Proof $1+2+3+4+\cdots+n = \frac{n\times(n+1)}2$

Let $$S = 1 + 2 + \ldots + (n-1) + n.$$ Write it backwards: $$S = n + (n-1) + \ldots + 2 + 1.$$ Add the two equations, term by term; each term is $n+1,$ so $$2S = (n+1) + (n+1) + \ldots + (n+1) = n(n+1).$$ Divide by 2: $$S = \frac{n(n+1)}{2}.$$

My favourite proof is the one given here on MathOverflow. I'm copying the picture here for easy reference, but full credit goes to Mariano Suárez-Alvarez for this answer.

Takes a little bit of looking at it to see what's going on, but it's nice once you get it. Observe that if there are n rows of yellow discs, then:

1. there are a total of 1 + 2 + ... + n yellow discs;
2. every yellow disc corresponds to a unique pair of blue discs, and vice versa;
3. there are ${n+1 \choose 2} = \frac 12 n(n+1)$ such pairs.

What a big sum! This is one of those questions that have dozens of proofs because of their utility and instructional use. I present my two favorite proofs: one because of its simplicity, and one because I came up with it on my own (that is, before seeing others do it - it's known).

The first involves the above picture:

In short, note that we want to know how many boxes are in the outlined region, as the first column has 1 box, the second 2, and so on (1 + 2 + ... + n). One way to count this quickly is to take another copy of this section and attach it below, making a $n*(n+1)$ box that has exactly twice as many squares as we actually want. But there are $n*(n+1)$ little squares in this area, so our sum is half that: $$ 1 + 2 + ... + n = \dfrac{n(n+1)}{2}. $$

Second proof, same as the first but a little bit harder and a little bit worse:

Let us take for granted the finite geometric sum $1 + x + x^2 + ... + x^n = \dfrac{x^{n+1} - 1}{x-1}$ (If you are unfamiliar with this, comment and I'll direct you to a proof). This is a polynomial - so let's differentiate it. We get $$ 1 + 2x + 3x^2 + ... + nx^{n-1} = \dfrac{ (n+1)x^n (x-1) - x^{n+1} + 1}{ (x-1)^2 }$$ Taking the limit as x approaches 1, we get

$$ \lim_{x \to 1} \dfrac{ (n+1)x^n (x-1) - x^{n+1} + 1}{ (x-1)^2} = \dfrac{ (n+1) [ (n+1)x^n - nx^{n-1} ] - (n+1)x^n }{2(x-1)} = $$ $$ \lim_{x \to 1} \dfrac{ (n+1)[(n+1)(n)x^{n-1} - n(n-1)x^{n-2}] - (n+1)(n)x^{n-1} } {2}$$

where we used two applications of l'Hopital above. This limit exists, and plugging in x = 1 we see that we get $$ \dfrac{1}{2} * (n+1)(n) [ (n+1) - (n-1) - 1] = \dfrac{ (n)(n+1)}{2}.$$

And that concludes the second proof.