These 52 Amazing Photos From Around The World Sum Up 2016 Perfectly

What a year.
Photographers around the world captured the best and worst moments of the year.
Photographers around the world captured the best and worst moments of the year.
Getty Images/Reuters/Huffington Post Illustration

2016 ― the year everyone loves to hate.

It had its fair share of crazy, unbelievable and tragic moments. During the year’s events, photographers around the world captured amazing images of the good and the bad.

From an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in Syria to the beautiful northern lights over Russia, we combed through Reuters and Getty Images to find some of the most beautiful ― and sometimes overlooked ― photos.

Check out the 52 images below, and here’s to even better photos in 2017:

Jan. 1-4
Ricardo Moraes/Reuters
People watch as fireworks explode over Copacabana beach during New Year's celebrations in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Jan. 1.
Jan. 4-11
Stefan Wermuth/Reuters
A woman with a Ziggy Stardust tattoo visits a mural of David Bowie in Brixton, south London, on Jan. 11. Bowie, a music legend who used daringly androgynous displays of sexuality and glittering costumes to frame legendary rock hits "Ziggy Stardust" and "Space Oddity," died of cancer.
Jan. 11-18
PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU/Getty Images
A man on a horse jumps over a bonfire in the Spanish central village of San Bartolome de Pinares in the province of Avila, Castile and Leon, during the opening of the traditional religious festival "Luminarias" in honor of San Antonio Abad (Saint Anthony), patron saint of animals, on Jan. 16.
Jan. 18-25
Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Turkish Coast Guard personnel help refugees as they swim with buoys, after they toppled over a fisherman dinghy en route to Greece on Jan. 22 in Didim district of Aydin, Turkey.
Jan. 25-Feb. 1
Mario Tama/Getty Images
David Henrique Ferreira, 5 months, who was born with microcephaly, is kissed by his mother, Mylene Helena Ferreira, on Jan. 29 in Recife, Brazil.
Feb. 1-8
Christopher Jue/Getty Images
Zookeepers hold up a large net barricade to capture a zoo staff member dressed as a zebra at Ueno Zoo on Feb. 2 in Tokyo. In the drill to prepare for a scenario of a zebra escape, the Ueno Zoo workers, local police and emergency workers practiced evacuating the guests and capturing the zookeeper in the costume.
Feb. 8-15
SERGEI GAPON/Getty Images
This photo taken on Feb. 13, shows Oleg Melnik, wearing a wire helmet, getting electrical discharges of Tesla coil inside a Faraday cage at the Elemento Science Museum in Minsk, Belarus.
Feb. 15-22
Jorge Silva/Reuters
A Buddhist monk lights a candle at Wat Phra Dhammakaya during a ceremony on Makha Bucha Day in Pathum Thani province, north of Bangkok, on Feb. 22. The Dhammakaya temple is regarded as the country's richest Buddhist temple.
Feb. 22-29
Omar Sobhani/Reuters
Five-year-old Murtaza Ahmadi, an Afghan Lionel Messi fan, wears a shirt signed by Barcelona star Lionel Messi as he plays football at the open area in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Feb. 26.
Feb. 29-March 7
YASIN AKGUL/Getty Images
A woman reacts while walking among the ruins of damaged buildings following heavy fighting between government troops and Kurdish fighters on March 2 in the southeastern Turkey Kurdish town of Cizre, near the border with Syria and Iraq.
March 7-14
MOHD RASFAN/Getty Images
Malaysian schoolchildren wearing glasses with special filters watch the partial solar eclipse at the National Planetarium in Kuala Lumpur on March 9. A total solar eclipse that swept across the vast Indonesian archipelago was witnessed by tens of thousands of sky gazers and marked by parties, Muslim prayers and tribal rituals.
March 14-21
Alberto Reyes/Reuters
Air Force One carrying U.S. President Barack Obama and his family flies over a neighborhood of Havana as it approaches the runway to land at Havana's international airport on March 20.
March 21-28
ARUN SANKAR/Getty Images
An Indian man get his face smeared with colors as he takes part in Holi celebrations in Chennai on March 24. The Hindu festival of Holi, or the "Festival of Colors" heralds the arrival of spring and the end of winter.
March 28-April 4
Marko Djurica/Reuters
Children play at a makeshift camp for migrants and refugees by the Greek-Macedonian border near the village of Idomeni, Greece on March 29.
April 4-11
Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Northern lights seen near the town of Salekhard, Russia, on April 8.
April 11-18
Kyodo/Reuters
Male chimpanzee Chacha screams after escaping from nearby Yagiyama Zoological Park as a man tries to capture him on the power lines at a residential area in Sendai, northern Japan, on April 14. The chimp was eventually caught after being shot with a tranquilizer gun and falling from the power lines.
