National Geographic is an American magazine that is noted for its cover stories and accompanying photography. The first photo to appear on the cover of National Geographic was in the July 1959 issue of the magazine. The cover story titled "New Stars for Old Glory" featured the 49-star flag of the United States after Alaska's admission to the Union as a U.S. state, which was signed into law on July 3, 1959, by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The article was written by Lonnelle Aikman, with the photograph captured by B. Anthony Stewart.

Throughout the 1960s National Geographic's cover stories showcased global historical events such as the one hundredth Anniversary of the Unification of Italy and America's involvement in the Vietnam War. Cover stories included articles written by notable writers such as Jacques Cousteau, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Jane Goodall and Melville Bell Grosvenor. Cover photos were published by notable photographers such as Winfield Parks, Helen and Frank Schreider and twin brothers Frank and John Craighead.

The 1960s saw articles written and photographed at locations around the globe featuring wildlife like the March 1967 issue titled "Snowflake, the World's First White Gorilla", written by Arthur J. Riopelle with a photo on the cover of Snowflake the gorilla, photographed by Paul A. Zahl. Articles featured on the cover of the magazine also included human-interest stories such as "Afghanistan: Crossroads of Conquerors", written and photographed by Thomas J. Abercrombie featuring an Afghan family in the September 1968 issue. Many geographical locations were featured including Mount Everest in the October 1963 article "Six to the Summit" about the American Everest expedition, written by Norman Dyhrenfurth with photographs by mountaineer Barry C. Bishop.

In the December 1969 issue, astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins wrote the cover story titled "First Explorers on the Moon", writing in detail their account of the Apollo 11 mission and what it was like being the first humans on the Moon. The photo on the cover of the magazine featured a picture taken from space by Armstrong, that of Aldrin in a spacesuit on the surface of the Moon.

1959 Only five issues were published in 1959 with photos on the cover.

+ Title Date Author Photographer/artist Images New Stars for Old Glory July 1959 Lonnelle Aikman B. Anthony Stewart Flag of the United States Pacific Fleet: Force for Peace September 1959 W.E. Garrett Franc Shor A jet's afterburner Creatures of Hawaii's Coral Reefs October 1959 Paul A. Zahl Paul A. Zahl Girl gathering Sea urchins California's Wonderful One November 1959 Frank Cameron B. Anthony Stewart Golden Gate Bridge New Guinea to Bali in Yankee December 1959 Irving and Electa Johnson W. L. Newton Brigantine Yankee

1960

+ Title Date Author Photographer/artist Images Little Laos, Next Door to Red China January 1960 Elizabeth Perazic Hannah Herz Laos rice-farmer with water buffalo Chile, The Long and Narrow Land February 1960 Kip Ross Staff photographer Chilean man Fountain of Fire in Hawaii March 1960 Frederick Simpich Jr. Robert B. Goodman Volcano in Hawaii Diving Saucer Takes to the Deep April 1960 Jacques Cousteau Photographer Diving Saucer When the President Goes Abroad May 1960 Gilbert M. Grosvenor Gilbert M. Grosvenor Dwight D. Eisenhower Eternal France June 1960 Walter Meayers Edwards Walter Meayers Edwards Arc de Triomphe Space Pioneers of NASA July 1960 Allan C. Fisher Jr. Dean Conger Space capsule Knocking Out Grizzly Bears For Their Own Good August 1960 Frank and John Craighead Frank and John Craighead Grizzly bears Where Elephants Have the Right of Way September 1960 George and Jinx Rodger George and Jinx Rodger Women of Uganda (picture shaped of Africa) From the Hair of Silva October 1960 Helen and Frank Schreider Helen and Frank Schreider person pryaing at Taj Mahal The Hummingbirds November 1960 Crawford Greenewalt Crawford Greenewalt Hummingbird Japan: The Exquisite Enigma December 1960 Franc Shor John Landois Japanese Maiko

1961

+ Title Date Author Photographer/artist Images Inside the White House January 1961 Lonnelle Aikman B. Anthony Stewart White House Exploring New Britain's Land of Fire February 1961 E. Thomas Gilliard E. Thomas Gilliard New Guinea native The Magic Road Round Ireland March 1961 H. V. Morton Robert F. Sisson Irish woman Witness to a War April 1961 Robert T. Cochran Illustrated London News Battery Wagner Indonesia: The Young and Troubled Island Nation May 1961 Helen and Frank Schreider Helen and Frank Schreider Balinese woman The city: London's Storied Square Mile June 1961 Allen C. Fisher Melville Bell Grosvenor Grenadier Guards in London, England From Sea to Shining Sea: A Cross Section of the United States Along Historic Route 40 July 1961 Ralph Gray Photomontage of the United States Report on Laos August 1961 Peter T. White W.E. Garrett Laos children eating noodles United Nations: Capital of the Family Man September 1961 Adlai E. Stevenson Headquarters of the United Nations Mexico in Motion October 1961 Bart McDowell Kip Ross Mexican woman United Italy Marks its 100th Year November 1961 Nathaniel T. Kenney William Palmstrom Map of Italy The Kress Collection: A Gift to the Nation December 1961 Guy Emmerson, Litt. D. Samuel Henry Kress collection Madonna art

1962

+ Title Date Author Photographer/artist Images Florida's Coral City Beneath the Sea January 1962 Jerry Greenberg Jerry Greenberg diver at Coral Reef State Park Roseate spoonbill – Radiant birds of the gulf coast February 1962 Robert Porter Allen Frederick Kent Truslow Roseate spoonbill Journey to Outer Mongolia March 1962 William O. Douglas Dean Conger Mongolians Huzza for Ataheite! April 1962 Luis Marden Luis Marden Bounty (1960 ship) Australian New Guinea May 1962 John Scofield John Scofield New Guinea tribesman John Glenn's three orbits in Friendship 7 June 1962 Robert B. Voas Robert C. Maple John Glenn Tahiti, "Finest Island in the World" July 1962 Luis Marden Luis Marden Tahitian woman Cape Cod – Where Sea holds Sway Over Man and Land August 1962 Nathaniel T. Kenney Dean Conger Cape Cod map Brazil, Oba! September 1962 Peter T. White Winfield Parks Copacabana Beach, Brazil California's City of Angels October 1962 Robert D. Roos Thomas Nebbia Hollywood Boulevard Helicopter Over South Viet nam November 1962 Dickey Chapelle Dickey Chapelle South Vietnam village on fire Puerto Rico's Seven-League Bootstraps December 1962 Bart McDowell B. Anthony Stewart Cruise ship Empress

1963

+ Title Date Author Photographer/artist Images Expeditions of the National Geographic Society 1888–1963 January 1963 Melvin M. Payne Tom Lovell Explorer I Burma – Gentle Neighbor of India and Red China February 1963 W. Robert Moore W. Robert Moore A Burmese woman dancing Arizona: Booming Youngster of the West March 1963 Robert De Roos Robert F. Sisson Navajo Herder in Arizona Ships Through the Ages: A Saga of the Seas April 1963 Alan Villiers Willem van de Velde HMS Resolution India: Subcontinent in Crisis May 1963 John Scofield John Scofield Rajasthan woman Italian Riviera, Land that Winter Forgot June 1963 Howell Walker Howell Walker Portofino, Italy Athens: Golden Past and Busy Present July 1963 Kenneth F. Weaver Phillip Harrington Parthenon The Magic Worlds of Walt Disney August 1963 Robert De Roos Thomas Nebbia Girls at Disneyland Australia: Vigorous Young Nation in the South Seas September 1963 Alan Villiers Robert B. Goodman Australian boat and swimmers Six to the Summit October 1963 Norman Dyhrenfurth Barry C. Bishop Mount Everest The Parks in Your Backyard November 1963 Conrad L. Wirth Albert Moldvay Deer at a national park Triumph of the First Crusade to the Holy land: The Capture of Jerusalem December 1963 Franc Shor Thomas Nebbia Nicaea under siege

1964

+ Title Date Author Photographer/artist Images The Nation's Capital Revealed as Never Before January 1964 Senator Carl Hayden George F. Mobley U.S. Capitol The Five Worlds of Peru February 1964 Kenneth F. Weaver Bates Littlehales Native Peruvian baby How We Plan to Put Men on the Moon March 1964 Hugh Latimer Dryden David Weltzer Gemini spacecraft At Home in the Sea April 1964 Capt. Jacques-Yves Cousteau Robert B. Goodman Undersea village Red Sea President Johnson Dedicates the Society's New Headquarters May 1964 Staff writer Bates Littlehales Lyndon B. Johnson at National Geographic Headquarters Exploring America Underground June 1964 Charles H. Mohr Carlsbad Caverns World's Tallest Tree Discovered July 1964 Melville Bell Grosvenor George F. Mobley Redwood Para-Explorers Challenge Peru's Unknown Vilcabamba August 1964 G. Brooks Baekeland Peter Gimbel Parachuteer Ambassadors of Good Will, the Peace Corps: Ecuador September 1964 Rhoda and Earle Brooks David S. Boyer Peace Corps in Ecuador Cambodia, Indochina's "Neutral" Corner October 1964 Thomas J. Abercrombie Thomas J. Abercrombie Cambodian dancer with mask in front of Angkor Wat This is the China I Saw November 1964 Jorgen Bisch Jorgen Bisch woman at Peking opera Jerusalem, My Home December 1964 Bertha Spafford Vester Photographer Doves in Jerusalem

1965

+ Title Date Author Photographer/artist Images Americans in Action in Vietnam January 1965 Howard Sochurek Howard Sochurek soldiers walking in Vietnam War Four-Ocean Navy in the Nuclear Age February 1965 Thomas W. Mcknew Winfield Parks USS Enterprise The Changing Face of Old Spain March 1965 Bart McDowell Albert Moldvay Flamenco dancer Ethiopian Adventure April 1965 Nathaniel T. Kenny James P. Blair Holyman of Ethiopia holding cross Yankee Cruises the Stored Nile May 1965 Irving and Electa Johnson Winfield Parks sailboat going by Abu Simbel Moths that Behave Like Hummingbirds June 1965 Treat Davidson Treat Davidson Sphinx moth Down the Danube by Canoe July 1965 William Slade Backer kayakers in front of Budapest building The Churchill I Knew August 1965 Dwight D. Eisenhower George W. Harris Winston Churchill giving victory symobol United States Air Force: Power for Peace September 1965 Curtis LeMay Albert Moldvay F-105 Thunderchief Mustang, Nepal's Lost Kingdom October 1965 Michel Peissel Michel Peissel People of Nepal I Joined a Sahara Salt Caravan November 1965 Victor Englebert Victor Englebert Veiled Tuareg noble New Discoveries Among Africa's Chimpanzees December 1965 Jane Goodall Hugo van Lawick Jane Goodall with chimpanzees

1966

+ Title Date Author Photographer/artist Images Saudi Arabia January 1966 Thomas J. Abercrombie Thomas J. Abercrombie Bedouin on a camel Flamboyant is the World for Bolivia February 1966 Loren McIntyre Loren McIntyre Bolivian woman collecting food An American in Moscow March 1966 Thomas S. Hammond Dean Conger Saint Basil's Cathedral Working for Weeks on the Sea Floor April 1966 Jacques Cousteau Philippe Cousteau Scuba divers in the Medieirtian Sea California, The Golden Magnet: Natures North May 1966 William Graves Jonathan Blair One Man's London June 1966 Allan C. Fisher Jr. James P. Blair Life Guards (UK) Today and Tomorrow in Our National Parks July 1966 Melville Bell Grosvenor Emory Kristof Woman at Cape Hatteras 900 Years Ago: The Norman Conquest August 1966 Kenneth M. Setton George F. Mobley Norman warrior The Philippines September 1966 Robert D. Roos Ted Spiegel Bandurria player in Philippines To Gilbert Grosvenor: A Monthly Monument 25 Miles High October 1966 Frederick G. Vosburgh Staff photographer Gilbert Grosvenor with binoculars Marvels of a Coral Realm November 1966 Walter A. Starck II Walter A. Starck II Queen angelfish Abraham, the Friend of God December 1966 Kenneth McLeish Dean Conger Arab tending sheep

1967