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In 1826, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce took the first photograph to have survived to the present day, capturing the view from the window of his studio in Le Gras, France. Just a few years passed and photography had firmly entered people's lives, and history lovers received a new, truly invaluable source of information.

Almost two centuries have passed since then, literally every outstanding person during this time managed to end up on photographic paper, and we know exactly how almost all famous historical events took place. And, of course, there are many not-so-outstanding ones - after all, every person wants to leave a memory of themselves in history, even if it is just a faded piece of cardboard measuring ten by fifteen inches.

Historical photos are of particular interest - it's always great to see how people lived, for example, a hundred years ago. By the way, there is an extremely popular community on Reddit called "100 Years Ago" with over 686K participants. Initially, it was conceived in August 2013 as an attempt by enthusiasts to historically document World War I in photographs, day by day.

But as time went on, it was November 12, 2018 - and community members already enjoyed posting photos taken exactly a century before the current date so much that they continued to do so. As a result, we can now, for example, look at photographs shot in October 1922.

Perhaps, if everything in our world goes well, our descendants will look with interest in this community for some pictures from 2022, but for now, Bored Panda has compiled for you this selection of the most popular and most intriguing community historical photos. So fasten your seat belts, our time machine is going back in time!

More info: Reddit

#1

[july 18, 1920] James Gregory Is Inducted As Morristown, New Jersey’s First Black Policeman

[july 18, 1920] James Gregory Is Inducted As Morristown, New Jersey’s First Black Policeman

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#2

[february 9, 1920] My Grandfather Wanted To Be A Cartoonist. He Worked For The Railroad Instead, Sending Home Many Letters

[february 9, 1920] My Grandfather Wanted To Be A Cartoonist. He Worked For The Railroad Instead, Sending Home Many Letters

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Deborah Harris2
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

He certainly had talent, how excited she must have been getting letters like this x

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#3

[may 16, 1920] Szmul Rzeszewski, An 8-Year-Old Boy, Makes World Headlines When He Defeats 20 Challengers In Paris, Including Some Of The Best Chess Players On Earth, Simultaneously

[may 16, 1920] Szmul Rzeszewski, An 8-Year-Old Boy, Makes World Headlines When He Defeats 20 Challengers In Paris, Including Some Of The Best Chess Players On Earth, Simultaneously

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#5

[february 6, 1922] Chief John Smith Died. He Was An Ojibwe (Chippewa) Indian Who Lived His Entire Life In The Cass Lake, Minnesota Area, And Was Reputed To Have Been 137 Years Old When He Died Of Pneumonia

[february 6, 1922] Chief John Smith Died. He Was An Ojibwe (Chippewa) Indian Who Lived His Entire Life In The Cass Lake, Minnesota Area, And Was Reputed To Have Been 137 Years Old When He Died Of Pneumonia

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Nathaniel
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Imagine all the c**p he had to live through, just because he was a native American.

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After photography came into vogue in the first half of the 19th century, many artists seriously feared that they would now lose their jobs - after all, the camera conveyed reality, landscapes and portraits in much more detail than any painter.

But it turned out exactly the opposite - deprived of the need to follow reality, the artists gave free rein to their imagination - and the second half of the 19th century became a real flowering of various artistic styles. This, by the way, is repeating itself with modern designers and their nightmares of losing their jobs due to the development of neural networks.

#6

[august 16, 1920] After Finding The Bricklaying Business Too Full Of UPS And Downs, This Amazing Young Girl Decided To Take A Shot At Iron Girdering For A Change

[august 16, 1920] After Finding The Bricklaying Business Too Full Of UPS And Downs, This Amazing Young Girl Decided To Take A Shot At Iron Girdering For A Change

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#7

[july 27, 1920] Sailing Into Yokohama Harbor, Japan

[july 27, 1920] Sailing Into Yokohama Harbor, Japan

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#8

[august 15, 1919] Downtown Baghdad, Iraq, Totally Untouched By War

[august 15, 1919] Downtown Baghdad, Iraq, Totally Untouched By War

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#9

[december 28, 1920] Amelia Earhart Flies For The First Time, Sparking Her Lifelong Interest In Aviation. She Disappeared At Sea Just 16 Years Later

[december 28, 1920] Amelia Earhart Flies For The First Time, Sparking Her Lifelong Interest In Aviation. She Disappeared At Sea Just 16 Years Later

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#10

[june 13th, 1920] The United States Post Office Department Rules That Children May Not Be Sent Via Parcel Post

[june 13th, 1920] The United States Post Office Department Rules That Children May Not Be Sent Via Parcel Post

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Nathaniel
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What if you pack the baby properly in a crate? Being sure to drill a couple of airholes of course!

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Interestingly, most of the vintage photographs that we review are actually almost always staged - even those that look completely casual. “The thing is, a hundred years ago it was literally impossible to take a picture on the street without drawing attention to yourself,” says Dmitry Kravtsov, a documentary and portrait photographer from Ukraine, who was approached by Bored Panda for comment.

#11

[july 20, 1919] United Kingdom Flag Created Out Of A Giant Human Formation 1919

[july 20, 1919] United Kingdom Flag Created Out Of A Giant Human Formation 1919

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#12

[july 16th, 1921] Proper Date For The "How You Think You Look" Cartoon As Published In Judge Magazine

[july 16th, 1921] Proper Date For The "How You Think You Look" Cartoon As Published In Judge Magazine

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Sue From Michigan
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's interesting the the "good looking" guy looks very, very feminine. Was that the style 100 years ago?

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#13

[january 15th, 1920] On January 15, 1920, Traumatized Customers Make A Run On A Liquor Store The Day Before Prohibition In America Begins

[january 15th, 1920] On January 15, 1920, Traumatized Customers Make A Run On A Liquor Store The Day Before Prohibition In America Begins

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Marette
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Just think that 100 years later it would be a mad rush for toilet paper....

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#14

[february 13th, 1922] Woman Seated At A Soda Fountain Table Pouring Alcohol Into A Cup From A Cane

[february 13th, 1922] Woman Seated At A Soda Fountain Table Pouring Alcohol Into A Cup From A Cane

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Tamra
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And after you've emptied the contents, you can use it as support to stagger back home.

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#15

[october 5 1919] Enzo Ferrari, An Italian Car Mechanic And Engineer, Enters His First Race. He Finished Fourth

[october 5 1919] Enzo Ferrari, An Italian Car Mechanic And Engineer, Enters His First Race. He Finished Fourth

Ferrari was a good driver, but not great. He won just 13 of the 47 races he entered. Some say he cared too much for the sports cars he drove and could never ruin an engine in order to win.

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"Remember what photographic equipment was more than a hundred years ago - a tripod, a cape for a photographer, a massive camera - of course, all this attracted the attention of people around," Dmitry comments. "So even if people were asked to ignore the photographer, they still tried to look more impressive, even unconsciously. And now we look at these photos, and think - hell, even ordinary people looked so stylish a hundred years ago!"

#16

[may 11, 1917] Kurdish Girls Carrying Water, May 11, 1917

[may 11, 1917] Kurdish Girls Carrying Water, May 11, 1917

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#17

[june 10th, 1922] Frances Ethel Gumm Is Born In Grand Rapids, Minnesota

[june 10th, 1922] Frances Ethel Gumm Is Born In Grand Rapids, Minnesota

She'd go on to become Judy Garland and have an illustrious career as an actress and singer, her most iconic role being that of Dorothy Gale in The Wizard Of Oz (1939)

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ali lilley
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And then the studios introduced her to drugs and the rest is history. So very sad.

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#18

[april 3rd, 1920] In One Of The Great Celebrity Marriages Of The Year, Novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald And Flapper Zelda Sayre Were Married In New York City, Eight Days After The Publication Of His Bestselling Novel, "This Side Of Paradise"

[april 3rd, 1920] In One Of The Great Celebrity Marriages Of The Year, Novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald And Flapper Zelda Sayre Were Married In New York City, Eight Days After The Publication Of His Bestselling Novel, "This Side Of Paradise"

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#19

[july 15, 1919] An Unidentified Couple Posed For A Photo Just After Getting Engaged On July 15, 1919

[july 15, 1919] An Unidentified Couple Posed For A Photo Just After Getting Engaged On July 15, 1919

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#20

[november 25, 1919] Italian Opera Singer Luisa Tetrazzini, At Her Arrival In New York Aboard The Liner Mauretania On Nov. 25, 1919

[november 25, 1919] Italian Opera Singer Luisa Tetrazzini, At Her Arrival In New York Aboard The Liner Mauretania On Nov. 25, 1919

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“As for classic staged or studio photographs, there’s nothing to say here. They prepared for the shooting in advance, put on the most beautiful outfits, took spectacular poses. Many photographers in their studios even had entire reference books - collections of beautiful poses, both for singles and for pair and group shots. And do not forget that an ordinary person, not rich or famous, took no more than ten photographs in their life - after all, they were expensive, really expensive," says Dmitry Kravtsov.

#21

[may 30, 1922] The Lincoln Memorial Is Dedicated After 8 Years Of Construction. In Attendance Was Robert Todd Lincoln, The Only Living Relative Of The 16th President

[may 30, 1922] The Lincoln Memorial Is Dedicated After 8 Years Of Construction. In Attendance Was Robert Todd Lincoln, The Only Living Relative Of The 16th President

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Disgruntled Pelican
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I absolutely hate that I never asked my grandfather about these events before he passed. He was born in 1913 so he probably wouldn't remember this in particular, but it still amazes me to think about what he lived through.

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#22

[september 9th, 1921] Charlie Chaplin Visits London And Is Met By Thousands

[september 9th, 1921] Charlie Chaplin Visits London And Is Met By Thousands

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#23

[dec. 25, 1916] Photograph: British Soldiers Eating Christmas Dinner In A Shell Hole

[dec. 25, 1916] Photograph: British Soldiers Eating Christmas Dinner In A Shell Hole

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#24

[april 2, 1921] Albert Einstein Arriving In New York Where He Spoke On Relativity And Support For Palestine

[april 2, 1921] Albert Einstein Arriving In New York Where He Spoke On Relativity And Support For Palestine

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Rachel Grig
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What a misleading headline. He supported JEWISH sovereignty in the land that would become Israel.

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#25

[february 10, 1921] Buster Keaton's Short Film The Haunted House Is Released

[february 10, 1921] Buster Keaton's Short Film The Haunted House Is Released

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However, it was really worth it. And now, thanks to the fact that people were so fond of being captured on film a hundred or more years ago, we can open a real window into the past. So feel free to see how our ancestors lived, what they ate, what they were fond of and how they dressed - even if it was the most elegant clothes in their entire lives. Well, let's scroll to the very end of this collection and enjoy the pure spirit of history together!

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#26

[june 6, 1922] Legendary Actress And Singer Lillian Russell Dies Unexpectedly At 61. Among Her Many Accomplishments, She Was The First Voice Ever Heard On A Long Distance Phone Call

[june 6, 1922] Legendary Actress And Singer Lillian Russell Dies Unexpectedly At 61. Among Her Many Accomplishments, She Was The First Voice Ever Heard On A Long Distance Phone Call

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sofacushionfort
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Pro: daughter of a feminist and was a suffragette. Con: worked to block immigration to the US from Southern Europe, the Middle East and Asia

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#27

[april 8, 1920] The Chicago Post Office Has Adopted Roller Skates For Its Clerks As They Enable Them To Work More Rapidly, Thereby Saving Valuable Time

[april 8, 1920] The Chicago Post Office Has Adopted Roller Skates For Its Clerks As They Enable Them To Work More Rapidly, Thereby Saving Valuable Time

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#28

[july 26, 1920] ‪the “Pickle Sisters,” A Vaudeville Group Named After The Expression For When Two Women Have Sex With The Same Man.‬

[july 26, 1920] ‪the “Pickle Sisters,” A Vaudeville Group Named After The Expression For When Two Women Have Sex With The Same Man.‬

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Nathaniel
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Vaudeville was chock full of in jokes and innuendo, names that were rude only if you knew what they meant.

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#29

[june 1st, 1921] Greenwood, The African-American Business And Residential Section Of Tulsa, Is Burned Down By White Rioters

[june 1st, 1921] Greenwood, The African-American Business And Residential Section Of Tulsa, Is Burned Down By White Rioters

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Tee with a Twist
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1 year ago

This comment has been deleted.

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#30

[august 5th, 1922] "Four Prize Winners In Annual Beauty Show, Washington Bathing Beach, Washington, D.c. Left To Right: Gay Gatley, Eva Fridell, Anna Neibel, Iola Swinnerton."

[august 5th, 1922] "Four Prize Winners In Annual Beauty Show, Washington Bathing Beach, Washington, D.c. Left To Right: Gay Gatley, Eva Fridell, Anna Neibel, Iola Swinnerton."

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Note: this post originally had 42 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.