In our times, most of humanity’s effort is set on exploring the future and the advancements that come with it, whether it’s technology or science. But delving into the past can be just as if not more entertaining.
Luckily, there’s a whole corner of Reddit dedicated to joining history aficionados together and sharing some of the most intriguing, rare and unique moments that happened a long time ago. Being home to a whopping 3.3M members, this subreddit is one of the biggest powerhouses on the platform!
Think of the moment Marlon Brando rejected his Oscar and gave the stage to Sacheen Littlefeather to protest Hollywood’s portrayal of Native Americans. Or the sunny afternoon when Che Guevara and Fidel Castro went fishing in 1960. Or a day in 1992 when Michelle and Barack Obama were giggling while getting married.
Thanks to photography, special moments like these were forever carved in our memories and so today, we invite you on a walk down memory lane. Scroll down and upvote your favorite ones!
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When They Realized Women Were Using Their Sacks To Make Clothes For Their Children, Flour Mills Of The 1930s Started Using Flowered Fabric For Their Sacks (1939)
Albert Einstein Defying The Prevailing Racial Climate At The Time By Visiting Lincoln University, Pennsylvania
The first degree-granting black college in the US - to teach a class. He was an outspoken civil rights advocate for black Americans. Photographed in 1946
Being a jewish refugee from nazi Germany he knew a thing or two about the matter.
Johnny Depp Saved The Old Horse Goldeneye From Sleepy Hollow Who Played Crane’s Companion, Gunpowder
The one-eyed horse was originally set to be euthanized after production was completed. But Depp stepped in and adopted Goldeneye after finishing the movie - 1999
Why would you use a horse for a movie only to kill it afterwards? This is absolutely disgusting!
“Photographs bring history to life in an immediate and visceral way,” Lisa Yaszek, a Regents Professor of Science Fiction Studies at Georgia Tech where she researches and teaches science fiction as a global language crossing centuries, continents, and cultures, told Bored Panda.
Yaszek explained how it’s different from exploring history through written sources. “When we read books, we get lots of detailed information about historical events: who was involved, where the event happened, what factors led to and resulted from it, and so on.”
"Happiest Man In China"
Taken in 1901 by British anthropologists after deciding to document the Chinese. The Chinese didn't know photos were a "serious matter" and decided to be goofy, hence the pose and smile
Tokyo Residents Mourning Hachiko
He would regularly meet his owner, professor Ueno, at Shibuya station after he returned from work. Sadly, Ueno died on May 21, 1925, & never returned. However, Hachiko would return to the station every day for 9 years, waiting for him to come back, 1935
In 1973, Marlon Brando Rejected His Oscar For The Godfather To Allow Sacheen Littlefeather To Protest Hollywood’s Portrayal Of Native Americans
Moreover, “Sometimes such information can be vividly detailed and prompt us to imagine what historical events might have looked like in ways that make us feel more connected to them, but sometimes we are so overwhelmed with dry or technical details that we actually feel more removed from the event than ever before,” the professor explained.
On the other hand, photos rarely have this problem. “Even when shot by the most amateur of photographers, images of people living in and through various moments in history provide a sense of immediate emotional connection—we think, ‘wow, so that’s what it would feel like to experience that moment of history!’” Yaszek explained.
Six-Year-Old Austrian Boy “Werfel” Receiveing A New Pair Of Shoes At The Am Himmel Orphanage
Donated by the junior red cross in America (colorized). Published in The Life magazine in 1946
We take so much for granted. I'm happy for his joy. I hope it was onward and upward from there.
Mass Demonstrations Against Soviet Union In Baku, The Capital Of Azerbaijan, 1989
These years were crazy, was a western Europe child, lived everything live on TV ( Berlin's Wall fall, the Ceaucescus been shot...) Big generational memories
Nakano Takeko (Onna-Musha Of The Aizu Domain) In Imperial Japan
She and other women fought in the Battle of Aizu in October 1868 during the Boshin War, when on October 16th, she was killed in battle by a rifle shot. Shown in full samurai armour, c. 1860 - 1868
The professor pointed out that “as the comments from posters on the ‘Exploring the Past through Historical Photos’ Reddit indicates, images of people from the past connect us to history in another, related way as well.”
In this sense, we’re not just mere viewers. Yaszek explained that “once we feel an emotional bond with the people in historical photos and perhaps even begin to imaginatively empathize with them—we forge new intellectual connections to history itself, asking ourselves: ‘Why are the people in this photograph in this situation in the first place? What happened leading up to this photo—and what happened afterward?’”
For viewers like us, this can be an empowering moment. “We begin to actively research and share what they know about events and people represented in specific photos,” Yaszek told us.
