List of National Geographic cover stories



National Geographic is an American magazine noted for its cover stories and accompanying photography. This is a list of National Geographic cover stories including writers and photographers starting in July 1959, when the magazine started featuring photos on the front cover.

National Geographic was first published in October of 1887 with the first photo to appear on the cover in July 1959, that of an American flag. Articles include stories about geography, history, nature and science.

Notable cover stories
In the December 1969 issue, astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins wrote the cover story titled "First Explorers on the Moon", writing in detail their account of the Apollo 11 mission and what it was like being the first humans on the Moon. The cover of the magazine featured a picture taken from space by Armstrong of Aldrin in a spacesuit on the surface of the Moon.

In the November 1971 issue, Samuel W. Mathews and photographer William R. Curtsinger spent months aboard the research vessel Hero in Antarctica. Photos taken by Curtsinger would be the first pictures of snow leopards in the wild and the first photos shot in Antarctica for the magazine.

In the June 1985 issue, Debra Denker's cover story "Along Afghanistan's War-torn Frontier" about the Soviet and Afghanistan war featured a cover photo depicting a green-eyed Afghanistan girl (Sharbat Gula), photographed by Steve McCurry. This cover image is National Geographic 's most recognized photo.

In the August 1991 issue, Thomas Y. Canby wrote the cover story titled "The Persian Gulf: After the Storm", about the Kuwaiti oil fires after the Persian Gulf War. The photo on the magazine's cover featured oil fields on fire, photographed by Steve McCurry.

In the April 2007 issue, Fen Montaigne's cover story "Saving the Sea Bounty", about the dangers facing marine life, featured a cover image of a swordfish caught in a net photographed by Brian Skerry.

In the November 2016 issue, Joel Achenbach wrote the cover story titled "The Race to the Red Planet", about humanity's treks to Mars. The cover featured a photo of Mars captured by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft.