- National Geographic's photographic archive contains 10.5 million images, spanning the history of the photographic medium, from rare glass Autochromes to film negatives and transparencies to cutting-edge digital images.
The magazine's first photo story — on Tibet — was published in June 1905.
The first natural-color photograph to appear in the magazine was "A Ghent Flower Garden" in July 1914 issue.
The Society published its first photograph by a woman photographer, Eliza Scidmore, in 1914.
National Geographic published its first underwater color photograph in 1927, the first successful aerial photographs in 1930 and the first underground color photographs — of Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico — appeared in Oct. 1953.
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The first photograph featured on the magazine cover was of the American flag in July 1943.