Hang Sơn Đoòng Cave, Vietnam Aug 15, 2024

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:

Jan 27, 2021A dramatic view of Sicily
Nov 18, 2020An aviation celebration
Aug 10, 2021Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch on the institution s 175th anniversary
Feb 5, 2024Western Monarch Day
Mar 4, 2025Happy Fat Tuesday!
Jun 23, 2026Mount Fuji on Honshu Island, Japan
Feb 12, 2018National Museum of African American History and Culture
Jun 9, 2020Gem State views
Apr 2, 2022Whangārei Falls in New Zealand
Aug 30, 2022Regional Park of Migliarino, San Rossore, Massaciuccoli, Italy
May 11, 2023Henningsvær Stadion, Norway
May 15, 2022Lunar eclipse
Jun 19, 2026Happy Juneteenth!
Jan 17, 2018Train crossing the Tadami River in Japan
Feb 26, 2022Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve
Oct 14, 2025Village of Oia in Santorini, Greece
Dec 11, 2022Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada
Oct 13, 2025Cedar Mesa, Utah, for Indigenous Peoples Day
Nov 4, 2021Diwali
Sep 13, 2025Point Reyes National Seashore in California
Jan 3, 2021An Alpine fairy-tale castle
Jul 3, 2020Dog days of summer
Sep 7, 2024National Hummingbird Day
Oct 15, 2025National Mushroom Day
Mar 22, 2024World Water Day
May 10, 2022Gifford Pinchot National Forest
Aug 1, 2022Hawai i Volcanoes National Park at 106
Aug 20, 2025The citadel in Bonifacio, Southern Corsica, France
Sep 15, 2022Hispanic Heritage Month
Sep 29, 2023Mid-Autumn Festival