African-American Boys On Easter Morning, Southside, Chicago, Illinois, April 1941 [colorized]
![African-American Boys On Easter Morning, Southside, Chicago, Illinois, April 1941 [colorized]](https://www.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/62e22e8e7470c_c0ojnruq6db91__700.jpg "African-American Boys On Easter Morning, Southside, Chicago, Illinois, April 1941 [colorized]")
A Group Of Samurai Went On A Tourist Tour In Egypt And Took A Photo In Front Of Sphinx, 1864
Ok, the clothes they are wearing look like they would be sweltering to be in.
Arnie Supporting Disables Athletes In The Early 1990's
Moreover, looking at historical photographs is an opportunity to both learn history from experts and to become an expert yourself, Yaszek argues. It’s because they give us an opportunity to “work with others to re-create the real story behind the image.”
“Sometimes, especially powerful photos can even prompt action in the real world, as we even begin to wonder, ‘how much does my own historical era have in common with this moment from the past?’ and ‘what can I do to make sure we do—or do not!—ever experience something like this again?’ And so by looking at historical photos, we can become agents of history!” the professor told us.
Shoemaker’s Lunch, 1944. By Bernard Cole
A Young Barack Obama Spending Time On The Beach With His Grandfather 1963
A Selfie Taken By Emperor Nicholas II (1868-1918)
Tragic what happened to him and his family. He was a clueless Tsar. But NO ONE deserves what happened. And those poor children.
Anne Frank And Her Sister Margot At The Beach, Zandvoort - August 1940
Tiananmen Square Just Before The Massacre, June 4, 1989
It's so scary that the most populous country on earth has such a repressive government and so sad the people living there have been taught that it's normal to have a government like that.
This Boy’s Photo Was Taken In Los Angeles, California, Circa 1920s. A Stately Pose. From My Glass Negative Collection
112 Year-Old Teimruz Vanacha (Left), Veteran Of WWI And The Russian Civil War, With His Son Ivan, A Veteran Of WWII, In 1980
Salvador Dali Painting "The Face Of War", 1940
The Ethiopian Negus Menelik II Who Defeated The Italians In The Battle Of Adawa And Thus Saving His Nation From Colonisation. 1913
Cannabis Rights Activist Ben Masel Smoking A Joint While Voting In The 1976 Presidential Election. Taking Advantage Of An Apparent Law That Prohibits Arrest While Voting
Night Fishing In Hawaii, 1948
Rarely Did Photographers Make It To Frontier Families But When They Did Families Wanted To Show How Well They Were Doing Out West By Stripping The House & Pose For The Camera
This family would like you to see their big melons are & a cow that appears to be able to climb your house! The 1870s
The house is a dugout, "dig out" mostly into the side of that hill. The cow isn't standing on the roof of their house, but rather grazing on the hill. The dugout home had several advantages, but mainly it was inexpensive and it wasn't exposed to severe weather the same way a clapboard house would be.
A Mob Pours Sugar, Ketchup And Mustard Over The Heads Of John Salter, Joan Trumpauer And Anne Moody
During a sit-in demonstration at a Woolworth's ‘whites only’ lunch counter in Jackson, Miss - May 28, 1963
On This Day 59 Years Ago, Soviet Space Mission Vostok 6 Was Launched With Valentina Tereshkova Onboard, Who Became The 1st Woman In Space
This is her during the fifth earth orbit on June 16, 1963
A Smiling Girl In A Kimono On New Year's Day. Japan, 1914
Proof that wearing socks with sandals and be beautiful... uncomfortable but beautiful!!
Greenpeace Tries To Stop Radioactive Waste From Being Dumped In The Ocean, 1982
Russian Conscript With His Family Before Being Deployed To The Front, Karachev, Bryansk, Russia, 1943
Võ Thi Thang Smiling After Being Sentenced To 20 Years Hard Labour In A Prison Camp By The South Vietnamese Govt - 1968
In The 1890s, The Congo State (Controlled By Belgian Settlers) Allowed The Companies To Maneuver Almost Entirely Freely
Which resulted in various atrocities, including the amputation of hands as punishment for those who refused to collect rubber
My Grandfather. 1933. In A Cornfield He Planted That Was Destroyed By Locusts
Chinese-American War Worker In Los Angeles
Wore a handwritten sign in his back to avoid being mistaken for Japanese 1942
This is actually so sad. I recently watched a Cold Case episode about life for American Japanese after Pearl Harbor. Heartbreaking.
