The Historic Photographer of the Year awards celebrate historic places and cultural sites across the globe, from national treasures to hidden gems. Entries were judged on originality, composition and technical proficiency as well as the story that inspired the submission and its historical impact. Here: Overall winner. Mont Saint-Michel by Daniel Burton. (Photo by Daniel Burton/The Guardian)

Men slicing blubber off a large, dead whale. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images). Circa 1912

Paris-born Polish film maker, Roman Polanski. (Photo by James Jackson/Evening Standard/Getty Images). January 1969

Women in Chicago being arrested for wearing one piece bathing suits, without the required leg coverings. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images). 1922

In this Sunday, March 12, 2017, picture a Don Sphinx cat reaches for a judge while being evaluated, in Bucharest, Romania. More than 1,500 dogs and 150 cats from twelve countries were evaluated during a three day pet show and competition in the Romanian capital. (Photo by Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo)

A dog catches a frisbee during a dog frisbee competition in Moscow, September 13, 2015. Dogs and their owners took part in a variety of distance and accuracy tests during the competition to check their frisbee skills. (Photo by Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters)

Greyhounds with stuffed and sprung model monkeys strapped to their backs before a hurdle race at Wellinborough. (Photo by E. Bacon). 21st April 1928

“Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev was a Russian Tatar dancer from the former Soviet Union, primarily known for his work in ballet. Nureyev's artistic skills explored expressive areas of the dance, providing a new role to the male ballet dancer who once served only as support to the women. He defected to the West, despite KGB efforts to stop him. According to KGB archives studied by Peter Watson, Nikita Khrushchev personally signed an order to have Nureyev killed”.

Photo: British ballerina Margot Fonteyn (Margaret Hookham) (1919 – 1991) and her professional partner during his tenure with the Royal Ballet Rudolf Nureyev. (Photo by Potter/Express/Getty Images). 12th December 1965. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)