“Lost In History”: 50 Pictures That Might Change Your Perspective On The 20th Century (New Pics)
History is one big treasure box full of unforgettable moments, incredible people, encounters, places, events, incidents, you name it. But with time flying at the pace of a hadron collider, they easily slip under the dusty blanket of time and oblivion.
Thanks to this incredibly entertaining Instagram page titled “Lost In History,” though, many of these rare moments that got captured on camera were dug up from the past and brought to the present time. Dedicated to 20th-century people and culture, the account is sharing pictures with its 1.2M followers that illuminate history in this entirely new perspective.
Psst! After you're done reading this one, don't forget to check out our previous feature with more "Lost In History" pics.
This post may include affiliate links.
"My Parents On Their Wedding Day In 1964 And Then Again At Christmas 2021"
Simone Segouin, Mostly Known By Her Codename, Nicole Minet, Was Only 18-Years-Old When The Germans Invaded
Her first act of rebellion was to steal a bicycle from a German military administration, and to slice the tires of all of the other bikes and motorcycles so they couldn't pursue her. She found a pocket of the Resistance and joined the fight, using the stolen bike to deliver messages between Resistance groups. She was an extremely fast learner and quickly became an expert at tactics and explosives. She led teams of Resistance fighters to capture German troops, set traps, and sabotage German equipment. As the war dragged on, her deeds escalated to derailing German trains, blocking roads, blowing up bridges and helping to create a German-free path to help the Allied forces retake France from the inside. She was never caught. Segouin was present at the liberation of Chartres on August 23, 1944, and then the liberation of Paris two days later. She was promoted to lieutenant and awarded several medals, including the Croix de Guerre. After the war, she studied medicine and became a pediatric nurse. She is still going strong at 96.
I was dreading a gruesome death. So happy that she's still here! Amazing
Hattie Mcdaniel Accepting Her Oscar In A Segregated "No Blacks" Hotel In Los Angeles For Her Role In Gone With The Wind
Why is this so far down on the list? How was this ever allowed? Humans can be so awful to each other.
Apparently later she was asked if she minded playing a maid, and she replied that it paid much better than being one
The USA and it’s entire history is pretty f*****g embarrassing! Go ahead and downvote and put my burnt bagel out of its misery. Truth hurts!
It's the same with the UK but so many people here still glorify the past, even when confronted with indisputable facts.
Load More Replies...Clark Gable threatened to walk off the movie and leave them without a Rhett Butler if they did not desegregate the set. He was going to boycott the premiere, but Hattie told him to go…he made as many changes as he could.
Can't see any reason for the downvote, so here's a +
Load More Replies...Just to throw a new comment into the mix, and ease the UK versus US going on somehow in this otherwise useless post, on a time wasting website.... Regardless of who's history is worse, or less worse, which I can't believe I'm even saying that phrase, can we all not just agree the point is to learn from and improve our global society? How is bickering and fighting about this online any different in reality, nobody in the world can seem to agree on anything, even when it comes to what terrible means to one person or another. And I'm only at number two in this post, yikes.
Ok, so this is incorrect. She was present at the Oscars ceremony and accepted it onstage in front of the audience at the Academy Awards. An "exception" was apparently made for her to attend, though, and she sat at a segregated table in the back of the room. The article shows her accepting the award. Hattie McDaniel’s Missing Oscar Award Mystery | Mental Floss https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/625393/hattie-mcdaniel-missing-oscar-award
The level of disgust that I feel it other level. Seriously! How??!!!! How could we do this!! How did good people ever thought slavery was ok! How?? I just can't
why was this downvoted ;-; (I upvoted for you ^^)
Load More Replies...Adding insult to injury, her acceptance speech was written by the studio. In it, she pledged to continue being "a credit to my race."
Ugh, how awful and purposefully humiliating. No wonder she looks so defeated.
Load More Replies...Imagine being treated like s**t because you have green eyes, it is so ridiculous. I think I've read somewhere once that the color of our skin is about 1mm thick. So because of that 1mm, your whole life changes.
What a bunch of s***. SMH. They bring up how she was first, but I never hear this part!
Such a talented, beautiful woman, and so cruel of them. As if she had no feelings. Look at the sadness on her face.
murica : racism is fiiiiiine, but can't let it damage that bottom line!
Those goddamned pieces of SH!T!!! Humanity was a pile a c**p then and kinda still is. At least this b******t is gone. Those dirty racist fu¢kers.
