On July 24, 1911, American archeologist Hiram Bingham gets his first look
at Machu Picchu, an ancient Inca settlement in Peru that is now one of the
world’s top tourist destinations.

Tucked away in the rocky countryside northwest of Cuzco, Machu Picchu
is believed to have been a summer retreat for Inca leaders, whose civilization
was virtually wiped out by Spanish invaders in the 16th century. For hundreds
of years afterwards, its existence was a secret known only to the peasants
living in the region. That all changed in the summer of 1911, when Bingham
arrived with a small team of explorers to search for the famous “lost” cities
of the Incas.

Hiram Bingham III
(November 19, 1875 – June 6, 1956)