50 years of World Heritage Sites Nov 16, 2022

50 years of World Heritage Sites

At its World Heritage Convention on November 16, 1972, UNESCO adopted an international treaty that for the first time linked the concepts of nature conservation and preservation of cultural properties. The World Heritage Sites program was sparked by Egypt"s plans to construct the Aswan High Dam. UNESCO helped save thousands of antiquities that would have been lost as a result of the dam, which flooded a large swath of the Nile Valley.

© Brad McGinley Photography/Getty Images

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Today in History

Nov 16, 2018Ancient art in the Amazon
Nov 16, 2019Mountain mists over Bavaria
Nov 16, 2020A temple, preserved
Nov 16, 2021Glenfinnan Viaduct
Nov 16, 2023World Philosophy Day
Nov 16, 2024Wadden Sea coast, Friesland, Netherlands
Nov 16, 2025A traboule in Lyon, France

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Aug 23, 2018Riding the bore tide at Turnagain Arm, Cook Inlet, Alaska
Jul 13, 2018The puffin-rabbit connection
Dec 5, 2022Saint Nicholas Day in Verbier, Switzerland
Jul 24, 2021Can you see the family resemblance?
Oct 23, 2022Mute swan
Jul 21, 2021An octagonal architectural treasure
Mar 7, 2022Lake Tekapo, New Zealand
May 29, 2018The first ascent
Nov 13, 2024Sea lion in a kelp forest, Baja California, Mexico
Feb 15, 2020Whales in winter
Jan 15, 2022To Sua Ocean Trench
Feb 12, 2019To Roswell, and beyond!
Sep 30, 2019Wheels up in Beijing
Sep 23, 2021Last stop before leaving the solar system
Apr 17, 2020It s a ruff life
Jan 27, 2026Dalmatian pelicans, Lake Kerkini, Greece
Nov 12, 2025Colosseum, Rome, Italy
Dec 6, 2025Celebrating 78 years of Everglades National Park
Dec 25, 2025Merry Christmas!
Mar 6, 2021Here there be dragons
Oct 21, 2019The Guggenheim turns 60
May 6, 2024The Roaches ridge in the Peak District, England
Feb 2, 2026Groundhog Day
Apr 3, 2020The rainbow connection
Aug 23, 2024Prasat Phanom Rung temple ruins, Thailand
Apr 21, 2021Exploring the Pearl of the Atlantic
Apr 23, 2018National Park Week: Haleakalā National Park, Hawaii
Dec 10, 2023Sand dunes in the Sahara, Algeria
Nov 15, 2018‘Ocian in view! O! The joy.’
Mar 6, 2022Great cormorants