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While we tend to think of history as these big picture moments, time passed “back then” as it does now, minute by minute, day by day. The figures we learn about in school also had private lives, quiet moments, hobbies and free time. Ever since the invention of the camera, people have been able to document these moments, big and small, for posterity.
We’ve gathered some cool and possibly unseen photos from the past that help show fascinating scenes from history. So get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote your favorites and be sure to share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section down below.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Inventor Nikola Tesla In His Laboratory In Colorado Springs, 1899
funkybluegirl (she/her) 4 months ago
There is a fictionalized version of this in the movie The Prestige. With David Bowie playing Tesla.
Jane Hower 3 months ago
Wish we had access to all of his inventions - we'd be a different world now. Sadly the 'govt' hid or destroyed his work.
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#2
Publicity Photo Of Audrey Hepburn, Doing Ballet, 1956
Na Schi 4 months ago
She looks so thin, almost anorexic. Is this healthy? Or better, was that healthy for her? (Maybe she had a petit and fragile frame... just wondering.)
Pollywog 4 months ago
She was naturally slender, ate healthy and exercised (mostly dancing). She experienced severe malnutrition as a child from the German occupation of the Netherlands during WWII. Her family has stated she never had an eating disorder.
Load More Replies... Tyranamar 4 months ago
Does everyone realize she was a prostitute in Breakfast at Tiffany's? I just read the book. It was not what I thought it would be about. It's about a gay man in love with a prostitute.
Pyla 4 months ago
You need to read more books, not to be offensive, but it's WIDELY known that Capote's version was more autobiographical than the movie ever set out to be. Yes, she's a call girl, but he's a gigolo, so for the era it was in, it works. I am WHOLLY wondering why this bothered you more than the yellow-washing done with Mickey Rooney playing a Japanese character. I mean, come on. Besides. If you read "In Cold Blood" you will know, with absolute precision, that Capote is a genius and a great writer.
Load More Replies... #3
Miss Eastine Cowner, A Former Waitress, Is Helping In Her Job As A Scaler To Construct The Liberty Ship SS George Washington Carver, 1943
Geoffrey Scott 4 months ago
Yes, no hearing protection, nor eye protection.
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Bill Swallow 4 months ago
Doing her part for the war effort, learning things, and getting better pay. You bet she's happy - *especially* given the name of the ship!
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Mel in Georgia 4 months ago
For some reason, I was thinking about GWC recently. Didn't know he had a ship named after him. It was decommissioned in 1993, but I fear if it was still in service it would have a name changed because of the DEI concerns of the current US administration. Makes me want to tear my hair out.
Mel in Georgia 4 months ago
Oh, just remembered why I thought of him. He was one of the few Black contributors to science and enterprise highlighted in my early education. Let's hope his legacy is continued to be taught.
Load More Replies...There's something strong about gazing into the past through the lens of an old photograph. Even photographs decades old can give us a surge of discovery, as if we've found a secret time capsule hidden in an attic. Every crease, every speck of darkness, holds out possibility for moments that defined individuals and places, moments we weren't there to witness, yet that somehow are real when we view them.
Old photographs also let us glimpse worlds lost. The clothing, the architecture, the everyday objects all inform us about what life was like, what work was done, and what dreams were pursued in other eras. What is quaint or odd to us now, a luxurious hat, a streetcar thundering down a muddy avenue, becomes a rich clue to the struggles and hopes of past times. Thus, every snapshot is a small classroom, instructing us in cultural change and lost customs.
#4
Police Dog, Tess, 1935
Glen Ellyn 4 months ago
Telephone Tess is listening to the neighborhood gossip on the party line. 🤭
Unicorn Handstand 4 months ago
"AGAIN?!?! We told him to stay away! That's the 3rd time this week that hooligan gets himself stuck there"
Load More Replies... Bill Swallow 4 months ago
"Hello, Operator, give me... Oh, is that you, Myrt? How's every little thing, Myrt? Fleas, huh? I warned you about that mangy cur!"
#5
Albert Einstein Plays The Violin, 1927
Michael Largey 4 months ago (edited)
He wasn't a virtuoso at the violin, but he played it relatively well.
#6
Marilyn Monroe Learns How To Use An Oxygen Mask Aboard An Air Force Jet To Korea Where She Entertained The Troops, U.S. Air Force Photo, 1954
Mel in Georgia 4 months ago
I love how this glamorous woman seems so comfortable being close and attentive to an "ordinary" woman. Marilyn was a good person.
Daniela Lavanza 4 months ago
Indeed, she had so much talent and and a kind heart. And as a jazz lover, I can't forget we owe her Ella Fitzgerald's brilliant career.
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There is a wistful beauty in the shortcomings of early photo technology. The soft focus, light leaks, and hand-coloring color a dreamy, almost painterly sheen that high-resolution digital images nowadays hardly reach. Those blemishes remind us photography was not always straightforward, but the intersection of chemistry and patience and deliberate composition. Those photos are frequently more enigmatic and vibrant than the tack-sharp images we snap with our phones these days.
#7
Messerschmitt Kabinenroller Cars, With An Advertisement For The Film A Prize Of Gold Starring Richard Widmark, 1955
BrunoVI 4 months ago
WHY??? They look positively uncomfortable and don't even get the city mileage of my Prius crossover. (Their highway mileage is kinda irrelevant since they can only do 63 MPH.)
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Der Kommissar 4 months ago
Made by the same company that manufactured the fighter plane BF 109
TotallyNOTAFox 4 months ago (edited)
And more famously the Me 262 - The first mass produced jet fighter. Not really uncommon that plane factories went into car production after the war though
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Marlene Ricker 4 months ago
I think I would like one of these cars! They are just the right size!
#8
Very Large Elephant Seal Named Goliath At The Vincennes Zoo, Paris, With Zoo Staff Member, 1936
Robert T 4 months ago
Probably isn't but the keeper looks an awful lot like Johnny Morris. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Morris_(television_presenter)
#9
Ned Parfett, Paperboy, Outside The White Star Line Offices In London, 1912
Maples Dad 4 months ago
Lesser known photos? This is one of the most famous photographs from the 20th century.
Jaya 4 months ago (edited)
I don't think I've ever seen it before. (But I was born in the 80s, and I'm European, that might influence it?) I'm not saying it's not a super famous picture by the way, it could very well be.
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Beyond beauty and history, old pictures also speak to our shared humanity. When we look at a 1920 family picture or a 1950 street scene, we catch glimpses of faces full of hopes and fears and daily pleasures. We connect with people who are unknown to us from the past, witnessing the same thrill over a birthday party, the same love between loved ones, the same daily triumphs and worries. It's a powerful reminder that, despite the decades that have passed, human emotion and experience are amazingly uniform.
#10
Peking Mission School Children At Play, The Dragon's Head, China, 1902
Grm Moore 4 months ago
mission schools in China faced accusations and public inquiries regarding student deaths and mistreatment, leading to investigations and, in some cases, imprisonment of staff. Mission schools were established to aid evangelism, train religious leaders, and introduce Western education and ideas.
Paulina 4 months ago
The same thing happened in Christian schools in pretty much every country they went to...
Load More Replies... #11
Sir Winston Churchill With His Son Randolf And The Latter's Son Winston In Coronation Robes, 1953
Debby Keir 4 months ago
This should read 'their robes FOR the coronation'. Coronation robes are worn by those being crowned.
#12
Mrs. Coolidge & White House Pet Raccoon Rebecca, 1927
Mel in Georgia 4 months ago
Only James K. Polk, Andrew Johnson, and Donald Trump did not have any presidential pets while in office. (However, Johnson did take care of some mice he found in his bedroom.)
Finally, vintage photos inspire us to think about change, personal and societal. They may cause us to yearn for times we barely knew, but encourage us to consider how far we've come. By looking at yesterday's sidewalks and closets versus today's, we gain perspective on the pace of improvement and trend of fashion. By letting these photos speak, we breathe life into memories, providing a bridge that brings our present world and parts of the past together.
#13
Dog Show, 1920
#14
President Roosevelt In His Wheelchair On The Porch At Top Cottage In Hyde Park, NY, With Ruthie Bie And Fala, 1941
Janissary35680 4 months ago
Before and during WWII, the fact that Roosevelt was confined to a wheelchair was known but not widely acknowledged. Public appearances of Roosevelt as both a candidate and as governor and president were carefully staged and choreographed so as not to draw attention to this fact.
Michael Largey 4 months ago
Correct. This picture would never have been made public while he was alive.
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BeesEelsAndPups 4 months ago
Great news everyone. With the great RFK Jr in charge of health, we can look forward to many more pictures of people in wheelchairs, as we can expect a rise in polio cases throughout the United States!
Victor Botha 4 months ago
And all the old iron lung machines getting dusted off to be pressed into service again.
Load More Replies... #15
The Family Bicycle Included A Sewing Machine, Invented In 1939
sbj 4 months ago
Even when the rest of the family are having fun the mother is still expected to do chores
#16
On The Merry-Go-Round At Deepwater Races - Deepwater, NSW C. 1910
bElLa sTairZz 4 months ago
i dont think they could any other way with skirts that narrow
Load More Replies... #17
Marilyn Monroe Visits American GIs In Korea, 1954
Michael Largey 4 months ago
When she returned from Korea, she told her husband - baseball legend Joe DiMaggio - "Joe, you've never heard such cheering." He calmly replied "Yes, I have."
#18
Women's Bicycle Race In Caubourg, 1894
Michael None 4 months ago
Gimme a c-note on number four. She's one huckleberry above a persimmon.
Catlady6000 4 months ago
A couple of those ladies don't look like they know what they are doing
#19
Publicity Photo Of Lucille Ball, As Superman, 1957
JK 4 months ago
Lucille Ball was "woke" sixty years before the term was coined. She was the first to show a man and woman in the bedroom, albeit in separate twin beds.
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#20
Icarus, Empire State Building, 1930
TotallyNOTAFox 4 months ago
Let's hope it went better for this lad than it did for Icarus though
#21
The Standard Vanguard Phase 1 Was The First Completely New British Car Design To Emerge After World War II, 1947
#22
A Giant Sequoia Log, Undated - Generals Highway, Three Rivers, Tulare County, Ca
Oerff On Tour 4 months ago
Imagine how many toothpicks you can make from this tree
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rustyscate 4 months ago
It’s sad to see the peak time of deforestation but it’s also very impressive that they used a hand saw
Marlene Ricker 4 months ago
I hate that they felt it necessary to cut down these extremely old and majestic trees!
#23
President Richard Nixon Plays The Piano At The Truman Library, 1969
Michael Largey 4 months ago
He played "The Missouri Waltz" for Truman, who despised the song only slightly less than he despised Nixon.
#24
Lighthouse Keeper Cleaning Lens At The Pensacola Lighthouse, Ca. 1960
#25
Rare Snow In New Orleans, 1958
Michael Largey 4 months ago
You can get all the snow you want in New Orleans if you go to the right parts of Bourbon Street.
Janet Horwith 4 months ago
What manner of cold wet discharge is this that falls from the sky???
Pyla 4 months ago
Ahhh! Yet another science flunker! What was that bored panda meme I just saw? If you see a school bus, just get on it.
Load More Replies... #26
Telephone Switchboard Operators, Ca. 1922
BrunoVI 4 months ago
It seems so weird that in The Wall, Pink needed a switchboard operator to patch a phone call to "the states." (That was a real switchboard operator, too, not an actress. She had no idea she was going to end up on a rock album, so the confusion in her voice would be genuine.)
#27
Telephone Operators, 1929
#28
Mule Carrying Wheels, Trails And Axeltree Of 75 Mm Mountain Artillery, Elswick Works, Newcastle Upon Tyne
Ace 4 months ago
Well yes, how many Newcastle on Tynes are there outside of England?
Load More Replies... Lady Eowyn 4 months ago
Timbob could simply have asked "what country" without adding the "dippy."
#29
Napoleon Sarony, Hoop Skirt, 1893
Smeghead Tribble Down Under 4 months ago
How on earth were you meant to use the loo in those things?
jonesnori 4 months ago
Drawers in those days were split, so you didn't have to take them off to use the loo. You hold or place the chamber pot under you, squat, and go.
Load More Replies... jonesnori 4 months ago
The crinolines were collapsible. They were made up of rings of boning connected by sturdy fabric tapes, as you can see in these quite risqué pictures. They would move with you. They were also much lighter-weight than the multiple layers of frilly petticoats previously used to make skirts flounce, and wouldn't wrap around your legs and interfere with walking. People danced in them! (And well-fitted corsets worn over a shift were quite comfortable and supportive.)
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#30
Dog Albina - Participant In Experiments On Launching Space Rockets Into Near-Earth Space, Moscow, 1957
Chonky Panda 4 months ago
Albina was one of the many dogs who was sent in a sub-orbital flights (compared to e.g. Laika who was sent in an orbital flight) and she made a safe return back ❤️
Janet Horwith 4 months ago
What they did to those poor sweet doggies is cause to be flayed alive then burned at the stake.
#31
Elevator Girl, Martha Washington Hotel, 1917
Michael Largey 4 months ago
One of the office buildings in our town was still using them as late as 1989. Only when an operator retired was an automatic system installed in her elevator.
JK 4 months ago
Same thing with the NYS Capitol building, but they finished installing about 1998 or so, when Sandy retired. I tell ya, she knew all the secrets and I hope she wrote a book about it.
Load More Replies... Edda Kamphues 4 months ago
I remember meeting one around 2000/2001. In Melbourne. It was either in Myer or David Jones. Never seen anything like it before.
Steve Kadner 4 months ago
From the google: In 1917, the Martha Washington Hotel in New York City employed female elevator operators, a notable change from the previous male-dominated role. This shift was considered unusual enough to be reported on, with one newspaper remarking on the "petticoated elevator artists". The hotel, located at 129 East 29th Street, was known as a haven for career women
Load More Replies... #32
Newly Installed "Boat Motor" Styled Coca-Cola Soda Dispenser Just After The Dispenser's Installation At Fleeman's Pharmacy, Atlanta, Georgia, Circa 1948
#33
15 Month-Old Paulina Longworth With Her Mother, Alice Roosevelt Longworth, Visiting Circus Grounds, 1926
#34
George The Humanoid Robot From The 1930s Was Constructed By Motor Engineer Alan Herbert Reffell And Captain W. H. Richards, 1930
Mel in Georgia 4 months ago
Digging a bit: Eric Robot was made of aluminium, not unlike a medieval knight in armour. His eyes are white bulbs with red pupils painted on them and his feet are fastened to a box, in which there was a twelve-volt electric motor. Inside his body there was another motor, eleven electro-magnets, and about three miles of wiring. He could move his arms & his head, and stand up. There were two methods of control; by the use of remote wireless (radio) where a hidden person was able to answer the questions asked, and secondly by direct control of Eric’s movements using voice control.
Bill Swallow 4 months ago
See also: Westinghouse's "Electro' humanoid "robot" (and we use the term *very* loosely) exhibited at the 1939 New York World's Fair. For the Fair's second season, they added a "dog", 'Sparko'. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elektro Electro-an...c97507.jpg 
#35
The Parrita Milkman Travels On Horseback With His Milk Cans Strapped To The Saddle, Between Circa 1940 And Circa 1943
Bill Swallow 4 months ago
Without internal baffles in the can, probably seldom if ever.
Load More Replies... #36
Workman On The Framework Of The Empire State Building, Ca. 1941 - Ca. 1942
IORN 4 months ago
More like 1930... Empire State Building was completed in 1931. Also - Chrysler building is visible and that one was finished in 1930.
Lousha 4 months ago
Maybe it's not when it was built, but maintenance is being done?
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#37
African Amercian Newspaper Boy, 1921
Ann Jeppesen 4 months ago
Why not just paperboy? You wouldn’t write white paperboy if it was otherwise. I don’t get it.
bElLa sTairZz 4 months ago
from a time when black people were denied alot of jobs maybe?
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Janissary35680 4 months ago
Gotta love the headline: "Millionaire tax rends GOP." Nowadays they're all pretty much onside. That's progress! /s
Mary Kelly 4 months ago
nowadays, a millionaire tax wouldn't rend the GOP...they are ALL against taxing the rich!
Janet Horwith 4 months ago
He's a child. He's a paper boy. Why does the color of ones skin need to be an issue???
#38
Photo Portrait Of A Clown From The Barnum & Bailey Circus With A Fly Resting On His Nose, 1949
Queen Boudicca 4 months ago
I named a cat after him. She always looks so sad. Emmie.
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Miss Chili 4 months ago
It's a hobo clown. The dark around his mouth is supposed to look like stubble. Minstrel's had more black on their face and didn't do the nose
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#39
Western College Sewing Class, 1918
#40
Beauty Salon, 1958
Emma London 4 months ago
The rose on the side table is there to differentiate the room from the electro shock therapy room next door.
#42
Duke Of Gloucester With Prince Richard Of Gloucester In Australia, 1945
Phoebe Bean 4 months ago
His oldest brother William (1941-1972) died when his plane crashed, making Richard the heir to the title. Screenshot...50-png.jpg 
#43
Civil Servant With Punch Cards And An International (IBM 401) Calculator, Preparing For The Upcoming House Of Representatives Elections, Amsterdam, 1948
General Anaesthesia 4 months ago
Amsterdam, Montgomery County, New York, roughly 194 miles (310 kilometers) north of New York City.
Janissary35680 4 months ago
I'll take your word for it. I was wondering why they would be doing this in the Netherlands.😄
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shg stewart 4 months ago
These electromechanical tabulation machines used punch cards, exactly like early comouters, and could sort and count any data by any criteria specified on the cards. They shortened the time it took to complete a US census from nearly 10 years to less than 1 year. These same tabulation systems made by IBM were also instrumental in implementing the H*******t, as the data on the cards allowed the Nazis to find Jews, track the location of trains, allocate forced labour, and keep accurate counts of prisoners in concentration, transit, and labour camps.
#44
The U.S. Navy Airship USS Akron (Zrs-4) Flying Over The Southern End Of Manhattan, New York, New York, United States, Circa 1931-1933
Mel in Georgia 4 months ago
"Akron was destroyed in a thunderstorm off the coast of New Jersey on the morning of 4 April 1933, killing 73 of the 76 crewmen and passengers. The accident involved the greatest loss of life in any airship crash and was indeed the deadliest aviation disaster of any kind prior to World War II." One of only 2 similar military ships ever built. The reasons they were never widely used is obvious.
Michael Largey 4 months ago
Yes, but adding "It's a hellova town" is optional.
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Trisec Tebeakesse 4 months ago
There's an equally obscure photo of the Hindenburg over Downtown Boston taken on the day it burned.
#45
Air Hostess And Passengers At An Aircraft At Visby Airport, 1925
General Anaesthesia 4 months ago
You're right. The credits (below the photo, left) say it's a Douglas DC-3, which had it's first flight in 1935. The same credits say the photo itself is from the 1940s. Because of WWII, I would guess the late 1940s.
Load More Replies... #46
Vice-President Nixon Spars With Premier Khrushchev Before Reporters And Onlookers, Including Politburo Member Leonid Brezhnev At The American National Exhibition At Sokolniki Park, In Moscow, 1959
Vanessa Panerosa 4 months ago
Yeah what’s up with that. I was about to make a piano joke, but seriously why the kitchen set?
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Der Kommissar 4 months ago
Nikita known for his rant at the Polish embassy in Moscow . " WE WILL BURY YOU "
Uncle Schmickle 4 months ago
If only the Americans had accepted Krushchev and the " olive branch " he held out, during his tour of the USA. Most of the " Cold War " could have been avoided.
#47
President Richard Nixon Playing Piano At Blair House, Washington, D.c., 1971
Tucker Cahooter 4 months ago
That the second Nixon at the piano photo here. Maybe if he just stuck to doing that things might have been better
David 4 months ago
I mean who cares that in congress and later as VP was critical to the passage of many civil rights things like the 1957 civil rights act, who cares as President he did more environmentalism than any president with the exception of TR before him, who cares that he reduced nuclear war potential with the USSR, who cares he made US Peace with China, who cares he got us out of Vietnam, etc, etc. Was he corrupt, sure, but was his record one of the better presidents overall, yes. Dont cartoonize him
Load More Replies... Michael Largey 4 months ago
I bet he ended up wishing that it was his concerts that he tape recorded.
Janet Horwith 4 months ago
Too bad he didn't play piano for a living. We could have avoided a whole lot of BS
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Arslan Abbas 4 months ago
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Arslan Abbas 4 months ago
Amazing collection of rare historical photos that truly capture unique moments! For the latest mobile phones, check out this site. https://www.mobile-phone.pk/latest_mobiles/
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