Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia, Chile May 13, 2025

Wildlife roams freely in one of Chile"s most stunning protected areas, where towering peaks and ancient glaciers shape the land. Established on this day in 1959, Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia turns 66 years old today and covers over 448,000 acres. Originally called Grey Lake National Tourism Park, it was renamed in 1970 and later designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1978. Its most recognizable feature—the three massive granite peaks known as the Torres—stands over 8,000 feet tall. These formations took shape through magma intrusion and uplift, followed by millions of years of glacial erosion, leaving behind the jagged spires seen today.

© Marco Bottigelli/Getty Images

palette

Today in History

May 13, 2018Happy Mother’s Day
May 13, 2019In praise of bogs, swamps, and marshes
May 13, 2020Of moose and Maine
May 13, 2021Hues of Hokkaido
May 13, 2023World Migratory Bird Day
May 13, 2024Fish River Canyon, Namibia
May 13, 2026Arch and Milky Way, Alabama Hills, Sierra Nevada, California

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Mar 24, 2025African bush elephants in Namibia
Dec 22, 2025The Nutcracker performed by the Turkish State Opera and Ballet in Türkiye
Apr 10, 2022Siblings Day
Jun 27, 2019The roots of invention
Mar 1, 2025Womens History Month
Jul 28, 2020Over the boardwalk
Jul 21, 2021An octagonal architectural treasure
Mar 2, 2021Fall for Chile
Jun 5, 2020By the light of the fireflies
May 17, 2026Hawksbill Mountain in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia
Apr 5, 2022Goðafoss waterfall, Iceland
Mar 13, 2018Wayag Islands in the Raja Ampat Islands of Indonesia
Jan 16, 2019Up on the glacier
Aug 21, 2019Look before you leap
Jan 3, 2023Sandhill cranes, Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge
Apr 15, 2022World Art Day
Mar 7, 2020Summer winds down in the Southern Hemisphere
Oct 18, 2025Silbury Hill for International Archaeology Day
Nov 23, 2024Fibonacci Day
Nov 6, 2022New York City Marathon
Jun 29, 2021An island hopper s paradise
Aug 30, 2019It s fair season
Dec 9, 2024Llama Day
Mar 15, 2021Every day is Napping Day for this screech owl
Jan 5, 2024International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival, Harbin, China
Dec 1, 2022Antarctica Day
Jun 8, 2024National Rivers Month
Oct 29, 2018In search of a ‘great’ pumpkin
Mar 25, 2020It s Tolkien Reading Day
Mar 4, 2021The most wonderful day of the year. Period.