The Past Rediscovered: 54 Rare Photos Of People Who Made History

Meet Harriet Tubman, the unstoppable abolitionist born Araminta Ross in 1822. She’s the woman behind the Underground Railroad operations, which helped enslaved people reach freedom in the free U.S. states and Canada. This photo was snapped around 1885.

Henry Johnson was an American soldier who became famous for his bravery in World War I. While on watch in the Argonne Forest, he fought off a German attack and saved a fellow soldier despite suffering 21 injuries. His heroism made headlines in the New York World and The Saturday Evening Post, and in 2015, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama. Here he is pictured with Needham Roberts, a fellow soldier and member of the Harlem Hellfighters, who received the Purple Heart and the Croix de Guerre for his bravery in the war.

Who knew the man behind the iconic paintings actually had photographs of himself? Van Gogh may have been ahead of his time as a post-impressionist painter, but unfortunately, he didn’t receive much recognition during his lifetime. However, his sister-in-law made sure his talent didn’t go to waste by loaning out his art after his death at 37. This photo was snapped when the artist was only 19, and we’re positive it’s one of those rare historical photos everyone should see.

Goyaałé, best known as Geronimo, was an Apache medicine man, regarded as the last Native leader to formally surrender to the military. Despite his bravery and determination, he was eventually captured. He spent the last portion of his life as a prisoner of war, admitting on his deathbed how much he regretted surrendering. This picture here is from 1887.

Marie Curie was a groundbreaking scientist born in Poland in 1867. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, and she also won it twice, first for Physics and then for Chemistry. This photo of her was taken around 1920 when she was already a well-known and respected scientist.

Chief Seattle was a man of outstanding leadership and diplomacy, serving as the head honcho for the Suquamish and Duwamish people in Washington State. His efforts to establish peaceful relations with the white settlers in the Pacific Northwest were admirable, and it’s no wonder that the city of Seattle was named after him. This snap was taken back in 1864.

Born in 1811, Harriet Beecher Stowe was a fervent abolitionist and writer. She’s famous for penning the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which she released in 1852. Despite society not really encouraging women to speak in public, she still took the stage to discuss her book and her anti-slavery beliefs. Sometimes, her husband or brothers would speak on her behalf when women weren’t allowed to speak. This picture of her was taken in 1870.

Claude Monet, the iconic French impressionist painter, spotted with a visitor on a bridge in his beautiful Giverny garden in 1922.

Frederick Douglass, whose stern expression is captured in this photograph taken between 1847 and 1852, was a prominent figure in the abolitionist movement during the 1800s. He had escaped slavery in Maryland and was known for his strong, fierce persona. Douglass reportedly paid attention to his public image and wanted to present himself as a determined and intense individual. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a well-known feminist from the 19th century, referred to Douglass as “majestic in his wrath.”

In February 1956, 73 people were indicted as leaders of the Montgomery bus boycott, the same event for which Rosa Parks was later recognized as the mother of the civil rights movement. Here, Lieutenant D. H. Lackey is fingerprinting Parks as deputies arrest all of them. A grand jury had previously charged 113 African Americans for organizing the boycott.

Emmeline Pankhurst, leader of the suffragette movement, taken away from Buckingham Palace in London after being arrested for trying to present a petition to King George V on May 21, 1914.

Despite her current insane fame as a poet, Emily Dickinson was not well-known during her lifetime. She wrote around 1,800 poems, but only a few were published before her death in 1886. The only known photo of her as an adult is the one shown above, taken in 1847.

Born in 1809, the 16th president of the United States is renowned as a highly respected political figure in American history. This photograph of Lincoln was taken when he was 37 years old and working as a lawyer and congressman-elect. It’s the oldest photograph known of him.

Annie Oakley, the badass sharpshooter protagonist of Annie Get Your Gun, was a huge celebrity in the late 1800s thanks to her appearances in popular literature and her sharpshooting skills in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. Because of her fame, Oakley was snapped way more than anyone born in 1860 probably would have been.

Remember the stories of Johnny Appleseed from when you were a kid? His real name was John Chapman, born in 1774 in Massachusetts. He was famous for being a pioneer nurseryman and bringing apple trees to several states. Despite his rugged appearance in this photo from the 1840s, he was known for his incredible kindness.

Lev Tolstoy, the Russian writer whose fame stems from his novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina. Although he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature every year from 1902 to 1906, it’s still seen as a mystery why he never received the Nobel Peace Prize. Despite this, Tolstoy is still considered one of the greatest writers of all time. This photo shows him at age 80 in 1908.

Butch Cassidy, whose real name was Robert LeRoy Parker, was a notorious outlaw in the Wild West. He and his gang, the Wild Bunch, would rob trains and banks. After about 10 years of criminal activity, Butch, his partner Sundance Kid, and Sundance’s girlfriend Etta Place fled to Argentina to avoid being caught by the law. This photo was taken in 1900.

