What makes us grin, smile, belly-laugh? There are myriad triggers, of course, ranging from the sweet and the lighthearted to the dark and (occasionally) the deeply twisted. Here, as a visual antidote to the seemingly endless litany of bad news we’ve all endured over the past several months, TIME’s photo editors offer a selection of iconic, sunny, jubilant pictures from across the decades.
20 Timeless Photos That Made Our Week
Pete Souza / The White House / Getty Images
U.S. President Barack Obama greets Nicholas Tamarin outside the Oval Office in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 26, 2012.