50 Photos From History That Are Unexpectedly Incredible
Pictures are memories preserved in tangible form, and these are some of the most important pictures from our history.
The saying goes, "Old is gold," and so are these old photographs from our history. Anna Pegler-Gordon, a historian, noted in the mid-2000s that visual media is often more accessible to her pupils than the written record.
They believed that photos made the past more accessible by giving a solid shape to a world that sometimes appears immaterial. Not to mention the image's immediacy, which typically transmits information faster than primary text written in a foreign or unfamiliar language.
This immediacy, according to Pegler-Gordon, also works well in discussion sections, where the shared experience of viewing a picture can serve as a focal point for spirited group debate. It brings together over 3 million people interested in learning about the past through historical images.
The rarely seen photographs, combined with an accurate description of what is being presented—whether it is the event, location, war, year, or anything else—provide a glimpse into our past and spark interesting discussion topics among this generation.
Photography can be a valuable and effective tool for learning about history, but it's also vital to approach all images with a critical eye. Take a look at photos from years ago and learn about the importance of each historical picture in the list curated below.
1. Picture taken in 1979 shows a beach in Iran just a few months before the Islamic Revolution.
darxouls2. Indian soldiers met a French boy when they arrived in France to support the French and British forces in the fight for Marseilles in 1914.
Pavel-Romanov3. Photograph taken on January 1st, 1923, of the last Queen Consort of Mongolia, Genepil.
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4. The old woman who was given 5 minutes to pack and leave before the Russian army destroyed her home leaves with rugs and a photo of her husband.
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5. This picture was taken just minutes before Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated, leading to WWI.
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6. During the 1918 influenza pandemic in California, rail commuters wore white protective masks, one of which said, "Wear a Mask or Go to Jail."
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7. A war veteran in Leningrad is saluted by sailors in 1989.
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8. Photograph of Conrad Schumann, the first official defector, who escaped to the western side on August 15, 1961, after jumping over a fence he was guarding.
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9. A prisoner of war who escaped from the North Korean POW camp met his mother in 1953.
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10. Picture taken in 1988, when the Eiffel Tower was under construction.
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11. Bernard Hoffman photographed a young female welder in Connecticut, circa 1943.
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12. BTS on the set of "The French Chef" with Julia Child in 1963.
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13. Nigeria faced a water crisis in 1969.
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14. A dog was wearing goggles and smoking a pipe in 1915 while French soldiers passed by.
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15. In 1930, people used to look for jobs while wearing their CVs.
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16. John T. Scopes, a high school teacher, was brought to trial on July 10, 1925, for teaching the theory of evolution, which was banned under state law in Tennessee.
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17. Jackie Chan at a benefit concert in 1989, which was held to support the Tiananmen Square protests in Hong Kong.
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18. Do you recall the photo of the unfinished Empire State Building construction workers having lunch? Here's Charles Ebbets, the photographer who took that picture dated back to 9/20/1932.
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19. Atelier photo taken in Budapest, Hungary, in 1920 of "A Lesbian Couple in Semi-Drag Wedding Attire."
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20. In 1958, Prince Charles and Princess Anne were entertained by David Attenborough.
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21. Chief Low Dog, who fought with a bull during the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1881.
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22. A photograph by Max Scheler in 1958 of a coal miner waiting to get into the communal shower after finishing his shift in Gelsenkirchen.
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23. These reporters exposed the Watergate scandal and witnessed President Nixon resign in 1974.
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24. In 1958, babies were left to sleep outside to build their immune systems in Moscow.
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25. Mug shot of David Bowie after being arrested in 1979 for possession of marijuana.
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26. Picture of Nirvana taken in 1991 during a shoot for their music album "Nevermind," released 30 years ago.
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27. Between 1930 and 1970, children were forced to pray to God in a residential school run by the Canadian government and the Catholic Church.
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28. Freddie Mercury in his mother's arms in 1947.
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29. Women walked freely in skirts on the streets of Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1972.
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30. In 1960, John F. Kennedy went door to door campaigning for himself in West Virginia.
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31. A U.S. soldier reads a message written by the Việt Cộng during the Vietnam War that stated, "U.S. Negro Armymen, you are committing the same ignominious crimes in South Vietnam that the KKK clique is perpetrating against your family at home."
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32. A man uses a stick to take a selfie in 1957.
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33.
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34. An Italian soldier feeds a local orphan in Mogadishu in 1993.
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35. The first photograph taken underwater in 1899 of a submerged diver.
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36. Dancing students in Tiananmen Square before the Chinese military could arrive on June 4th, 1989.
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37. Sami, the chimpanzee, escaped, and the director of the Belgrade Zoo tried to convince him to come back.
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38. A photo from 1960, when Martin Luther King Jr. was removing a burnt cross from his front yard.
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39. Cheng Benhua, a Chinese guerrilla fighter, smiles for a photo before her execution by the Japanese.
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40. The photo was taken by Louis Faurer in 1929 when the sun's rays fell inside Grand Central, NYC. It is not possible anymore as the building outside blocks the sun's rays.
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41. Picture from 1925: A cop in New York stops traffic so a mother cat holding a kitten can safely cross the street.
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42. Cincinnati's Old Public Library, where a man looks for books that were demolished in 1955.
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43. Stephen Jaffe took the photo in 1989 when West German school kids were talking to East German soldiers beside the opening of The Berlin Wall.
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44. BTS of Nosferatu when Max Schreck was relaxing in 1922.
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45. This is how women celebrated their birthdays in Iran, 5 years before the Islamic Revolution.
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46. During the Vietnam War in 1970, nurses worked in a makeshift hospital.
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47. On April 1, 1975, during the U.S. withdrawal from South Vietnam, people fought to get on the plane.
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48. Mary Schäffer took the photo in 1907 of Guide Samson Beaver with his wife Leah and their daughter Frances Louise.
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49. When Nicholson thought he was being photographed instead, Kubrick was photographing himself and his daughter in 1980.
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50. Picture of Mt. St. Helens on May 17, 1980, and after 4 months.
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These are some of the most important photographs from history, which have a lot of relevance in today's world. These photographs depict how people were and what they did decades ago.
Share these with your friends and family and tell them the importance of these pictures from our history. Comment and tell us which one of these you like the most.