Commuters In New York On The Evening Of November 22, 1963
A Boy And His Owl, 1933
Jaques Biederer, The First Photographer In History Specializing In Erotic Photos. This Photo Was Taken In Paris In 1928
An Enthusiast For Men's Dress Reform Walking Down The Strand In London. The Mdrp (Men’s Dress Reform Party) Was Formed In The Interwar Years In Britain, 1930
Santa Claus With The Children During Croatian War Of Independence. Vukovar, 1992 (Colorized)
[colorized] Three Scout Girls Collect Peach Pits, Which Will Later Be Processed To Make Gas Mask Filters During World War I. Washington, 1917-1918
![[colorized] Three Scout Girls Collect Peach Pits, Which Will Later Be Processed To Make Gas Mask Filters During World War I. Washington, 1917-1918](https://www.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/62e22e4852df9_tgs7fesdxc791__700.jpg "[colorized] Three Scout Girls Collect Peach Pits, Which Will Later Be Processed To Make Gas Mask Filters During World War I. Washington, 1917-1918")
UPS Worker Delivers Packages In New York City During The Attacks Of 9/11 2001
There was a ups guy out delivering packages during the hurricane last week
Memorial Day 1945: French Teen Helene Chapelle And Her Mother Kneel At The Grave Of James Simonian Who Was Killed During The Normandy Invasion
She is reading a letter from Simonian’s mother who asked that it be read at her son’s grave. La Cambe Cemetery, France
The American (and British and Canadian) cemeteries of Normandy and Brittany are such sad but beautiful places. All so young.
Queen Elizabeth; The Queen Mother, Princess Margaret And A Bored Prince Charles Watching The Coronation Ceremony Of Queen Elizabeth II. Westminster Abbey, 1953
Dr. Erich Salomon Faked A Broken Arm So He Could Hide A Camera In His Cast To Photograph The Us Supreme Court - 1932
Captain Lewis Nixon Of The 101st Airborne Wakes Up After A Night Of Celebrating Courtesy Of Goerings Private Liquor, Wine And Champagne Collection, Austria May 4th 1945
J. Robert Oppenheimer And Albert Einstein, 1947
Anton Dostler, Nazi General Moments Before Being Executed For War Crimes. Aversa, Italy. 1 December, 1945
I have a feeling that we will be returning to this, but with Russian officers.
P.t. Barnum & Bailey's Combined Circus Performers, New York 1924
So this is the one that had the albino twins who where told their mother was dead and then they saw her in the crowd?
Photo Of A British Man Wearing A Chain Around The Neck Of Aborigines, Who Are Natives Of Australia. 1900's
Mohawk Warrior Attacks Canadian Soldiers During Oka Crisis July-Sep 1990
Which began when the Canadian government approved the seizure of Mohawk land for a private golf course - a 14 yr old Mohawk teen was bayoneted in the chest and almost died
A Gross exaggeration of what happened. A municipal government gave approval for construction on a disputed property and the Mohawks reacted. A police officer was shot and killed and then he ensuing standoff was resolved after a lot of time passing, by the army who were filmed and showed immense tolerance. I never heard about any bayoneting, perhaps it happened but was overshadowed by the police officer being murdered. No one was found responsible. Don't attempt to rewrite history while some us of lived it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oka_Crisis 'During the surrender, as the military began arresting land defenders and some began to flee, 14-year-old Waneek Horn-Miller was stabbed near the heart by a Canadian bayonet, and nearly died.'
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This is the picture everyone remembers from the Oka standoff. Powerful. More here (https://www.cbc.ca/radio/unreserved/reflections-of-oka-stories-of-the-mohawk-standoff-25-years-later-1.3232368/one-photograph-shaped-how-everyone-saw-the-oka-crisis-1.3232786) Oka-Stando...69be8f.jpg 
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/unreserved/reflections-of-oka-stories-of-the-mohawk-standoff-25-years-later-1.3232368/sisters-recall-the-brutal-last-day-of-oka-crisis-1.3234550
There was a much better photo of the Oka confrontation, a fierce looking man nose to nose with a young canadian cop. Anyone remember that? Couldn't get it out of my 15 year old head.
*Rolls eyes* Oh ya, har har har. Everyone here lives in igloos and rides polar bears too. Aren't you just so original. F*cking hilarious. Idiot.
