50 Unforgettable Historical Photos That Tell Stories Beyond Words

Portraits of a father and son having fun. Ca. 1910s.

An Apsaroke mother and her child. Montana, USA. 1908.

Two Victorian ladies making a fancy snow lady. Pangbourne, England. Published in Strand Magazine in 1892.

Three lacemakers at work. Brittany, France. Ca. 1920.

Joe Fortes knoen as Vancouver's first official lifeguard. Originally from Barbados, Joe saved dozens of lives. English Bay Beach, Vancouver, Canada. 1905.

French painter Claude Monet by his waterlily pond in Giverny, France. 1905.

A girl of Filipino and Chinese heritage poses for a portrait. Manila, Philippines. Ca. 1875. The Spanish rulers of the Philippines used the term “Mestizo de Sangley” to describe people of mixed Chinese and native Filipino ancestry. Spain ruled the Philippines from 1565 to 1898.

Facade of department store with five floors covered in coats. As part of a coat sale and early marketing stunt. The campaign attracted so many customers that the police had to step in. All the coats were sold. Copenhagen, Denmark. 1936.

American photographer Margaret Bourke-White on top off the Chrysler Building. New York, USA. 1930. Photo by: Oscar Graubner. Bourke-White was the first American female war photojournalist.

Canadian police officer guarding a pharmacy during a flood. Galt, Ontario, Canada. 1974.

A message-carrying pigeon being released from a port-hole in the side of a British Mark V tank, during WW1. Near Albert, France. 1918.

Photo of Charles C. Ebbets. The photographer behind the famous “lunch atop a skyscraper” photo taken in 1932. Ebbets wasn’t officially recognised as the photographer until 2003. New York, USA. 1932.

The interior of a lounge train car from the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. Montreal, Canada. Ca. 1886.

A couple roller-skating. Berlin, Germany. Ca. 1905.

Italian grocery store owned by the Ronga brothers. New York City, USA. January 1943.

The 3,000 men who helped construct the 810 ft (246 m) high Chase Manhattan Bank pose for a photo near the end of the constructional work. New York City, USA. August 1964.

Two young children sitting in the streets of one of the worst slums in London. England. 1903.

An early Edwardian woman taking a mirror selfie with a Kodak Brownie box camera in 1900.

Portrait of a Kiowa-Crow Native American mother, father, son, and daughter. Ca. 1890s. Photograph by H.G. Perry. South Dakota, USA.

Young people dancing to jazz music at the Storyville Club. Copenhagen, Denmark. 1952. Photo by Helmer Lund Hansen.

Tourist and his car at the edge of the Grand Canyon. Arizona, USA. 1914.

The Black Gate, the spire of St Nicholas Cathedral and The Dog Leap Stairs in Newcastle, England. 1889. Photo by: Lydell Sawyer.

American soldier shows off the helmet that saved his life during the Vietnam War. Ca. 1969.

Contrails in the sky above St Paul’s Cathedral from a dogfight between the German Luftwaffe and the Royal Airforce during the Battle of Britain. 1940. London, England.

Spectators viewing the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Gulf of Naples, Italy. 1944.

King Frederick IX of Denmark showing off his tattooed upper body. The king had a passion for sailing and bodybuilding. The photo was leaked to Life Magazine in 1951.

Prohibition agents pour out alcohol, found during a raid on an illegal distillery, from the upper windows of a store. Detroit, USA. 1929.

48 cars in a elevator parking garage in Downtown Chicago’s business district, USA. Built by the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company, 1936

Workers trimming the tallest yew hedge in the world. It was planted in 1720 by the first Earl of Bathurst. Bathurst Estate in the Cotswolds, England. 1962.

A group portrait taken at the wedding of Lars Eide and Gjertrud Leite in Sogndal, Norway. Ca. 1900.

German troops singing around a Christmas tree in their trench on the Eastern Front during World War I. 1914.

