“Catch of the Decade”. Can you guess what happened next? Photo location: Katmai National Park, Alaska, USA. (Photo and caption by Aaron Baggenstos/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Extraordinary tales of everyday heroism have been illustrated beautifully by renowned US photographer Steve McCurry in the new 2015 Lavazza Calendar. The calendar which has been created in collaboration with the Slow Food movement, features twelve breathtaking pictures, capturing the spirit, strength and humanity of the Earth Defenders – women and men who protect their land and projects in Africa with passion and bravery. The proceeds from sales of the calendar and all donations will be contributed entirely to create 10,000 food gardens in African schools and villages by the end of 2016. (Photo by Steve McCurry/2015 Lavazza Calendar)

Members of the Moroccan Royal Armed Forces Rescue and Relief Unit take part in a biochemical simulation organized by the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) as part of the “African Lion” military exercise, in the port of Agadir, on June 15, 2021. (Photo by Fadel Senna/AFP Photo)

A bull rolls in the mud as it prepares to fight another bull at a bullfight in Kabaras, Kakamega county Kenya, Friday, October 20, 2023. (Photo by Brian Inganga/AP Photo)

A member of an Egungun masquerade group, his identity obscured under his ornate costume in Ouidah, Benin on March 13, 2019. The exclusively male practitioners, found across Yoruba culture, use dance and spinning in the belief that they will summon the spirits of ancestors. (Photo by Massimo Rumi/Barcroft Images)

Runners cross the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge shortly after the start of the New York City Marathon in New York, November 2, 2014. (Photo by Lucas Jackson/Reuters)

In this March 30, 2020, photo, Zandile Mlotshwa, 21, cashier at Spar supermarket in the Norwood suburb of Johannesburg, counts her cash at the end of her shift. From South Africa to Italy to the U.S., grocery workers – many in low-wage jobs – are manning the front lines amid worldwide lockdowns, their work deemed essential to keep food and critical goods flowing. (Photo by Jerome Delay/AP Photo)

A reveller perches on a public hire bicycle outside a bar in Shoreditch, the weekend before new licensing rules come in to effect across Hackney on July 28, 2018 in London, England. Hackney Council has voted to introduce strict new licensing rules which will see “core” curfews in place for new venues as well as extending the “Special Policy Area”, within which licenses are granted only in exceptional circumstances. (Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty Images)