In pictures: National Geographic celebrates 125 years

National Geographic has been capturing spectacular shots of our beautiful planet for more than a century, and it's celebrating its 125th anniversary with a showcase of some of its most iconic images. Here's just a taste of some of the images featured in this month's special issue...

125 years of the National Geographic

1969: The moon
 Astronaut Buzz Aldrin walks to the moon's Sea of Tranquility, his visor reflecting Neil Armstrong and the lunar module Eagle. The Apollo 11 astronauts carried the National Geographic Society flag with them on their journey to the moon.
La Venta, Tabasco, Mexico
 Beginning in 1938, Matthew Stirling, chief of the Smithsonian Bureau of American Ethnology, led eight National Geographic-sponsored expeditions to Tabaco and Veracruz in Mexico. He uncovered 11 colossal stone heads, evidence of the ancient Olmec civilisation that had lain buried for centuries.
1931: Afghanhstan
 In his favourite picture, legendary National Geographic photojournalist Maynard Owen Williams marvelled how, in this bazaar in Herat, no one blinked during the three seconds required to make the exposure.
1991 North Atlantic
 Rusted prow of the RMS Titanic, which sank in the North Atlantic after hitting an iceberg in April 1912.
1964: Tanzania
 A touching moment between primatologist and National Geographic grantee Jane Goodall and young chimpanzee Flint at Tanzania's Gombe Stream Reserve.
British Columbia, Canada
 In a moss-draped rain forest in British Columbia, towering red cedars live a thousand years, and black bears have white coats. They are know to the local people as spirit bears.
Uganda
 A lion climbs a tree to sleep, in Uganda's Queen Elizabeth Park.
Cocos Island, Costa Rica
 Marine biologist and National Geographic Explorer-in-residence Enric Sala dives with a green turtle off Cocos Island, Costa Rica. Sala leads National Geographic's Pristine Seas project, which aims to find, survey and help protect the last healthy and undisturbed places in the ocean.
1995 India
 By setting off a camera trap, a female tiger captures her own image in Bandhavgarh National Park,
1937: Egypt
 Three figures on camelback behold the pyramids of Giza.
Antarctica
 An emperor penguin, outfitted with a Crittercam camera system designed by marine biologist and National Geographic staff member Greg Marshall, becomes an unwitting cameraman for a National Geographic documentary.