Eight-year-old Niu Dongfang trains at the No. 2 Beijing Shuangqiao School January 13, 2005 in Beijing, China. Most of students in the gymnastics school have to study more than five years from as young as age six before they become athletes. (Photo by Guang Niu/Getty Images)

A girl laughs while unloading her boat of produce at a market in Ganvie on January 6, 2012 in Cotonou, Benin. Often called the Venice of Africa, Ganvie is a stilted fishing village on Lake Nokoue, near Cotonou in Benin, the largest such village in Africa, and home to approximately 20,000 residents. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

The Spirit of Ecstasy, also called “Emily”, “Silver Lady” or “Flying Lady,” was designed by English sculptor Charles Robinson Sykes and carries with her a story about a secret passion between John Walter Edward Douglas-Scott-Montagu (second Lord Montagu of Beaulieu after 1905, a pioneer of the automobile movement, and editor of The Car Illustrated magazine) and his love and the model for the emblem, his secretary Eleanor Velasco Thornton. Photo: Worker Ronald Little displays a finished “Spirit of Ecstasy”. (Photo by Stefan Wermuth/Reuters)

The Kingdom of Pagan (also commonly known as the Pagan Dynasty and the Pagan Empire) was the first kingdom to unify the regions that would later constitute modern-day Burma (Myanmar). Pagan's 250-year rule over the Irrawaddy valley and its periphery laid the foundation for the ascent of Burmese language and culture, the spread of Burman ethnicity in Upper Burma, and the growth of Theravada Buddhism in Burma and in mainland Southeast Asia.

Afghan police recruits undergo training at the Afghan Police Academy October 5, 2010 in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Photo by Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)

lasgow-based artist Jim Lambie can transform any space into a visual delight with his geometric tape designs. Using everyday vinyl tape, he creates angles and lines of contrasting colors that suggest movement and optical illusions. He can convert a once empty and quiet room into a space filled with energy. As viewers enter a converted space, they instantly have a visual interaction with the artwork.

A traffic policewoman shows her ink-stained fingers after casting her ballot at a polling station, during early voting for the parliamentary election in the northern Iraqi province of Dohuk, April 28, 2014. Iraq will be holding its national elections on April 30. (Photo by Ari Jala/Reuters)