The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, were two American aviation geniuses who created, built, and flew the first successful motor-powered airplane. In this photo, Wilbur and Orville are sitting on the porch steps of their Dayton home in June 1909.

Martha Jane Cannary, also known as Calamity Jane, was a wild woman of the frontier born in 1852. Over the years, there have been so many myths and legends about her it’s hard to know what’s real and what’s not. This photo was taken in the 1880s.

John Brown was a fierce abolitionist born in 1800. He led a daring raid on Harpers Ferry in West Virginia, which unfortunately didn’t go as planned. He was put to death a few months later. African American photographer Augustus Washington snapped this photo of him around 1846 or 1847.

Beyond just having a dope name, Isambard Kingdom Brunel was a famous British engineer. According to the Design Museum in London, “he constructed twenty-five railway lines, more than one hundred bridges (including five suspension bridges), eight pier and dock systems, three ships, and a prefabricated army field hospital.” This photo was taken in 1857 and shows Brunel posing in front of the Great Eastern, one of the ships he designed.

John Herschel was a jack-of-all-trades, excelling in math, chemistry, astronomy, and photography. Not only did he create the blueprint, he also came up with the Julian Day calendar that astronomers still use today. This photo of him was taken in 1867 by Julia Margaret Cameron, one of the most important portraitists of the 19th century.

Born in Siberia in 1869, Grigori Rasputin was a Russian mystic known for his friendship with Tsar Nicholas II and his family. He became famous for his supposed healing abilities and was considered the “secret” behind the Russian monarchy. After multiple assassination attempts, he was eventually killed by Prince Felix Yusupov in 1916. This photo was taken just before his untimely demise.

Hannah Stilley Gorby may not be a well-known name, but she holds a notable title as one of the oldest people to ever have their picture taken. Gorby was born around 1746 and was photographed in 1840, a whopping 94 years later. To give you a sense of how long ago that was, Hannah was already in her late 30s when the American Revolution started.

A photograph of Daniel F. Bakeman, the last surviving soldier of the Revolutionary War to receive a veteran’s pension, was taken in 1868 when he was 109 years old. He passed away the following year.

Ulysses S. Grant, born Hiram Ulysses Grant, was a military officer and later the 18th President of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As President, he worked hard to protect African Americans during Reconstruction and signed the bill that led to the establishment of the Justice Department. This picture was taken in the 1870s.

Napoleon faced his ultimate defeat in the Battle of Waterloo, a legendary clash that significantly impacted the next two centuries. Here’s a snapshot of Louis-Victor Baillot, a veteran survivor from the battle, taken in the 1890s. He passed away in 1898 when he was almost 105 years old.

Charles Darwin, the famous multi-talented English scientist, is most well-known for his groundbreaking work on evolution. He proposed that all living things have a shared ancestor, which is now considered a fundamental concept in science.

Theodore Roosevelt, America’s 26th POTUS, showing off his horseback-jumping skills by leaping over a fence in 1902.

Queen Victoria was born in 1819, even before the invention of photography. But, thanks to her long life, legendary 63-year reign, and immense power, she became one of the most photographed women in the first century of photography.

On May 20, 1910, the largest group of monarchs ever captured in a photograph gathered at Windsor Castle in England to pay respect at the funeral of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom. From left to right, the standing monarchs included Haakon VII of Norway, Ferdinand of Bulgaria, Manuel II of Portugal, Wilhelm II of Germany, George I of Greece, and Albert I of Belgium. Seated from left to right were Alfonso XIII of Spain, George V of the United Kingdom, and Frederick VIII of Denmark.

Did you know that the person behind the iconic “Uncle Sam” character on the “I want you for the U.S. Army” poster was real? His name was Samuel Wilson, born in 1766, and he worked as a meat packer in Troy, New York. During the War of 1812, Wilson supplied troops with meat that he shipped in barrels labeled “U.S.” (short for the United States). However, people began joking that it actually stood for “Uncle Sam,” and the nickname caught on. The above photograph of Wilson, taken in the 1850s, is his only known photograph.

Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington, led the British army to victory against Napoleon in the Napoleonic Wars. His win at the Battle of Waterloo made him one of Europe’s most celebrated military leaders. After his success on the battlefield, the Duke served as Prime Minister from 1828 to 1830. This pic of him was snapped in 1844.

James K. Polk may not be a household name, but he was incredibly successful during his presidency from 1845 to 1849. He accomplished everything on his to-do list, including adding three territories to the U.S., resolving a border dispute with Texas, reducing tariffs, and boosting the power of the presidency. Here’s a photo of him in 1849.