That was terrible! One of the best actresses at that time, in my opinion. What did her skin color matter. From what I've read about her she was a fantastic lady!
It was a shame that black actors had to play maids and never had the same opportunies as whites had pre 1960.
And now the woki's managed to get this movie banned from the streamers, because of rascism
Amazingly everybody acknowledged her talent and awarded her an Oscar buut ...humans are weird s**t
then how come Halle Berry was the first black woman to receive an Oscar?
Ha!! I bet that upset the apple carts! Good on Hattie for winning her award!!
Segregation was widespread. An exception was made to allow Hattie McDaniel to attend because Clarke Gable threatened to boycott the ceremony if she was excluded.
What a sad picture. You can see the pain in Ms. McDaniel's face on what should be a joyful recognition of her work.
What a terrible, rude thing to do to such a talented actress. Or, to do to anyone.
Hattie never got past that damn line. Bless the Lord so many of us have the will to change!
Yes it is wrong but when Gone With the Wind was made in the 30’s or 40’s that was the general attitude. Unfortunately a version of the KKK is still alive and well.
Yes history is filled with saddness.Yes this hapoened.The good part is you learn from history in order not to repeat the mistakes. That being Saud evolution is a work in progress and we have made progress.
This is humans have treated other human's since civilization arose,probably before as well.The important thing to notice is that we has humans have have decided it is wrong and no longer allow it.Well in most places ,it's a work in progress.
She was one of my favourite characters, so warm - I remember just wanting to have a cuddle from her 🤗❤️
Incorrect she was presented at the event .. you can find clips of this even on YouTube i believe
She looks so sad when it presumably should have been such a happy event for her.
She should have left the Oscar. She doesn't need their recognition.
giving a black actor or something thier oscar in a no blacks place. damn, we as america are ****** up
Hattie Mcdaniel was amazing in "Gone with the Wind". Why do people have to be so hateful? Even in 2023, I still see discrimination. What a shame. She deserved to be acknowledged along with her peers.
There is a new book Oscar Wars by Michael Schulman , 2023 Harper Collins,
Sorry, I didn't mean to hit post. The book includes a very long chapter on this and subsequent episodes in the story of the fight to unwhiten Oscar. Fascinating reading; also available as an ebook, check Libby or Kindle
Load More Replies...The USA and UK had the cheek of getting at South Africa for Apartheid. Total hypocrites they are. And now that South Africa is being destroyed, they don't give a sh**, and won't get involved to help.
And they and the British got at South Africa for Apartheid. What hypocrites.....
The look on her face will haunt me forever. Where is she? A back room or something?
No other person or group can take away the feelings of awe I felt for her…
And yet, the movie has been banned from being shown on any tv platform. I guess the FCC doesn’t like to celebrate black success??? Just like the left leading the way in banning Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben’s. Obviously leftwing American society doesn’t like black representation. Sad.
Your statement is hilarious! Especially when the socialist democratic left here in the US claims that they are the party of color. Something is missing here. BTW I'm independent.
Load More Replies...WOW! I've seen that amazing heartfelt acceptance speech and just assumed she was present with the rest of the cast at the coconut Grove a the ambassador hotel! Unbelievable!
the disgusting sickness that is and always has been stupidity defended as racist b******t, name-calling, suppression of beauty and humanity. She won!!! We all win when we acknowledge the evil-influenced patterns we have outgrown accepting or denying how awful they are.
Theres Nothing About This I Can Upvote. It Was Just All So Disgraceful
“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 in a previous interview.
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.”
German Anti-Nazi Political Activist, Sophie Scholl, Was Executed In 1943 For Leading Non-Violent Student Resistance Against Hitler
She was 21 years old. Her last words: "How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause. Such a fine, sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us, thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?"
This Is A Photo Of Dr. Eugene Lazowski, A Polish Doctor Who Saved 8,000 Jews By Creating A Fake Typhus Epidemic In Stalowa Wola (Nazi Occupied Poland), 1943
Holocaust Survivor And The Soldier Who Rescued Her In 1944
During World War 2, John Mackay was part of the Scottish commando unit that rescued a group of prisoners from the Nazis as they were being marched from Auschwitz to another concentration camp. Little did he know that amongst the prisoners was a young Hungarian woman by the name of Edith Steiner. He would see her again at a dance, which was organized to celebrate the liberation. John asked a friend to ask Edith if she would dance with him, but she sent his friend back with the message that she would only do so if he asked her out himself. So John worked up the courage to go up to her and ask her in person, and she accepted. In 1946, they married and returned to Scotland where they owned and operated a small hotel in Pitlochry before retiring in Dundee. After celebrating their 71st Valentine's Day together, Edith passed away in June of 2017, just three weeks before their wedding anniversary. She was 92 years old.
