
20 Bright Moments from 2020
It was a tough year, but there were still some bright spots—amid a sea of Smurfs in France and on the tip of a whale’s tail in the Netherlands; in a rice paddy in Nepal and on the empty streets of Wales. A look at a few moments that made the year more bearable.
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This entertaining encounter. Hossam Nasser, 32, plays with his camel Anter on the west bank of the Nile river in Aswan, Egypt, on Feb. 19.
Amr Abdallah Dalsh/REUTERS
These resourceful kids. Palestinian girls pour water over a child’s head to help him cool off during a heatwave at the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on May 19.
MOHAMMED ABED/AFP via Getty Images
This timely innovation. A woman has her hair curled by special equipment at a beauty salon in Bangkok on July 12.
MLADEN ANTONOV/AFP via Getty Images
This cheeky gentleman. A man smokes a pipe while wearing a face mask during a demonstration in Nantes, France, on June 30 as part of a nationwide day of protests to demand better working conditions for health care workers.
LOIC VENANCE/AFP via Getty Images
These roaming goats. Mountain goats roam the deserted streets of Llandudno, Wales, on March 31. The goats normally live on the rocky Great Orme headland, but the herd was drawn to the town by the lack of people and tourists during quarantine measures.
Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
This national treasure. British World War II veteran Capt. Tom Moore, 99, walks a lap of his garden in the village of Marston Moretaine, north of London, on April 16. Moore walked 100 laps to raise 1,000 pounds for the United Kingdom’s National Health Service. After the public caught wind of his gesture, he went on to raise more than 32 million pounds—and get knighted by the queen.
JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images
The smart way to travel. A woman sits in a hammock on a trailer attached to a motorbike as the driver makes his way through the streets of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on June 12.
TANG CHHIN SOTHY/AFP via Getty Images
The city that never slips, er, sleeps. Robert Burck, better known as the “Naked Cowboy,” falls during a nor’easter storm snowfall in New York City on Dec. 17.
Carlo Allegri/REUTERS
These looks of love. Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, attend the Endeavour Fund Awards at Mansion House in London on March 5.
Samir Hussein/WireImage
This breakfast to go. A seagull snatches a croissant from a breakfast buffet in Copenhagen, Denmark, on June 25.
MADS CLAUS RASMUSSEN/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images
This symbolic treat. Charistan Hood, 4, eats ice cream near a picture of former President Barack Obama at the Black-owned store Ice Cream Heaven in Miami Gardens, Florida, on July 7. Supporters of Blackout Day committed to spending money only at Black-owned businesses to showcase the economic power of the Black community.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
This peaceful moment. A woman relaxes on the sea off the small island of Chrysi, south of Crete, Greece, on July 26.
ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Image
These safety messengers. Local youth representatives dressed as Stormtroopers and Darth Vader patrol in a wooden boat around a submerged village in Manila, Philippines, on May 6 to remind residents to stay at home during the enhanced community quarantine.
TED ALJIBE/AFP via Getty Images
This whale of a catch. A Dutch metro train is saved from disaster after it smashed through a safety barrier but was prevented from plummeting into the water by a sculpture of a whale tail in Spijkenisse, Netherlands, on Nov. 2. The giant silver sculpture is called “Saved by the Whale’s Tail.”
ROBIN UTRECHT/ANP/AFP via Getty Images
These carefree Schtroumpfs. People dressed as Smurfs (Schtroumpfs in French) attend a world-record gathering of the cartoon characters in Landerneau, western France, on March 7.
DAMIEN MEYER/AFP via Getty Images
His perfect view. A father holds up his son so he can see over the fence at Melwood training ground, a playing field for the Liverpool Football Club, as players resume training in Liverpool on May 19.
PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images
This attentive audience. The UceLi Quartet performs for an audience of plants during a concert at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona on June 22.
LLUIS GENE/AFP via Getty Images
The 2020 hairstyle. A Scottish Highland cow grazes in a field in Aitrang, southern Germany, on Jan. 9.
KARL-JOSEF HILDENBRAND/dpa/AFP via Getty Images
Her contagious smile. Splashing in mud and drinking local rice beer, Nepali farmers celebrate National Paddy Day to mark the beginning of the rice-planting season in Tokha village on the outskirts of Kathmandu, Nepal, on June 29.
PRAKASH MATHEMA/AFP via Getty Images
Being on Santa’s Nice List. Elephant Trompita tries to open a gift brought by a visitor as a caretaker dressed as Santa Claus looks on as part of a Christmas tradition at La Aurora Zoo in Guatemala City on Dec. 18.
ORLANDO ESTRADA/AFP via Getty Images
Saying goodbye to 2020. A young seal rests on a beach on the North Sea island of Helgoland, Germany, on Jan. 5.
JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP via Getty Images20 Bright Moments from 2020
It was a tough year, but there were still some bright spots—amid a sea of Smurfs in France and on the tip of a whale’s tail in the Netherlands; in a rice paddy in Nepal and on the empty streets of Wales. A look at a few moments that made the year more bearable.