50 Important Historical Images That Might Change Your Perspective On Things, As Shared By This Facebook Page
Studying history helps us understand and grapple with complex questions and dilemmas of the present. By examining the past, we get a better understanding of what shaped (and continues to shape) global, national, and local relationships between societies and people.
But as interesting as these processes sound, some people still find them not vivid enough for their time. So, in an attempt to bring more light to this beautiful and intricate subject, we invite you to take a look at the Facebook page 'Historical Images.'
As the name suggests, it shares rarely-seen pictures from days gone by. Whether it's a group of Italian school children crossing a river in the '50s using pulleys, or an American mailman delivering Christmas letters and parcels in the '20s, this page has it all.
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Stoney First Nation Member, Samson Beaver With His Wife Leah And Their Daughter Frances Louise, 1907
An American Serviceman Shares His Rations With Two Japanese Children In Okinawa, 1945
In 2006, Professor Anna Pegler-Gordon, already talked about visual media being more accessible to students than the written record. Pegler-Gordon's students were saying that images give concrete shape to a world that sometimes seems intangible and they appreciated the immediacy of the image, which often conveys information quicker than a primary document in an unfamiliar language.
However, as valuable as images can be to our learning process, Pegler-Gordon also pointed out that we should be careful about the way we consume them; we should not only pay close attention to an image's production and circulation, but also to the responses of the image's audience, for example. In most cases, this information cannot be learned from the image itself, and supplementary material is needed.
A Kid's Reaction To Meeting Andre The Giant (1970's)
A Roman Mosaic Depicting A Fish. 1st Century CE
1945: The Day Daddy Came Home. Gunner Hector Murdoch Had Been Gone Over Four Years, Most Of It As A Prisoner Of War In Singapore. His Wife Rosina And Son John Hadn't Known If He Was Dead Or Alive. He Got Home On His Birthday
For one of our earlier historical pieces, James Jefferies, who is a Ph.D. candidate and Assistant Lecturer at the University of Essex and University of Wolverhampton, said that he always finds images are good to use in seminars as visual stimulants alongside questions for various topics.
"[One of the images I recently used during a seminar about the First World War] showed what appeared to be a British soldier (a.k.a a 'Tommy') sitting in a trench surrounded by bodies with a look of forlorn disillusionment," Jefferies then told Bored Panda." I played students a clip of the opening titles in which this image is used and asked my students for their thoughts."
"They said how strong it was and that it emphasized the notions of the futility of the First World War. I then showed them that the image was actually an altered composite image that was taken from an original image of Irish troops in July 1916. In the original picture, the soldier is surrounded by smiling comrades and his facial expression now, in its true context, suggests one of curiosity over having his photograph taken rather than forlorn and disillusionment," Jefferies explained. "Now, not only does this raise questions about why the image was altered and how this fits into the public perception of the First World War in the 1960s but it also makes you question yourself when presented with images. You start to think about the context."
Former Slave, Author And Activist Frederick Douglass With His Musician Grandson Joseph Douglass In 1894
amazing man, frederick douglas. i will always have respect for him.
Ukrainian Restaurant In The U.S. Celebrates The Death Of Joseph Stalin, 1953
The Great North Dakota Blizzard, 1966
My dad was a kid when this blizzard hit! The only way they could get out of their house was to crawl out of a second story bedroom window!
Authorities have long understood the power of visuals as well. "I think in politics, whether that be governments, parties, and such, most use images to convey a message and also to influence an emotional response with people," Jefferies said.
"An example that comes to mind is a poster by the UK Conservative Party from the 1979 election campaign in the UK showing queues of people outside an employment office sign with words above saying 'Labour Isn't Working.' This poster and image struck a huge chord on the back of the period known as the 'winter of discontent' which had seen large numbers of strikes and rising unemployment. The image itself is fabricated but chimed into a feeling of disillusionment over the Labour government's handling of the crisis led by James Callaghan."
Community Grocery Store Owner, Harlem, New York, 1940
Four Generations, Circa 1905
Australian Soldiers After Their Release From Japanese Captivity In Singapore, 1945
Remember That Photo Of The Construction Workers Having Lunch On A Unfinished New York Skyscraper? Well Here's The Photographer Charles Ebbets. 9/20/1932
Jefferies thinks the poster also played a part in Margaret Thatcher coming to power in 1979 and pointed out it has since been adapted and parodied by satirists and other political parties.
"The poster seems to have embedded itself into the collective public memory and it's really fascinating to think about how one simple image can have long-lasting effects and also be used as a representation of that period of history," Jefferies explained.
In 2012, during the United States Presidential Election, the Republican Party even used a variation of the poster, with the slogan 'Obama isn't working' instead of 'Labour isn't working.'