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Ms. Lee Merlin, The Winner Of The “Miss Atomic Bomb” Pageant In Las Vegas, 1950s
August 23, 1902, Providence, Rhode Island. U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt Delivers His "Trust Speech" And Warns Of Prosperity Being Concentrated In The Hands Of The Few, Particulary Large Corporations
Nancy Pelosi With U.s President John F. Kennedy, During Kennedy’s Inauguration As President - 1961
Drive-In Car Hops In Shorts And Cowboy Boots At The Log Lodge Tavern Near Love Field Airport In Dallas, Texas, 1940
Simple Bridge Made From Two Chains In China, Circa 1930
The 101st Airborne Division’s “Filthy Thirteen”volunteer Pathfinders Preparing To Parachute Into France Just After Midnight On June 6, 1944
They were among the first allied troops to set foot on French soil on d-day; their mission was to mark drop zones for the airborne assault
Temporary Nypd Headquarters At A Burger King Near The World Trade Center, September 11, 2001
The Liquidators Worked In The Immediate Vicinity Of The Damaged Reactor. Tschernobyl 1986
Trying to construct the sarcophagus around the reactor. That was a very dangerous job done as a race against time. Additionally they also tried to build tunnels under the reactor and fill them with liquid nitrogen to stop any danger of the molten fuel hitting the water table. (That btw didn’t work as it wasn’t needed, the fuel had solidified). Sorry, I’m a nuclear incidents history nerd.
Sir Winston Churchill, In 1895, Age 20
He's so cute I almost forgot he started an entire famine in Bengal. Almost.
Sikh Soldier Of The Indian Red Eagle Division Showing A Captured German Flag After Taking Over Monte Cassino, Italy In May, 1944
My Grandfather Interviewing Muhammad Ali In The Weeks After Changing His Name - July 1967
Prague Residents Throwing Molotov Cocktails At A Soviet Tank In Prague, August 21, 1968
Sumo Wrestling. Yokohama - Japan, 1887
“I Fear All We Have Done Is To Awaken A Sleeping Giant And Fill Him With A Terrible Resolve”- The U.S. Pacific Fleet Getting Ready For Battle During The Marshall Islands Campaign, 1944
Egyptian Men Watch As The Graf Zeppelin Floats Over The Great Pyramids Of Giza, Egypt, While Atop The Great Pyramid Of Khufu. 1931
Queen Elizabeth II Addresses A Vast Gathering Of More Than A Quarter Of A Million In India, 1961
Meanwhile, I would start to stutter from having to read out my homework in class.
1 Of The 11 Surviving Pictures Taken By Life Magazine Photographer Robert Capa On D-Day, June 6, 1944
Two Students Hanging Out In Their College Dorm Room At The University Of Illinois, 1910
An Unidentified Soldier Of The 25th Infantry Division Pauses For A Cigarette. Vietnam War, 1969 [colorized]
![An Unidentified Soldier Of The 25th Infantry Division Pauses For A Cigarette. Vietnam War, 1969 [colorized]](https://www.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/6284de23cd270_1ttp8cojt4s81__700.jpg "An Unidentified Soldier Of The 25th Infantry Division Pauses For A Cigarette. Vietnam War, 1969 [colorized]")
1956: Young "Teddy Boys" Somewhere In England
The "young" boy on the right looks like he's definitely seen some sh!t?! To see a 12 year old boy with the face of a 40 year old man makes me want to cry!
A Police Officer Fires Into A Group Of Demonstrators Attempting To Prohibit Access To The Wto During The "Battle Of Seattle." Nov 30, 1999
It's an Abrams Airborne Manufacturing MGL-LTL, classed (quite optimistically) as a launcher for "less-lethal ammunition", in this case a tear gas cartridge. A tear gas cartridge weighs half a pound and can be shot up to 120 meters, meaning this gun and cartridge can develop over 300 J of energy. The US Army defines the lethal force threshold for ammunition at 80 joule. This kind of ammunition is defined as "less-lethal" only because it is supposed to be shot either in very high arches or to be bounced off the ground, something the Police forces never do, as they prefer a safe good ol'straight shot to the chest (or in this photo, to the head). That's why the actual injury or death ratio for this kind of shots is much, much higher than anything the manufacturer advertises.
The Scene On The Highway Near Palermo After A Bomb Killed Anti-Mafia Judge Giovanni Falcone, His Wife, And Three Police Escort Agents On 23rd May 1992. The Bombing Was A Terror Attack By The Sicilian Mafia Who Placed 400 Kg Of Explosives Under The Highway (Sicily, Italy 1992)
I am from Palermo, they were terrible years. Borsellino was killed with a similar method inside the city. If you are not from Sicily and want to understand a little bit more about the Mafia, watch "Mafia kills only in Summer".
