They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and these striking images of 2017 are no exception. The photo highlights include incredible snapshots of the natural world as well as some awesome animal and human encounters. The vibrant gallery also shows thrill-seekers pushing themselves to the limit with breathtaking stunts captured in perfect clarity. The pictures have been taken by a host of photographers from around the world. Here: The two lion cubs singing their hearts out at Antelope park in Zimbabwe. (Photo by David Jenkins/Caters News Agency)

A photo from Madonna’s high school yearbook at her childhood home in Rochester, Michigan, circa 1973. (Photo by Rebel Images/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Drivers push cars to gas station during “oil crisis”, Roslindale, Boston, Massachusetts, 1973. (Photo by Spencer Grant/Getty Images)

Two men try to load their just purchased Samsung 55" TV into a car, at a Best Buy store in Fairfax, Virginia on November 26, 2015, on a Black Friday sale that started a day earlier during Thanksgiving evening. The US holiday shopping season kicks off with "Black Friday" – the day after the Thanksgiving holiday – with a frenzy expected at stores around the country as retailers slash prices. (Photo by Paul J. Richards/AFP Photo)

“The Red-eyed Treefrog (Agalychnis callidryas) is an arboreal hylid native to Neotropical rainforests in Central America. Red-eyed tree frogs, as their name states, have red eyes with vertically narrowed noses, a vibrant green body with yellow and blue vertically striped sides, and orange or yellow webbed feet and toes”. – Wikipedia. (Photo by Donald Quintana)

An aurora is seen in the sky in Pajala, Sweden on February 10, 2022. (Photo by Alexander Kuznetsov/Reuters)

Russian President Vladimir Putin aims a sniper rifle during a visit to the Patriot military exhibition center outside Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, September 19, 2018. Putin chaired a meeting that focused on new arms programs. (Photo by Alexei Nikolsky/Sputnik/Kremlin Pool Photo via AP Photo)

A cowgirl participates in the barrel race competition at the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo on April 1, 2017 in Memphis, Tennessee. The Bill Pickett Rodeo is the nations only touring black rodeo competition. The rodeo celebrates western heritage and the contributions that black cowboys and cowgirls have made to the sport of rodeo. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)