People gather for the second annual “Cat Beauty Festival” organized by Royal Veterinary Hospital in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq on July 2, 2025. Around 200 cats participated in the event, where the first round was determined by social media votes. The winner, a cat named “Gule Rana”, was selected by a jury. The festival aims to promote animal love and raise awareness about feline care. (Photo by Fariq Faraj Mahmood/Anadolu via Getty Images)

A common gallinule runs across the water to escape a nearby alligator at Green Cay Nature Center in Boynton Beach, Florida on September 4, 2025. Unlike most waterbirds, gallinules have long toes that allow them to walk on floating vegetation. The species is known for its loud, cackling calls that often echo through wetlands. (Photo by Ronen Tivony/NurPhoto/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Participants compete to do nothing during the Space-out competition at World Expo 2025 on September 27, 2025 in Osaka, Japan. For 90 minutes, participants sat in silence, trying to remain in a dazed state without distraction. The winner was determined not by activity but by calmness maintaining the most stable heart rate amid the lively crowds of the Osaka Expo site. (Photo by Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images)

People participate in a Labor Day parade on September 2, 2024 in Marlborough, Massachusetts. The festival is a new event this year added by Mayor J. Christian Dumais in an effort to bring the community together on Labor Day weekend. The festival included musical and artistic performances, children's games and activities, touch-a-truck, a beer garden, food trucks, vendors and more. (Photo by Zhu Ziyu/VCG via Getty Images)

Coonoor is a municipality in the Nilgiris district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is known for its production of Nilgiri tea. Coonoor is located at an altitude of 1,850 m above sea level and is the second largest hill station in the Nilgiri hills after Ooty. Coonoor is known for the massive private tea plantations that surround the hills. The local economy of Coonoor runs on tourism and tea production. (Photo by Qamar Abbas)

Jeff and Kelly Lyons clear the first obstacle while competing in the North American Wife Carrying Championship at Sunday River ski resort in Newry, Maine October 11, 2014. (Photo by Brian Snyder/Reuters)

This particular Gingko tree (aka Gingko Biloba) is not just any tree. It was reportedly planted by Tang Dynasty's Emperor Taizong, the emperor portrayed in Fang Bingbing's Empress of China, from over a thousand years ago. Take a look at these stunning photos when the Gingko tree displays its full glory in late autumn.

New York City is populated with millions of people that each serve as an essential piece of the city's eclectic pie. The Big Apple's offering of unique and diverse individuals is arguably unmatched. We always hear about what a melting pot this immense metropolis is with its endless supply of quirky characters and the ongoing photo series known as Humans of New York proves it.