2,200-Year-Old Hellenistic Theatre In Laodicea, Southwestern Turkey, After Recent Excavation
Mailman Poses With His Heavy Load Of Christmas Mail And Parcels. Chicago, USA. 1929. Colorized
That present on the back looks like an official Red Ryder carabine-action 200-shot range moled air rifle. Someone's gonna shoot their eye out!
Inuit Man Warms His Wife’s Feet. Greenland, 1890's
I have the same job except for some reason my wife's feet are colder a and she waits until I'm asleep.
William Harley And Arthur Davidson, 1914
"With anything history-related, and I think this a good practice to have with most things, do check the source!" Jefferies said.
"All good and reputable accounts will refer to the catalog number of the archives, museum or such, about where something is taken from. We're in an age of photo editing software which is improving all the time but if a catalog number is provided, you can check the original content."
Children Cross The River Using Pulleys On Their Way To School, 1959, Italy
A Mother With Her Children, 1,800 Years Ago. Alexandria, Roman Egypt
Behind The Scenes Photos From The Making Of The First Godzilla Movie, 1954
A Motor Home In 1922
The historian said sources such as the Imperial War Museum, National Archives, Time, etc. are well-known and reputable places.
"It's always good to get an idea of what is trustworthy, so ask around. Soon, you'll pick up how to look at images and what to look for. I'd definitely say checking its citing saying where it's come from with a catalog number is a good start. Of course, photographs have been manipulated since photography was invented, but experts can usually spot these fakes and this will be accounted for in catalogs. It's all part of the fun of research!"
May 1922: 78-Year-Old Robert T. Lincoln (Son Of Abraham Lincoln) Is Helped Up The Steps At The Dedication Of The Lincoln Memorial In Washington D.C
A Boy And His Owl, 1933
Piano Designed For People Confined To Bedrest. UK, 1935
Mother Teaching Children Numbers And Alphabet In Home Of Sharecropper. Transylvania, Louisiana. Jan. 1939
Jefferies added that sometimes people can be put off by history, thinking it's just memorizing dates and spending an eternity in cold archives. But that's not necessarily the case. "In reality, it's about using a multitude of sources, such as images, to understand that the past is not so far away and that these people felt the same things we did," he explained.
Ceramic Water Pipes Found Near Epang Palace. China. From The 5th-3rd Century BC
Inside Of A Railroad Car Made By The Pullman Company, 1890s
Woman Wiring An Early Ibm Computer Taken By Berenice Abbott In 1948
Children Playing On Playground Equipment In Dallas, Texas, 1900
The Creation Of The Recycling Logo By G. Anderson. He Was 23 At The Time, 1970
Ashtrays And Coin-Operated Televisions In The Los Angeles Greyhound Bus Terminal, 1969
An Immigrant Family Arriving At Ellis Island In 1904
Samurai Helmet Made By Famous Japanese Metalsmith Myochin Nobuie, 1525
The Swedish Warship Vasa. It Sank In 1628 Less Than A Mile Into Its Maiden Voyage And Was Recovered From The Sea Floor After 333 Years Almost Completely Intact. Now Housed At The Vasa Museum In Stockholm
1946 vs. 2021 - Poznań, Poland
Serving A Snack On Scandinavian Airlines Flight, 1969
Trakai Island Castle, Lithuania. Built In The 14th Century And Restored In The 1950s-1960s
Residents Of West Berlin Show Their Children To Their Grandparents Living In East Berlin, 1961
Making The Titanic's Anchor Chain At Hingley & Sons, 1909
A Woman Walks Through Berlin During The Battle Of Berlin, May 1945
A Chippewa Indian Named John Smith Who Lived In The Woods Near Cass Lake, Minnesota Claimed To Be 137 Years Old Before He Died In 1922. Photo Taken In 1915
Two Women Working As Ice Deliverers Carry A Large Block Of Ice. September 1918
A Fake Rooftop Suburb That Hid A Whole Wwii Airplane Factory Underneath, 1944
Berlin, Germany, 1985-2018
Barcelona, Spain In 1906. Sagrada Familia Basilica In An Early Stages Of Construction
It was the middle of nowhere! (In Spanish we say "where Jesus lost his sneakers") These pictures are really interesting. A little over one hundred years ago (almost yesterday in historical terms) and the difference is incredible. By the way, the Sagrada Familia is still unfinished!
A Couple Of Victorian Travellers, 1890s
Newcastle Castle, UK - 1895 To 2022
New Parents Of Quadruplets, Late 1880s
A Statue Of Anubis In Tutankhamuns Tomb, Taken During Carter Expedition (Photo Taken In 1922)
College Dorm Room In 1910 (University Of Illinois)
Log Driving In Glens Falls, New York, 1907
New York City Street Scene, 1900
Photo Of A Cowboy Seated Next To His Horse On A Hill, In Old West Bonham, Texas. June, 1910
"lemme get on YOUR back now, Fred, and let's see if you like getting kicked in the sides" - the horse, probably
Sir Winston Churchill, In 1895, Age 20
Cowboys Having A Drink In Old Tascosa, Texas, 1907
Those hats are why the US will never go metric. Cowboys will never trade their ten-gallon hats in for 35.85412 liter hats. Edit correction: thanks @iseefractals, it's 37.85412 liters.