“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.
An Iconic Image Showing Aboriginal Rights Activist, Gary Foley With A Sign Reading, “Pardon Me For Being Born Into A Nation Of Racists”, 1971
This Is Shavarsh Karapetyan, A Retired Armenian Swimmer. In 1976, He Had Just Completed A 26 Km (16 Mile) Run When He Heard A Loud Crash
A trolleybus had lost control and had fallen into a reservoir. It was 25 meters (82 ft) off-shore and had sunk to a depth of 10 meters (33 ft). Karapetyan immediately dived into the sewage-infested waters and managed to kick the back window of the trolleybus with his legs, despite zero visibility from the silt that had risen from the bottom. Of the 92 passengers onboard, Karapetyan pulled out 46 people. 20 of whom survived. The combination of cold water and the multiple lacerations from glass shards led him to be hospitalized for 45 days. He developed pneumonia and sepsis. While he was able to recover, damage to his lungs prevented him from continuing his career as a swimmer.
This Is Franca Viola, An Italian Woman Who Became Famous In The 1960s For Publicly Refusing To Accept The Twisted Tradition Of Marrying Her Rapist
Her father supported her. She went public with her story and got lots of support.
Yaszek argues that even when shot by the most amateur of photographers, these images have a unique effect on our modern minds. “These 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.
This Is Margaret Ann Neve At Age 110 In 1902. She Was Born In 1792 And Died In 1903, Making Her The First Proven Person In Recorded History To Have Lived In 3 Different Centuries
Lena Baker Was A Black Maid That Was Put On Trial For The Killing Of Her White Employer Earnest Knight For Trying To Rape Her
Though she claimed self defense, she was sentenced to death by an all white male jury. Her trial only lasted one day! Sitting in the electric chair, this is what she said: "What I done, I did in self defense or I would've been killed myself. Where I was, I could not overcome it. I am ready to meet my God''. She was executed on March 5, 1945 as the only woman ever executed in Georgia. She left behind 3 children. Her last words, along side with her picture are displayed near the now-retired electric chair at a museum at Georgia state prison in Reidsville. She was Pardon 60 years after her Murder.
Poor woman. Sentenced to death by an all white male jury, doesn’t surprise me.
Iranian Woman In The Era Before The Islamic Revolution, 1960
Interestingly, by looking at historical images, viewers may develop an emotional bond. “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?’,” Yaszek told us.
This Is 18-Year-Old Alice Roosevelt And Her Long-Haired Chihuahua Named Leo In 1902
She also had a pet snake named Emily Spinach who she would wrap around on one arm and take to parties. Alice was extremely independent and unlike many women of her time, she was known to wear pants, drive cars, smoke cigarettes, place bets with bookies, dance on rooftops, and party all night. In a span of 15 months, she managed to attend 300 parties, 350 balls and 407 dinners. A friend of Alice’s stepmom once remarked that she was “like a young wild animal that had been put into good clothes.” Her stepmom went a step further and described her as a “guttersnipe” that went “uncontrolled with every boy in town.” William Howard Taft banned her from the White House after Alice buried a voodoo doll (of Taft’s wife) in the front yard. Woodrow Wilson also banned her after she told a very dirty joke (sadly no record of the joke exists) about him in public. Her father, Theodore Roosevelt famously said, “I can either run the country or I can attend to Alice, but I cannot possibly do both.” Alice once told President Lyndon B. Johnson that she specifically wore wide-brimmed hats around him so that he could not kiss her. During an interview in 1974, Alice described herself as a “hedonist.” She died in 1980 at the age of 96.
Sussy, 1917, Sweden
Bob Ross With His Pet Squirrels, 1991
"Check it out, Sammy! I'm Bob's Moustache!" "For crying out loud, Cyril, You're nuts!"
In 1948, A Man Wore 30-Pound, Three-Toed Lead Shoes And Stomped Around A Florida Beach During The Night
The footprints lead people to believe that a 15-foot tall penguin was roaming their lands. He kept up the prank for 10 years, visiting various beaches. The hoax wasn't revealed until 40 years later.
The Indigenous People Known As The Huichol First Appeared In The High Highlands Of Central Mexico Some 15,000 Years Ago
According to their ancient traditions, both men and women would experience the pain of childbirth. This is how it would be done, the father would position himself on the rafters with rope tied around his scrotum while the mother would pull on it while giving birth.