Rare Photo Of Kim Il-Sung's Tumor On His Neck, 1984
U.S. Helicopters Pour Machine-Gun Fire Into The Tree Line To Cover The Advance Of South Vietnamese Troops Ca, 1965
Press Photographers And Police Snipers Lie Side By Side On A Roof Opposite The Kreditbanken Bank On Norrmalmstorg Square In Stockholm. A Misfired Robbery Turned Into A Six-Day Standoff That Gave Birth To The Phrase "Stockholm Syndrome", Stockholm, Sweden 1973
Circus Performer Jimmy Armstrong Having A Smoke Break, 1958
Lyndon B. Johnson Yelling At The Pilots Of A Nearby Plane To Cut Their Engines So That John F. Kennedy Could Speak As Kennedy Is Seen Trying To Calm Him Down. Taken During The 1960 Presidential Campaign In Amarillo, Texas
George Harrison Of The Beatles Taking A Selfie At The Taj Mahal In 1966
Hitler Justifies The Invasion Of Poland. Hitler Speech Of September 1, 1939
A Firefighter Looks Towards The Heavily Damaged Belgrade's Tallest Building, Nato Bombing, April 1999
Teddy Roosevelt's 1907 Hunting Guide Ben Lilly
I hate how shooting our beautiful animals was/is considered a “sport”. Hardly a “sport” when you’re the only side playing? Cowardly.
An Atlanta Boy’s High School Basketball Player Shooting A Free Throw Against Tech High School In 1921
A British Soldier Gives A V-For-Victory Sign To German Prisoners Captured At El Alamein, 26 October 1942
I don't think that's what happening. His hand is the wrong way round to be a victory sign. In the UK giving a V sign with your hand that way basically means 'f*** off.' It's a way of swearing without actually saying anything. This is the British equivalent of what Americans would call 'flipping the bird.' Which makes this photo even more poignant as this British solider was most likely insulting those German prisoners, and they didn't even realise.
Miners Light Up Reused Cigarettes At The End Of An Eight-Hour Shift Underground At The Zhdanovskaya Coal Mine, All For $30 A Month. Donbass, Ukraine. February 1992 - By Shepard Sherbell
Soviet Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev Stuck In Space During The Collapse Of The Soviet Union, 1991
Yukio Mishima Addresses Members Of The Self-Defense Forces In Tokyo Shortly Before Committing Seppuku On Nov. 25, 1970
For all my sensitive honeys out there, seppuku is self-unaliving. Hopefully this kept someone from being triggered after looking it up. Hugs to all of you. :)
Cars And Girls, 1942 [colorized]
![Cars And Girls, 1942 [colorized]](https://www.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/6284de2b76be1_p2375lyvz7f81__700.jpg "Cars And Girls, 1942 [colorized]")
Shame they didn't have credit cards or bank accounts to buy them themselves
Listening To Copies Of The Beatles “Rubber Soul” In The Quality Control Room At The Emi Pressing Plant In London, England, 1965
The Undertaker Looks Down At Medical Staff Checking On Mankind After He Fell, Unscripted, Through The Top Of Hell In A Cell Into The Ring 16ft Below. June 28, 1998
Walt Disney With The Original Mickey Mouse Club Lineup. 1955
Former President Ronald Reagan Doffs His Baseball Cap, Exposing His Partially Shaved Head
Before the applause of well-wishers who saw him off at the airport in Rochester, Minn., Sept. 15, 1989
An Assembly Worker In Front Of A Weight And Size Model Of The First Soviet Atomic Bomb. Ussr, 1949
Battalion Courier Adolf Hitler In May 1915, With His Rifle Slung Over His Shoulder, On His Way To Deliver A Message During WWI
German Soldiers March Triumphantly Past The French Wwi Victory Monument In Verdun During The Fall Of France, 1940
Mary Anne Macleod Was A Poor Scottish Immigrant Who Arrived In America In 1930. She Eventually Married An Up-And-Coming Businessman Named Frederick Trump And Became The Mother Of Businessman And Future President. Donald Trump
How can such beauty produce such bile. It's " make a sows ear into a silk purse," not the other way around
I love these too. But we should avoid putting our modern mentality in their place and judge them. We haven't a clue the hardships and difficulties living at those times brought. Life was hard and you did what you could or had to do.
I agree with you. Sometimes it's what they've been taught. Some came out of it better - like slave owning or hunting for fun - but some didn't. Also, these things didn't happen everywhere but we still generalize.
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Yeah! Why don't the links to see more work? I thought it was just me but it apparently is YOU!
I love these too. But we should avoid putting our modern mentality in their place and judge them. We haven't a clue the hardships and difficulties living at those times brought. Life was hard and you did what you could or had to do.
I agree with you. Sometimes it's what they've been taught. Some came out of it better - like slave owning or hunting for fun - but some didn't. Also, these things didn't happen everywhere but we still generalize.
Load More Replies... Yeah! Why don't the links to see more work? I thought it was just me but it apparently is YOU!
