Hang Sơn Đoòng Cave, Vietnam Aug 15, 2024

Hang Sơn Đoòng Cave, Vietnam

In 1991, logger Hồ Khanh stumbled upon something big in what is now Vietnam"s Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park. During a jungle expedition, he found the entrance to a cave with a roaring underground river. It was later named Hang Sơn Đoòng, or "cave of the mountain river" and in 2009, the British Cave Research Association led an expedition to explore it. They realized something incredible: It was the world"s largest cave. Hang Sơn Đoòng"s main passage is 3.1 miles long, 490 feet wide, and 660 feet high. That"s tall enough to fit a 40-story skyscraper.

© Geng Xu/Getty Images

palette

Today in History

Aug 15, 2018Best. Holiday. Ever.
Aug 15, 2019It’s surströmming time
Aug 15, 2020Celebrating the Acadians
Aug 15, 2021Swim city
Aug 15, 2022Indian Independence Day
Aug 15, 2023Piazza IX Aprile, Taormina, Sicily, Italy
Aug 15, 2025Spotted eagle rays in the Galápagos Islands
Aug 15, 2026Ah Shi Sle Pah Wilderness, New Mexico

More Desktop Wallpapers:

May 8, 2021World Migratory Bird Day
Jul 30, 2022Milford Sound/Piopiotahi rainforest in New Zealand
Jul 17, 2026Vai, Crete, Greece
Nov 24, 2020Feel the spray in Monterey
Oct 26, 2018A notorious gunfight that was incorrectly named
Jun 24, 2023Nha Phu Bay, Nha Trang, Vietnam
Nov 8, 2019Chapel on the rock
Feb 26, 2024Grand Canyon National Park turns 105
Sep 8, 2021Enter the magical world of Livraria Lello
Aug 4, 2025Great gray owls in their nest, Finland
Oct 13, 2021Celebrating a young girl s age-old discovery
Aug 11, 2023Edinburgh Art Festival
Feb 16, 2019It’s not a pinecone, it’s a pangolin
Nov 16, 2021Glenfinnan Viaduct
Aug 27, 2020Rocks on the move
Aug 17, 2019The buzz about bees
Jan 15, 2024Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Jan 16, 2022Hot and Spicy Food Day
May 2, 2021Happy World Laughter Day
Sep 1, 2026National Mushroom Month
Jan 5, 2020Digging the birds
Mar 19, 2025A black heron canopy feeding in Botswana
Jul 21, 2018And you thought moths were boring
Jul 26, 2020A path to access
Sep 15, 2018A Latino art exhibition in Denver
Sep 22, 2020Happy Hobbit Day
Jun 7, 2024World Oceans Day
May 28, 2022Bungle Bungle Range in Purnululu National Park, Australia
Jan 15, 2020Harvest season begins
Jun 1, 2024Pride Month