Facial Prosthesis For A Wounded Soldier Of The First World War, 1916
My gran worked as a nurse in the UK during the late 20s in a hospital for returned soldiers, in the ward dealing with injuries like this.... A lot of them could never return to their families because their injuries were so horrific... Most Sundays she would bring my mum and my aunty to the hospital gardens to play, so the patients could watch from the balcony, and experience at least a trace of a normal life they could never experience ...... Still breaks my heart when I think of it, how much damage the human body can take and still go on.... My gran was my fkn hero!!
A Lion Walks Alone In The Desert
This is a 1925 photo of possibly the last Barbary lion in the wild before its extinction. It was taken by French photographer Marcelin Flandrin while he was onboard a flight on the Casablanca-Dakar air route.
Feminist Vandalism, 1970s
Sentiment still stands. Hands off our bodies. It makes me want to puke.
86-Year-Old Lao Huang, A Cormorant Fisherman Living In Yangshuo, China
Dolly Parton At Home In Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, 1960s
Studio Photos Of A Lesbian Couple, Early 1900s
Hanukkah In Kiel, Germany, 1932
There's a story behind that menora. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/19/world/europe/menorah-hanukkah-germany.html
Safety Standards In 1960s
So I have seen this one before. The angle of the picture makes it look super scary, but they actually are not that high off the ground.
On September 30th, 1956, During A Drunken Argument In A New York City Bar, A Man Named Thomas Fitzpatrick Claimed He Could Fly An Airplane From New Jersey To New York In Under 15 Minutes
To prove himself, Fitzpatrick left the bar, stole an airplane from a New Jersey airfield at 3am, flew without lights or radio completely intoxicated, and landed the airplane in the street in front of the bar.
Photograph Of Two Women Kissing Captioned "Um-M! That Kiss! Guess I Still Love You! Jus' Can't Help It!", 1930s
The Lovers Of Valdaro Were Two 6,000-Years-Old Skeletons Who Appeared To Have Died In A Lover's Embrace, Face To Face With Their Arms And Legs Entwined
Ryan Reynolds Back In 1983 Holding A Dead Fish... With His Fly Open
Office Life Before The Invention Of Autocad And Other Drafting Softwares
Prior to the release of AutoCAD in 1982, engineering drawings were all done by hand using different grade pencils, erasers, T-squares and set squares. Even after all the manual labor, if a change was required, the engineers and toolmakers had to start from scratch and make the sketches all over again. Nowadays, architecture designers and other drafters are mainly just clicking their mouse and keyboard and not hunched over on a giant desk wondering if any changes will be made to their final drafts.
If I could get in a time machine and go back to the age before computers - I wouldn't.
In 1938 Bruce Mozert Took The First Underwater Photos And They Are Brilliant
Bruce invented the world’s first underwater camera, and it was at Silver Springs, Florida where he would put his invention to renowned use.
In The Olden Days, Santa Claus Would Gather Up Naughty Children, Toss Them In His Basket And Whisk Them Away To The North Pole To Serve As His Slaves. That’s Where The Legend Of Santas Elves Came From
An Unemployed Lumber Worker And His Wife In Oregon, August, 1939. Photo By Dorothea Lange
In 1902, A French Company Decided To Make Playing Cards That Imagined "Women Of The Future"
Three Young Women Eat Spaghetti On Inflatable Mattresses At Island Of Capri, 1939
As one does on special occasions break out the spaghetti mattress and party.
To Appear Headless While Taking A Photo, Aka "Horsemanning" Was A Popular Way To Pose In The 1920's
A United States Soldier Holds Up A Giant Jungle Centipede During The Vietnam War, 1967
In 19th Century England, Wealthy Farmers Would Commission Paintings Of Their Cows, Pigs And Sheep As A Way To Flex Their Wealth And Status
Vintage Halloween Costume
I don’t care if it’s Halloween or not, lf I see this in the middle of the night alone at the street, I am willing sacrifice all my sweets to them
Former Beauty Queen, Miss Wyoming Winner 1973 Joyce Mckinney Being Arrested By Police After Kidnapping Mormon Missionary Kirk Anderson From His Church, Forcing Him To Be Her Sex Slave For 3 Days. 1977
3,000 Year Old Pair Of Pants Found In China. The Pants Were Discovered In A Tomb In Northwestern China
The Man In The Picture Is Dina Sanichar, Widely Believed To Be Raised By The Wolves
He was born in India and was found in the deep jungles of Uttar Pradesh by the hunters in 1872. They found him hunting alongside the wolves and noted that he was walking on all four of his limbs.
