Photo of The Day 527

High Heels on Cobblestones, Louisiana

Photograph by Edwin L. Wisherd

This month in Photo of the Day: Images From the National Geographic Archive

Because the region around New Orleans is composed of alluvial soil, there is no paving material close at hand. More than a hundred years ago the city offered a bounty to ships which would bring to the port rock ballast instead of sand. The first cobblestone pavement was laid on Gravier and Magazine Streets in 1817.

From the National Geographic vintage collection.

Photo of the Day 526

Newborn Weigh-In, India

Photograph by Lynn Johnson

This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features

Founded in 1970, the Comprehensive Rural Health Project (also known as Jamkhed, for the city where it is based) delivers preventive care to poor people who otherwise would get none. The project has served 300 villages and 500,000 people in Maharashtra state, including a newborn baby, fully swaddled and suspended for his weigh-in by village health worker Leelabai Amte.

Photo of the Day 525

Elephant Seal Pups, South Georgia Island

Photograph by Yva Momatiuk and John Eastcott

Fattened and then abandoned by mothers who leave to mate anew, weaned elephant seal pups stick close together until ready for a first season at sea.

Photo of the Day 524

Cave of Crystals, Mexico

Photograph by Carsten Peter, Speleoresearch & Films

Massive beams of selenite dwarf human explorers in Mexico's Cave of Crystals, deep below the Chihuahuan Desert. Formed over millennia, these crystals are among the largest yet discovered on Earth.

Photo of the Day 523

Bee-Eater Feeding Chicks, Hungary

Photograph by József L. Szentpéteri

In Hungary, adults fly to and from the nest tunnel they pecked and scratched into a sandy bank, foraging constantly to feed their ravenous chicks. Such tunnels can be three to five feet long (1 to 1.5 meters long).

Photo of the Day 522

Sawarda Village Workers, India

Photograph by Ed Kashi

Workers from drought-stricken Sawarda village in India say the Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) has brought prosperity closer to home: "Today the jobs are in Jaipur, which used to be three hours away," says one. "With the highway, we can get there in 45 minutes."

Photo of the Day 521

Owachomo Bridge at Night, Utah

Photograph by Jim Richardson

A starry night gleams above Owachomo Bridge in Utah's Natural Bridges National Monument—named the first Dark Sky Park by the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA). "Here you see something forgotten," says ranger Scott Ryan, "and reconnect with the sky."