A black sea bass caught with rod and reel by Mrs. A. W. Barret. The fish weighed 416 pounds (188 kg) and had a length of 7 feet 10 inches (2.3 m). Santa Catalina Island, California, USA. 1901.

Mother and son pose for a portrait. Ireland. 1890.

29 year old Pfc. Ivan Babcock of the US Army’s 165th Signal Photo Company poses with the crown of the Holy Roman Empire in a cave during WW2. Siegan, Germany. 3 April 1945. The cave was used by the Germans as a storage room for valuable works of art. Babcock died in 1994 at the age of 77. Photo taken by: E. Braum. The photo has been colorized.

The control room of the German WW1 submarine SM UB-110. 1918.

The church La Sagrada Família. Barcelona, Spain. 1905. The church is still under construction today.

Two young people make a stop at a gas station. 1920s. USA.

A Friedrichshafen FF.49, two-seat reconnaissance seaplane, crashed into the roof of a building. Germany. Ca. 1918-1919.

American planes fly in formation over the American and British fleets in Tokyo Bay during the surrender of Japan at the end of WW2. 2 September 1945.

Students gathered for “Class Day” at Vassar College in the spring of 1895. New York, USA.

Soviet dancers and gymnasts during a rehearsal for the opening ceremonies of the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympic Games. Moscow, USSR. July 17, 1980.

Young couple drives past “Balanced Rock” in the “Garden of the Gods”. Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA. 1920s.

The Panama Slide in Coney Island’s Steeplechase Park. Built ca. 1908. New York City, USA.

The Roman Colosseum and Arch of Constantine in 1870. Rome, Italy.

Canadian soldiers playing hockey on an ice rink constructed on the Imjingang River during the Korean War. Northern Gyeonggi-do Province, South Korea. 1952.

Victorian couple on a tandem bicycle, circa 1890s.

Women working in a Canon factory. Japan, 1959.

Women shopping for perfumes and jewelry at Illum department store in Copenhagen, Denmark. 1904.

Detonation of a nuclear bomb. Nevada Test Site, Nevada, USA. March 29, 1955. The detonation was a part of “Operation Teapot”. The operation included 14 nuclear test explosions conducted in early 1955.

Tower of Toghrul in ca. 1850s. Rey, Iran. Photo by Italian colonel and photographer Luigi Pesce. The Tower of Toghrul was constructed in the 12th century to serve as a tomb for the Seljuk ruler Toghrul who died in 1063. Toghrul was the founder of the Seljuk Empire, which spanned from modern day Turkey to Afghanistan. The tower originally had a dome at its top, which collapsed during an earthquake. Today the tower is 20 meters tall (66 ft.).

Officer of the Austro-Hungarian army, 1898 [Colorized]

A man stands infront of his new and secondhand shoe store. Portland, Oregon, USA. Circa 1916.

The junction of Steep Street and Trenchard Street, Bristol, England. 1866. Photo by John Hill Morgan.

British Brigadier-General John Vaughan Campbell addressing men of the 137th Brigade (46th Division) during WW1. St. Quentin Canal, France. 2 October 1918.

The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in c. 1900. The hotel was demolished 1929 and replaced by the Empire State Building. New York City, USA.

The two “Kashmir Giants” posing with the American photographer James Ricalton. The photo was taken during the Durbar of 1903, held in Delhi to celebrate the succession of the British monarch King Edward VII as emperor of India.

Sergeant Ian Thomas from New Zealand smoking a pipe in the Egyptian desert during the Second World War. 1942. Photograph taken by W. A. Whitlock.

Interior of a luxury train car from the Pullman Palace Car Company. USA. Late 19th century.

People having fun on a Frozen Niagara Falls during the winter months. 1911.

Maintenance worker Stan Giddings painting the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Sydney, Australia. 18 September 1945. Photographed by Alec Iverson.

French painter Claude Monet with his wife Alice Hoschedè. Venice, Italy. 1908.

Passengers onboard the Staten Island Ferry. New York, USA. 1895.