Mexican Actress Maty Huitrón Photographed By Nacho Lopez In 195
This series was one of the multiple social experiments of the Mexican photographer to understand human behavior. In this case, it was about seeing the average reaction to an exuberant woman, the model chosen was the burlesque dancer Maty Huitron, who would later become an eminence of the performing arts in Mexico. The impact was so provocative that Nacho López's photos were awarded in 1957 by UNESCO, and later exhibited in stations of the Paris and Munich Metro.
The Original Michelin Man From 1898. The Michelin Man Is White Because Rubber Tires Are Naturally White
Reese Witherspoon With Ryan Phillipe And Their Daughter On The Set Of Legally Blonde
Reese said in an interview in 1998 that she met Ryan at her 21st birthday party. She recalled the moment as embarrassing, saying she went over to Ryan when she was drunk and said “I think you’re my birthday present!”
Bonnie And Clyde's Last Kiss A Few Hours Before They Were Killed, May 23, 1934
Kate Middleton And Prince William's Post-Clubbing Taxi Pics From The 2000s
The Very First Miss Universe Pageant, 1952
Look at the exotic globe-spanning localities: Turkey, Norway, Great Britain,.......uh, Indiana?
Demi Moore On The Set Of G.i. Jane, 1997
The date is wrong, the first action movie starring a female as lead was the Hunger Games in 2012.
22-Year-Old Lana Del Rey (Then Performing Under May Jailer) Photographed In 2007
Discussing meeting her in the same year, record label-owner David Nichtern said “When she first came to us she was playing plunky little acoustic guitar, had sort of straight blonde hair, very cute young woman. A little bit dark, but very intelligent. We heard that. But she very quickly kept evolving."
Note: this post originally had 92 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
If Wandaluzt ( you can't reply to their comment) doesn't' like BoredPanda they should go back to Grinder.
Load More Replies...And certainly don't reflect "lost history" of the 20th century ...... Especially celebrity pics post 2000....
And yet some of those made the cutoff, while some of the actually historically relevant pics are in the culled section 🙄
Load More Replies...I wish I was allowed to create these types of posts. I've hundreds of history photos that are far more than a mere "here is someone you might have heard of, taken 2 years before they became mildly famous".
I think we may have a different view of what is 'interesting' and of 'historical relevance'. I'm thinking 'how they made the pyramids', but you're showing me Carol Smillie's bottom. I'm not against bottoms but there is a time and a place for them, and I don't think this is it.
Topic: Photos which give historical perspective. Top posts: Holocaust, judicial murder of a black woman, anti-Nazi gorilla fighters, rape survivor. Current photo on link: SWIMSUIT COMPETITION!!!!
Fun fact: on the contrary of many believes, there was homosexuality in the medieval ages, eventough this was heavily debated (main side against it being the church) there are pieces of literature and art found of a homosexual relationship. Plus over 40 different ethnicities have been found in medieval London
Superb scroll for me. Love pondering each photo and the historical questions as well as commentary they provoke.
If Wandaluzt ( you can't reply to their comment) doesn't' like BoredPanda they should go back to Grinder.
Load More Replies...And certainly don't reflect "lost history" of the 20th century ...... Especially celebrity pics post 2000....
And yet some of those made the cutoff, while some of the actually historically relevant pics are in the culled section 🙄
Load More Replies...I wish I was allowed to create these types of posts. I've hundreds of history photos that are far more than a mere "here is someone you might have heard of, taken 2 years before they became mildly famous".
I think we may have a different view of what is 'interesting' and of 'historical relevance'. I'm thinking 'how they made the pyramids', but you're showing me Carol Smillie's bottom. I'm not against bottoms but there is a time and a place for them, and I don't think this is it.
Topic: Photos which give historical perspective. Top posts: Holocaust, judicial murder of a black woman, anti-Nazi gorilla fighters, rape survivor. Current photo on link: SWIMSUIT COMPETITION!!!!
Fun fact: on the contrary of many believes, there was homosexuality in the medieval ages, eventough this was heavily debated (main side against it being the church) there are pieces of literature and art found of a homosexual relationship. Plus over 40 different ethnicities have been found in medieval London
Superb scroll for me. Love pondering each photo and the historical questions as well as commentary they provoke.