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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.
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#1
Inventor Nikola Tesla In His Laboratory In Colorado Springs, 1899
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#2
Publicity Photo Of Audrey Hepburn, Doing Ballet, 1956
#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
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. 🤭
#5
Albert Einstein Plays The Violin, 1927
#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
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
#8
Very Large Elephant Seal Named Goliath At The Vincennes Zoo, Paris, With Zoo Staff Member, 1936
#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.
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.
#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
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.
#15
The Family Bicycle Included A Sewing Machine, Invented In 1939
#16
On The Merry-Go-Round At Deepwater Races - Deepwater, NSW C. 1910
#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
#19
Publicity Photo Of Lucille Ball, As Superman, 1957
#20
Icarus, Empire State Building, 1930
#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
#23
President Richard Nixon Plays The Piano At The Truman Library, 1969
#24
Lighthouse Keeper Cleaning Lens At The Pensacola Lighthouse, Ca. 1960
#25
Rare Snow In New Orleans, 1958
#26
Telephone Switchboard Operators, Ca. 1922
#27
Telephone Operators, 1929
#28
Mule Carrying Wheels, Trails And Axeltree Of 75 Mm Mountain Artillery, Elswick Works, Newcastle Upon Tyne
#29
Napoleon Sarony, Hoop Skirt, 1893
#30
Dog Albina - Participant In Experiments On Launching Space Rockets Into Near-Earth Space, Moscow, 1957
#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.
#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.
#35
The Parrita Milkman Travels On Horseback With His Milk Cans Strapped To The Saddle, Between Circa 1940 And Circa 1943
#36
Workman On The Framework Of The Empire State Building, Ca. 1941 - Ca. 1942
#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.
#38
Photo Portrait Of A Clown From The Barnum & Bailey Circus With A Fly Resting On His Nose, 1949
#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
#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.
#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.
#45
Air Hostess And Passengers At An Aircraft At Visby Airport, 1925
#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
#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
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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/
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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