Tsar Nicholas II of Russia on the left, and King George V of the United Kingdom on the right, posing together with their military uniforms in Berlin in 1913. The two royals were also first cousins.

John Quincy Adams, the 6th president of the United States and son of Founding Father John Adams, is often referred to by historians as being “underrated.” Despite his contributions to politics, Adams struggled with feelings of inadequacy due to his family’s prominent political background. This photo of him was taken in 1843, which is crazy considering he was born in the 1700s and lived long enough to be photographed.

In this epic photo from the 1920s, Jack Dempsey throws a playful punch at Harry Houdini, the famous illusionist and stuntman. Benny Leonard, another boxing legend, looks on with amusement as he holds onto Houdini. Of course, this was all just for show — these guys were simply posing for a publicity event.

The world’s power in one picture: Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill sit together on the porch of the Soviet Legation in Teheran during the Conference in 1943.

Sherman was a soldier, businessman, educator, and author who served as a general in the Union Army during the Civil War. He was known for his military strategy and criticized for his harsh tactics against the Confederacy. Some consider him to be the first modern general. This photo was taken somewhere between 1865 and 1880.

The last known picture of Nicholas II of Russia, taken after he abdicated in March 1917, features him at Tsarskoye Selo with some guards keeping an eye on him.

You might know Ichabod Crane as the main character in Washington Irving’s classic tale, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. But did you know that Ichabod was a real person? He was born in 1787 and served as a military officer for almost 50 years. This picture of him was taken in 1848.

Conrad Heyer holds the title of being the earliest-born American to be photographed. Talk about iconic photos in history! Born in 1749, this veteran even fought in the Revolutionary War alongside George Washington and is rumored to have crossed the Delaware River with him. In 1852, at the ripe old age of 103, Heyer was captured on camera for posterity.

Buffalo Bill was an American hero with many hats (literally and figuratively). He was a soldier, bison hunter, and showman. At just 15, he became a rider for the Pony Express, and during the Civil War, he served in the Union. His life experiences led him to believe that white Americans and Natives could live together in peace, and he ended up hiring several Natives for his show to work with him. This picture was taken around 1911, long after his days of riding and shooting.

Robert E. Lee, the infamous Confederate general from the Civil War, is a polarizing figure due to his beliefs on slavery. He was born in 1807 to a veteran of the Revolutionary War and still elicits strong reactions even now. This photo shows him with his son, William Henry Fitzhugh Lee, in 1845.

On May 12, 1937 in Galveston, Texas, President Franklin D. Roosevelt shares a friendly handshake with Lyndon B. Johnson, with Governor James Allred of Texas standing between them.

The very last pic of Vladimir Lenin, taken in May 1923, features his sister Anna Ilyinichna Yelizarova-Ulyanova and physician A. M. Kozhevnikov in Gorki. The Russian revolutionary passed away the following year.

Martin Van Buren was America’s 8th president and the first to be born as a full-fledged U.S. citizen (no British here). While some historians have mixed feelings about his time in office, he left a mark on the country’s political system. This pic was taken between 1849 and 1850.

Billy the Kid, whose real name was Henry McCarty, was a notorious gunfighter from the American Old West who gained fame for killing eight men before his untimely death at the age of 21 in 1881. He became known as one of the most famous outlaws of his time.

John Tyler, born in 1790, became the 10th president of the United States after the unexpected death of William Henry Harrison due to an unknown illness. Despite being a strong advocate for states’ rights, Tyler is not highly regarded even today. This photo was taken in 1845. Interestingly, as of January 2023, John Tyler’s grandson, Harrison Ruffin Tyler, is still alive at the age of 94.

Jesse James was a famous outlaw in the Wild West, known for leading the James-Younger Gang and participating in the Civil War as part of a pro-Confederate group called “Bushwhackers.” This picture is from 1882 when Jesse was 35 years old.

Young George Armstrong Custer, pre-mustache glory, posing for a pic in 1860. Despite being a subpar grad from the U.S. Military Academy, he rose to infamy as a bumbling cavalry officer with questionable tactics. His most memorable moment? Going down in flames at the Battle of Little Bighorn, aka Custer’s Last Stand.

Jefferson Davis, born in 1808, had a pretty eventful life. He fought in the Mexican-American War, represented Mississippi in the senate, and even served as Secretary of War under President Franklin Pierce. But he’ll always be remembered as the President of the Confederacy during the Civil War. This photo was snapped in 1861, just a few years before the South threw in the towel.

Andrew Jackson, aka Old Hickory, was the 7th POTUS and possibly one of the most reviled in U.S. history. His presidency resulted in the suffering and death of numerous Native Americans, earning him the reputation of a dictator among his detractors. Born in 1767, Jackson is pictured here in 1844 or 1845, just before his demise.