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.

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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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Jan 28, 2026Whanganui National Park, Retaruke, New Zealand
Apr 26, 2025Redwood National and State Parks, California
Jul 16, 2026Navy Pier, Chicago, Illinois
Dec 11, 2020Mountains fit for a queen
Nov 25, 2024Masai giraffes in Amboseli National Park, Kenya
Aug 12, 2024World Elephant Day
Jan 8, 2021Take this for a spin...
Nov 1, 2023Native American Heritage Month
Aug 3, 2020The monsoon arrives in the desert
Jan 3, 2025Happy Birthday, J.R.R. Tolkien!
Mar 29, 2026Peggys Point Lighthouse, Atlantic Coast, Nova Scotia, Canada
Nov 28, 2022Red Planet Day
Jun 23, 2025The Elbe in Dresden, Germany
Jul 6, 2019Racers pushing past sunflowers in the 2018 Tour de France
Jun 16, 2021Put your flippers in the air…
Nov 14, 2021First Cliff Walk
May 10, 2018Brooklyn Bridge Park in Brooklyn, New York
Aug 29, 2020Big wheels on a big mountain
Mar 24, 2025African bush elephants in Namibia
May 9, 2026Skradinski Buk Waterfall, Krka National Park, Croatia
Sep 17, 2024Mid-Autumn Festival
Dec 27, 2020Turning darkness into light
Apr 16, 2024Union Square, Manhattan
Nov 23, 2023Happy Thanksgiving!
Feb 18, 2025The Great Blue Hole, Belize
Oct 7, 2025Fall colors below Mount Sneffels near Ridgway, Colorado
Nov 19, 2020That bill s just not going to fit
Sep 23, 2023Autumnal equinox
Jan 24, 2020Sunlight sets Iceland s Eyjafjallajökull aglow
Aug 31, 2021Bridge over the River Tara