April 18-25
SAKIS MITROLIDIS/Getty Images
A man holds his head in his hands as he sits among bed frames burned by a fire that tore through a refugee camp in Diavata, northern Greece, on April 20, threatening the lives of more than 2,300 people who live there. More than a dozen tents were destroyed in the blaze.
April 25-May 2
Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
One of 33 lions enjoys his new enclosure at the Emoya Big Cat Sanctuary on May 1 in Vaalwater, South Africa. A total of 33 former circus lions were airlifted to South Africa before being released to live out their lives on the private reserve in the Limpopo Province.
May 2-9
Yawar Nazir/Getty Images
Fishermen resting in their Shikara boat are silhouetted against the setting sun at Dal lake in Srinagar, India, on May 3.
May 9-16
JULIAN STRATENSCHULTE/Getty Images
An aerial photo taken on May 12 shows cars driving on the winding L401 country road past rapeseed fields near Nienstedt, close to Bad Muender am Deister, central Germany.
May 16-23
Gleb Garanich/Reuters
Members of the Ukrainian national guard "Azov" regiment and activists of the Azov civil corps take part in a protest against local elections in pro-Russian rebel-held areas of eastern Ukraine under the Minsk peace agreement, in Kiev, Ukraine, on May 20.
May 23-30
Brendon Thorne/Getty Images
A man walks inside the "Cathedral of Light" at The Royal Botanic Gardens on May 25 in Sydney, Australia. Held annually, Vivid Sydney is the world's largest festival of light, music and ideas.
May 30-June 6
Charles Platiau/Reuters
A couple kisses on the bank as high waters were causing flooding along the Seine River in Paris on June 1.
June 6-13
Rodi Said / Reuters
A woman removes a niqab she was wearing after Syria Democratic Forces took control of her village on the outskirts of Manbij, Syria, on June 9.
June 13-20
MIGUEL SCHINCARIOL/Getty Images
Activists carrying lit candles and flags participate in a vigil in São Paulo, Brazil, to pay tribute on June 15 to the victims of the massacre that occurred at a gay club in Orlando, Florida.
June 20-27
Matt Cardy/Getty Images
A full moon rises behind Glastonbury Tor as people gather to celebrate the summer solstice on June 20 in Somerset, England.
June 27-July 4
Pool/Getty Images
Young people lay wreaths during a service to mark the 100th anniversary of the start of the battle of the Somme at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Memorial on July 1 in Thiepval, France.
July 4-11
Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images
In this handout provided by NASA, the Soyuz MS-01 spacecraft launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, with Expedition 48-49 crewmembers Kate Rubins of NASA, Anatoly Ivanishin of Roscosmos and Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency onboard, on July 7 Kazakh time (July 6 Eastern time).
July 11-18
David Ramos/Getty Images
A tribute is laid on a bench where a person was killed on the Promenade des Anglais on July 17 in Nice, France. A French-Tunisian attacker killed 84 as he drove a lorry through crowds gathered to watch a firework display during Bastille Day celebrations. The attacker then opened fire on people in the crowd before being shot dead by police.
July 18-25
VCG/Getty Images
Tourists sitting in ice buckets eat peppers in a fountain during a competition at Song Dynasty Town on July 20 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province of China. As the ground temperature reached 40 degrees Celsius in Hangzhou, tourists competed eating peppers while sitting in the ice buckets to feel hot and cool at the same time.
July 25-Aug. 1
Getty Images
A thunderstorm occurs over Mount Sakurajima as the volcano erupts violently at 12:03 a.m. on July 26 in Tarumizu, Kagoshima, Japan. The eruption was at the mountain's Showa crater. This is the first time the active volcano in southern Kyushu has spewed out a smokestack that high since an eruption on Aug. 18, 2013, according to the Kagoshima Meteorological Office.
Aug. 1-8
Mario Tama/Getty Images
Fireworks explode over Maracanã stadium with the Mangueira favela community in the foreground during opening ceremonies for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on Aug. 5 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Aug. 8-15
Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
Satellites, planes and comets transit across the night sky under stars that appear to rotate above Corfe Castle on Aug. 12 in the United Kingdom. The Perseids meteor shower occurs every year when the Earth passes through the cloud of debris left by Comet Swift-Tuttle and appears to radiate from the constellation Perseus in the northeastern sky.
Aug. 15-22
VCG/Getty Images
