Geographic photo archives

Tai Shan, whose name means Peaceful Mountain, was the first giant panda born at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, D.C., to survive infancy. Now 15 years old, Tai Shan lives at the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda.

Rows of bikes line a parking lot in downtown Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The June 1965 issue profiled civilian life in the city—then known as Saigon—during the Vietnam War, calling it the "eye of the storm."

A story in the July 1954 issue sang the praises of the United States Postal Service, calling it "everyone's servant." Here, workers at a post office in New York sort through airmail letters.

This image first appeared in a story about New Delhi, India, in the October 1942 issue. Pilgrims brought bowls of rice to this site as charitable gifts, and once the rice was eaten, the bowls were hung up to celebrate the gift.

In the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, President Lyndon B. Johnson delivers remarks at the signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The VRA, which ensured protections for voters of all races, was gutted by a 2013 U.S.Supreme Court ruling that claimed a key section of the legislation was no longer relevant.

A Newar girl visits Swayambhunath, Nepal's oldest Buddhist stupa. The Newar people are indigenous to the Kathmandu Valley, carrying on traditional practices, religion, and language.

A long exposure shows the movement of stars over Llullaillaco, Andes Mountains, Chile. The peak of this dormant volcano is more than 22,000 feet high and last erupted in 1877.

Indian spotted deer gaze across mist-filled valleys and cloud-veiled mountains from the royal deer park above Gangtok, Sikkim, a state in northeastern India. Sikkim is also home to Kangchenjunga, the third-highest mountain in the world.

In Párnica, Slovakia, a woman feeds chickens perched in the window of a barn.

Caleen Sisk is the spiritual leader and tribal chief of the Winnemem-Wintu tribe near Mount Shasta, California. She is one of the last living speakers of the tribe's native language.

Actors perform Pygmalion at the Royal Opera in the Palace of Versailles in France. The ornate opera house was built in 1770, opening its doors as part of the wedding celebrations for the future Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.

In this photo from the April 1947 issue, people in Hong Kong have become engrossed in stories they just borrowed from a sidewalk lending library. The original caption states that one could buy 13 stories for one cent.

A woman and her son pick cranberries for Thanksgiving dinner on uninhabited Manana Island off the coast of Maine. Cranberries are native to North America, and they've been made into sauce and served with wild game for hundreds of years.

Village elders meditate on the sunset from an outcropping above Debre Sina, Eritrea. A story in the June 1996 issue told of the new country's victory in claiming independence from Ethiopia after 30 years of war.

Near Lake Itasy, Madagascar, a girl gathers wild yellow cosmos flowers. Ninety percent of the island country's wildlife isn't found anywhere else on earth.

Spellbound students compound nitrobenzene at Kenya Science Teachers College in the 1960s. The school is now known as the Kenya Science Campus, as part of the University of Nairobi, and offers a bachelor's degree in science education.

Children learn in a bare-bones schoolhouse in the remote village of Jangbi, Bhutan. When Bhutan became a constitutional monarchy in 2008, the government called for 120 schools to be built throughout the country.

Canine athletes follow scented bait in a hound trailing event in England's Lake District. The sport is similar to fox hunting, without the live prey. Dogs can hit 30 miles an hour during the race.

A Zenith Electronics worker in Illinois assembles a television set in this image from the December 1953 issue. Zenith Electronics produced American-made TVs and radios until the 1990s, when it was purchased by LG.

Idling at a market, a Uygur motorcycle taxi driver waits for his next fare in Kashgar, Xinjiang Province, China. Job opportunities for the Muslim minority people group in western China are scarce.

An elephant orphan greets schoolchildren visiting Tsavo East National Park, Kenya. At the park, elephants orphaned by poachers will spend years recovering until they can safely reintegrate into the wild.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt leads a ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Armistice Day in 1936. The tomb, located in Arlington National Cemetery, honors members of the military who have died but cannot be identified.

The entire July 1989 issue was dedicated to France's bicentennial. Les Charmettes, pictured here, was a favorite retreat for philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Now, it's a historical landmark and museum.

Scientists study Antarctica's winter ice for life-forms in this photo from the May 1996 issue. Certain organisms such as algae and mites are only found on the frozen continent, so every expedition provides valuable information.

Travelers await trains at the Trans-Siberian Railroad Station in Novosibirsk, Russia. Novosibirsk is the third largest city in Russia, mainly because of its place on the Ob River and its role as a transportation and commerce hub.

A traveler and donkey walk over sand dunes near Fortaleza in northeast Brazil. This story from the March 1987 issue examined what it meant to be Brazilian, just a couple years after a new civilian government was installed.

Buddhist monks present alms bowls at Wat Benchamabophit, also known as the Marble Temple, in Bangkok, Thailand. The iconic temple is pictured on the back of the five-baht coin in Thai currency.

In Indianapolis, kids play basketball with a hoop made from a milk crate nailed to a telephone pole. The sport is a big part of Indiana's identity, with the state holding a prestigious high school basketball tournament every year since 1910.

In this picture from the July 1994 issue, a family in San Diego poses outside their home with piles of trash (right) and recyclables (left) representing the average amount of each that an American family produces each year.

Prehistoric art adorns the walls of Lascaux Cave in southwest France. Discovered in 1940 when a boy's dog fell into a hole, the cave art dates back more than 17,000 years.