The Train Crash At Montparnasse Station. France, 1895
Detroit, Michigan In 1882 And 2017
Man Charging An Electric Amc Gremlin. Seattle, USA, 1973
Dice Made Of Terracotta From Indus Valley Civilization. Harappa, Pakistan, 2600-1900 Bc
1910 Great Flood Of Paris
Soldier Of The Us 4th Infantry Division Bidding Farewell To His Wife And Baby At Penn Station, New York, 1944
People At Daytona Beach In Florida, United States In 1904
Woman Being Ticketed For ‘Indecent Exposure’ At Rockaway Beach Of New York, 1946
Veterans Of Four Different Wars From The Same Town Of Geary, Oklahoma, 1940s
This is not something that should be generational 😔 (edit: point of clarification, the use of the term “generational” here has nothing to do with family, but used in the historical contest of the passage of time, there was never any mention or inference of relations between any individuals in this image)
Man Takes A Selfie Using A Stick Of Wood To Activate The Camera, 1957
1925 Drexel Institute Girls’ Rifle Team. Philadelphia, USA
I was the only girl on our high school rifle team and out shot the boys
Four Young Women Playing Volleyball On Stilts At The Beach In Venice, California, 1934
Woman Riding A New Tricycle. Photo By Chas. W Oldrieve, 1882
King George V And Tsar Nicholas II 1890s
The McDonald's Brothers In 1948
A Family At A Drive-In Restaurant Has Cool Air Piped Into Their Car, 1957
Eiffel Tower Under Construction, May 15, 1888
A Man Standing On The First Cables During The Construction Of The Golden Gate Bridge, 1935
2 Guards From Delhi Durbar With James Recalton An American Photographer Who Visited India In 1903
Twin brothers known as the Kashmir giants, more information here; https://www.historicmysteries.com/kashmir-giants/#:~:text=The%20Two%20Giants%20from%20Kashmir&text=One%20of%20the%20Kashmir%20giants,outstanding%20impression%20at%20the%20Durbar.
Passengers Aboard A Boeing 307 Aircraft Operated By Pan American World Airways, 1940s
Manhattan In 1851 And Today
Female Worker Bottling Ketchup At The Heinz Factory. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,1897
Farmer And Sons Walking In The Face Of A Dust Storm. Cimarron County, Oklahoma. April, 1936. Photo Talen By Arthur Rothstein
A Woman On The Frozen Mississippi River At St. Louis, Missouri, 1905
I wonder why she's so far from all the people in the background. My paranoid brain immediately jumped to "Everyone else is avoiding the thin ice, and this lady is a daredevil. She's going to fall through!" But maybe she was the one wondering why the photographer was off so far from everyone else and came to investigate.
2 Year-Old Elvis Presley With His Parents, 1937
Bristol, UK (1900 And 2020)
Wernher Von Braun, Designer Of The Saturn V , Poses In Front Of Its Engines, 1969
Braun was the head of the German rocket industry in World War II. At the end of the war, he was brought to the US.
French Battleship Strasbourg And Her Crew. Toulon, France. Spring 1941
Open-Air School In The Freezing Cold. The Netherlands, 1918
Only just now they are realizing the benefit of outdoor learning for our kids!
Captured Japanese Mini-Submarine In The Aleutian Islands, 1943 And 2021
Lumberjacks Pose With A Douglas Fir Tree In Washington State, USA, 1899
Why does man look at a tree & want to cut it down? So much beauty before man got his hands on it.
Huntington Beach, California, During The Oil Boom Of 1928
US Marine In Vietnam 1960s
New York City During The Great Blizzard Of 1888
Warehouse Of Steel Floats For Anti-Submarine Nets, 1953
Now THIS is what we come to BP for! (Even with the repetitions, you grumps!)
I love to see pictures over and over. If they're compelling the first time they're worth reviewing.
Load More Replies...Why do you post such uninteresting comments after these amazing photos?
I agree. Bored panda doesn't give a s**t about their articles so they just post the same s**t we've all seen a million times
Load More Replies...Now THIS is what we come to BP for! (Even with the repetitions, you grumps!)
I love to see pictures over and over. If they're compelling the first time they're worth reviewing.
Load More Replies...Why do you post such uninteresting comments after these amazing photos?
I agree. Bored panda doesn't give a s**t about their articles so they just post the same s**t we've all seen a million times
Load More Replies...