An aerial photo shows tourists visiting the glass-bottom bridge at Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon on Aug. 20 in Zhangjiajie, Hunan Province of China.
Aug. 22-29
MOHD RASFAN/Getty Images
One-year-old female giant panda cub Nuan Nuan reacts inside her enclosure during joint birthday celebrations for the panda and its 10-year-old mother, Liang Liang, at the National Zoo in Kuala Lumpur on Aug. 23.
Aug. 29-Sept. 5
Stefano Montesi/Getty Images
Firefighters continue removing rubble near the bell tower in Amatrice, Italy, on Aug. 30. Italy was struck by a powerful, 6.2-magnitude earthquake on the night of Aug. 24. It killed at least 293 people and devastated dozens of houses in the Lazio village of Pescara del Tronto, Accumoli and Amatrice.
Sept. 5-12
AMEER ALHALBI/Getty Images
Syrian men carrying babies make their way through the rubble of destroyed buildings following a reported airstrike on the rebel-held Salihin neighborhood of the northern city of Aleppo, on Sept. 11.
Sept. 12-19
VCG/Getty Images
A vehicle and a motorcycle make their way through a flooded road after Typhoon Meranti hit on Sept. 15 in Fuzhou, Fujian Province of China.
Sept. 19-26
LUIS ACOSTA/Getty Images
Members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla dance during a cultural event held at their encampment in Llanos del Yari, Caqueta department, Colombia, on Sept. 21.
Sept. 26-Oct. 3
David Ramos/Getty Images
Members of the colla "Vella de Valls" build a human tower during the 26th Tarragona Competition on Oct. 2 in Tarragona, Spain.
Oct. 3-10
LUDOVIC MARIN/Getty Images
A couple dances at sunrise on Oct. 6 on the Trocadero plaza in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
Oct. 10-17
Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters
A woman cries while holding up a portrait of Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej while his body is being moved from the Bangkok hospital where he died to the Grand Palace in Bangkok on Oct. 14.
Oct. 17-24
Carl Court/Getty Images
A boy pauses on his bike as he passes an oil field that was set on fire by retreating ISIS fighters ahead of the Mosul offensive, on Oct. 21 in Qayyarah, Iraq.
Oct. 24-31
Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images
A woman walks past one of the murals in Mitchell Lane on Oct. 26 in Glasgow, Scotland. The murals have been appearing across the city since 2008 with new ones showing up on a regular basis and rejuvenating bare walls of the city.
Oct. 31-Nov. 7
HECTOR RETAMAL/Getty Images
A man cuts wood to prepare charcoal with wood that was left over from damaged trees from Hurricane Matthew in the village of Damassin, in the commune of Coteaux, in southwestern Haiti, on Nov. 3. At least 546 people were killed when Hurricane Matthew roared ashore on Oct. 4, packing winds of 145 mph.
Nov. 7-14
Pierre Crom/Getty Images
Polling staff wait to register voters at a polling station on Nov. 13 in Calfa, Moldova. Moldovans cast their votes in a presidential election for the first time in 20 years, with a runoff between pro-European candidate Maria Sandu and pro-Russian candidate Igor Dodon.
Nov. 14-21
Gallo Images/Getty Images
Activists dressed as foxes participate in the demonstration for the day without fur on Nov. 15 in front of Sejm in Warsaw, Poland. During the demonstration, signatures were collected to create awareness for animals being killed for fur.
Nov. 21-28
Sean Gallup/Getty Images
A passerby photographs a mural showing U.S. President-elect Donald Trump blowing marijuana smoke into the mouth of Russian President Vladimir Putin on the wall of a barbecue restaurant on Nov. 23 in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Nov. 28-Dec. 4
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
A woman with "Fidel" written on her forehead wails after joining thousands of other Cubans who lined the famous Malecón seaside boulevard to pay their respects to former Cuban President Fidel Castro as his remains began their journey across the country on Nov. 30 in Havana, Cuba. The revolutionary leader who brought communism to his island nation in 1959, died Nov. 25 at the age of 90.
Dec. 4-11
MOHAMED ABDIWAHAB/Getty Images
A school pupil kicks a ball during a sports lesson at a school in Mogadishu on Dec. 6.
Dec. 11-18
Leon Neal/Getty Images
People dressed as stormtroopers from the Star Wars franchise of films pose on the Millennium Bridge to promote the latest release in the series, "Rogue One," on Dec. 15 in London.
Dec. 18-25
Sputnik Photo Agency/Reuters
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a memorial ceremony Dec. 22 held for Russia's ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, who was shot dead by an off-duty policeman while delivering a speech in an Ankara art gallery in Moscow on Dec. 19.

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot