It is a bit surreal to think that while we can’t physically experience history because we’re born in a particular place and time, the power of technology has empowered us to see it, understand it, and make conclusions from it.
Historical Capsule is a dedicated community that pretty much empowers people to do just that. Join us as we take a journey through time in this listicle of iconic historical photos below.
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100,000 Iranian Women March Against The Hijab Law, Tehran, 1979
In 1979 Muslim fundamentalists overthrew the secular monarchy of Iran and the new Theocrats immediately began dehumanizing and subjugating women. I hope anyone in the USA who reads this is taking notes because it might be happening here in 2025.
Elizabeth Eckford Ignores The Screams Of Students On Her First Day Integrated Into A Little Rock High School, 1957
Two Little Kids Dancing On The Streets Of New York City, C. 1940
So, Historical Capsule is a subreddit that’s a “step into the past”. It’s an online depository for old and vintage photographs that tell stories from significant events and moments in history.
The subreddit is home to 50,000 members, being ranked in the top 3%, and encourages open discussion and celebration of all things history.
Anne Frank’s Father Otto, Revisiting The Attic Where They Hid From The Nazis. He Was The Only Surviving Family Member
Ruby Bridges, The First African-American To Attend A White Elementary School In The Deep South, 1960
This is literally what flipped the South from Dixicrats to Republicans. Never forget that the GOP was (and still is) for apartheid.
A Former Slave Named Gordon Shows His Whipping Scars. Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 1863
On the surface, history might sound like a dull and boring discipline. However, if you dig deeper into what it’s all about, you begin to understand just how much essence it has and how much it has to offer in general.
After all, history might be something that’s all about the past, but you’d be surprised just how transformative it might be.
Lonnie Johnson, Inventor Of Super Soaker, 1992
A Lesbian Couple In Semi-Drag Wedding Attire. Kingdom Of Hungary, Budapest, 1920
Following A 23-Hour (Successful) Heart Transplant, Dr. Religa Keeps An Eye On His Patient's Vital Signs. In The Corner, His Assistant Is Sleeping, 1987
The patient lived for 30 more years and outlived the doctor by 8 years. After retiring from active practice, Religa went on to become a politician. He was a good man.
History professor Mary Jo Festle wrote a piece on how history as a discipline transforms students. In it, she explained that since there isn’t realistically any empirical evidence of this hypothesis, she took it upon herself to figure it out.
She asked nearly 60 of her students across 8 different sections of the small research seminars they hosted to give open-ended responses to prompts reflecting upon the change.
Reporters Who Exposed The Watergate Scandal Watch President Nixon Resign, 1974
Woodward and Bernstein. They did an amazing thing. A very corrupt man was elected to the highest office in the land and they, using nothing more than information, took him down.
While Cleaning Up From The World Trade Centers Falling, Crews Found A Shipwreck 7ft Below The Foundation That Dated Back To 1773
A Blind Muslim Named Muhammad Carrying His Best Friend A Paralyzed Christian Who Suffers From Dwarfism Named Samir, Damascus, Ottoman Syria, 1889
If I've learned anything from science fiction movies, it's to make sure these guys are on your side.
One of the main prompts was asking students to describe how their understanding of what history is changed during their studies.
A third of the students provided some form of “I now understand history is not just facts about names, dates, or a chronology of events.”
Remember That Photo Of The Construction Workers Having Lunch On The Unfinished Empire State Building? Well Here's The Photographer Charles Ebbets Taking That Photo, 1932
A Man Browsing For Books In Cincinnati's Cavernous Old Main Library. The Library Was Demolished In 1955
George Mclaurin, The First Black Man To Be Admitted To The University Of Oklahoma In 1948, Was Forced To Sit In A Corner Away From His Classmates
The answers verified the idea that the interpretive nature of history is a crucial lesson that can be considered a threshold concept.
One student elaborated that they realized how much power historians actually have, i.e. the power to construct the past. History is dynamic and a point of debate as a lot of the unknown in it can be argued.
A Father Looking For His Two Missing Sons That Went Missing During The Kosovo War In 1999
A Starving Boy And A Missionary In Uganda, 1980. Mike Wells Took This Powerful Photograph Of A Catholic Missionary Holding The Hand Of A Starving Ugandan Boy
Sharpshooter Annie Oakley Shooting Over Her Shoulder Using A Hand Mirror, Circa 1899
She has said: When men make shots similar to mine, others call it skill. Every time I do it, they call it luck.
Another point to mention is that students didn’t see themselves as books full of facts and figures in history. It’s these same activities of interpreting and analyzing sources, conducting research, looking for influences and biases and challenging what has been read from a critical, multifaceted standpoint, that makes all the difference in the discipline.
Cudjoe Kazoola Lewis: The Last Known Survivor Of The Atlantic Slave Trade Between Africa And North America. (Photo From The Early 1900s)
A Skateboarder Zipping Through Central Park In The 1960s
A 1912 Photo Shows A Woman Plugging In Her Electric Car
Another student pointed out that, before their studies, they enjoyed watching documentaries and furthering their knowledge that way. After them, however, it was an eye-opening experience to understand that they can now discover history for themselves, see how the evidence works and the puzzle pieces fall into place. There’s more of a hands-on approach than meets the eye.
A Filipino-American Family Posing For A Family Portrait, Philippines, 1912
Back when The Philippines were still an American Colony BTW. Just adding some context.
Allied Soldiers Mock Hitler Atop His Balcony At The Reich Chancellery, 1945
Too bad they never caught him or Gobels alive. An easy death was to good for them.
Joseph Goebbels, The Main Propagandist Of The Nazi Regime, Upon Finding Out His Photographer Was Jewish
If anything, the mini study concluded that in 70% of all cases, history topics were personally challenging in terms of values and assumptions about the world. Among these were themes and topics like gender and sexuality, religious history, the Holocaust as well as Nazism. A number of them touched upon issues of race and foreign policy, civil war and ideology.
Greenpeace Tries To Stop Radioactive Waste From Being Dumped In The Ocean, 1982
Rat Pack At The Sands In Las Vegas, Circa 1960
They're all gone. The Sands is gone. The Venetian stands there now.
A Chinese Lady Whose Feet Were Bound From Childhood. Photo From The Late 1800s
This ultimately led to some openly expressing how challenging topics have made them better human beings. One pointed out how Islam studies brought to light racist assumptions. Another changed their opinion on same sex marriage after investigating sources from LGBTQIA+ people. It gave them perspective. Perspective that made them rethink what they thought before.
An Unemployed Man Holding A Troubling Sign During The Great Depression, 1932
I hope he got help. And work in calligraphy, the handwriting is beautiful.
Greasers In New York City, 1950s
That was my Uncle Bobby. The hair, the cigarettes, the leather jacket & jeans! He & my mom grew up in Brooklyn, teens in the 50s.
A True Friend. Taken In A New York Bus Terminal Just Before They Left For The Worsening Situation In The Pacific, 1941
So, what are your thoughts on any of this? Has history changed you, and if so how? Or mayhaps you have an interesting historical story to tell that might fit this listicle. Whatever the case, share your takes and commentary in the comment section below!
And there’s plenty more historical content where that came from.
A Us Marine Gives A Cigarette To A Japanese Soldier Buried In The Sand. Iwo Jima, 1945
An Undercover Police Officer Apprehends A Mugger On The New York Subway, 1985. Photo By Bruce Davidson
Northumbrian Miner Sits Down To Eat His Evening Meal, 1937
My grandfather was a coal miner. He died of black lung when Mom was 11.
In 1963, Wives Say Goodbye To Their Loved Ones In The Navy
Navajo Youth Tom Torlino As He Entered The Carlisle Indian Industrial School In 1882, And Again 3 Years Later
Those schools are easily one of the worst parts of history. [Audible shudder]
Did they not let him go outside, like at all? He got pale. Those schools are a stain on history.
Looks like they were trying to show how "white" he became (by lightening the "after" photo)
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I cannot believe we did this to indigenous ppl.... I mean I can bc we're monsters. But the fact that we haven't paid them reparations for all of our crimes is sickening. Obviously money won't fix the past but it would help those who are under the poverty line which happens to be most.... once again bc of our government n a refusal to be good human beings n do the right thing.
What's worse is that the last of these "schools" wasn't shut down until 1996 so we'll within living memory children could be legally forcibly removed from their homes and transport 1000s of miles from their family and home
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So much recent talk, too, about how the long hair of Native men represent their power and strength, so to see that taken from him is so sad.
That was the whole point, to "unalive the NDN to save the man" in the US, in Canada "unalive the NDN in the child." They wanted to kill that part of them, perhaps deluding themselves into believing they could just make them "act yt." But you cannot destroy someone's cultural identity and leave them a whole person. Doesn't work.
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Not sure why you got downvoted. Richard Henry Pratt was indeed a grotesque individual with a grotesque worldview. I imagine people don't know that is is a quote from the person responsible for the mistreatment of thousands like Tom Torlino.
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I grew up in area of the Navajo Reservation. BIA schools aren't much better and still exist. Kids have to haul their desks from one classroom to another. I went to a private school off of the Navajo Reservation. It's still there and started as and continues as a missionary school, albeit a lot more benign now.
Read a'Kill the Indian, Save the Man" by Ward Churchill for a full understanding of how these schools came about and were implemented - though cooperation between the US and Canadian Governments and the Church. The Christian Nationalists who are coming into power in the US would do the same thing to different groups if given the chance.
Taking away someone's culture like that cuts out part of their soul. And the trauma is still cycling.
Load More Replies... I’m not surprised he accepted his situation with resignation to some degree, sadly. I do wonder whatever happened to him as well!
Most colonialist countries had some version of this treatment of natives.
I'm sorry, please excuse my ignorance, would someone mind explaining to me what the school is / was....?? I'm from the UK, I was never taught this....
1/2 In North America, the colonizers decided that they didn't want to have Indigenous people be Indigenous anymore. So they built residential schools, stole the children from the reserves, and threw these kids into the schools, with the notion to "kill the NDN in the child." They could not practise their religion or culture. They had their hair cut, were beaten if they spoke their own languages, were often starved, s*xually abused, used for medical experiments, forcibly sterilised, or outright beaten until their lives ended. Canada has masses of unmarked graves of the children who didn't survive. Many of those who did were tossed out of the school once they aged out, with no idea how to get home. The ones who did get home were so traumatized they often turned to d***s and alcohol to cope, and they passed the trauma on to the next generation. Those kids were then taken away to the schools, and they were even more traumatized when they emerged. The system went on for over 150 years
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Wounded Knee, lyrics from the song by Floyd Red Crow Westerman Look it up on Youtube. You will love this song. The lyrics alone don't do it justice. CHORUS; "Hey yo hi yo, ho hey hi ya Hey yo, ho hey ya hi yo Way ya hi yo" You put me in your boarding school Make me learn Your white man rule Be a fool "Oh oh, oh oh oh oh" CHORUS: You put me in Chicago, one cold December day Relocation Extermination "Oh oh, oh oh oh oh" CHORUS: You made me leave my home, my friends Think I'll go back there again Wounded Knee I wanna be free "Ah hah, hah hah, ho" CHROUS: "
From the Indian reservation to the governmental school Well they're going to educate me to the white men's golden rule And I'm learning very quickly for I've learned to be ashamed And I come when they call Billy though I've got an Indian name [Chorus] And there are drums beyond the mountain, Indian drums that you can't hear There are drums beyond the mountain and they're getting mighty near [Verse 2] And when they thought that they had changed me, cut my hair to meet their needs Will they think I'm white or Indian, quarter blood or just half breed Let me tell you mister teacher when you say you'll make me right In five hundred years of fighting, not one Indian turned white [Chorus] [Verse 3]Well you thought that I knew nothing when you brought me here to school Just another empty Indian just America's first fool But now I can tell you stories that are burnt and dried and old But in the shadow of their telling walks the thunder proud and bold Chorus [Verse 4] Long Pine and Sequoia, Handsome Lake and Sitting Bull There's Magnus Colorado with his sleeves so red and full Crazy Horse the legend those who bit off Custer's soul They are dead yet they are living with the great Geronimo [Chorus] [Verse 5] Well you may teach me this land's history but we taught it to you first We broke your hearts and bent your journeys: broken treaties left us cursed Even now you have to cheat us, even though you think us tame In our losing we find proudness, in your winning you find shame [Chorus] Lyrics by Floyd Red Crow Westerman Song can be found on Youtube
does his complexion seem lighter? Perhaps due to not being outdoors so much?
He was handsome man and love his natural Indian dress best. Not westernised as all to many were forced to become.
I've recently made a list of movies/documentaries to watch on this subject. I had a teacher in highschool who was very dedicated and taught us how badly the Native Americans were treated. Then I got older, got on with my life, trying to be a good person. Then I watched Anne with an E, thinking of how lovely it would be. The Native American storyline WRECKED me, WRECKED me. I decided the least I could do is learn more about this subject. All I see is a beautiful proud man on the left, and a broken man on the right. Devastating what we've done.
I'm watching the show 1923 and if the scenes they show of the priests and nuns abusing those children is even somewhat accurate, I'm disgusted.
They destroyed a people and their culture with their hate and ignorance.
So sad...and shameful... Step 1: strip the person of his cultural identity.
to you maybe after all of his natural beauty has been taken away, really? he's prettier after he was Americanized, huh?
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View Of Boston, The Oldest Surviving Aerial Photograph Ever Taken. October 13th, 1860
Hot air balloons were used by both Union and Confederate troops during the Civil War. It must have made for a very interesting sight!
The Microsoft Staff, 1978
Last Four Couples In A Dance Marathon, Chicago, Circa 1930
The Rarely Seen Back Of The Hoover Dam Before It Was Filled With Water, 1936
Former Beauty Queen, Miss Wyoming Winner 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
An Unknown Woman Stands Close To A Tornado To Take A Photo, 1989
You live in the middle of the US, you get a little desensitized. Like tornado sirens go off, you go out on the lawn and look for it. On a clear day, with so visible a tornado, my guess is they knew how far off it actually was and snapped a quick picture before standing on their porch or the opening of a cellar to see if they'd need to go in and close the door.
Soviet Peasants Listen To The Radio For The First Time, 1928
What Is Now The Fully Developed Las Vegas Strip, 1955
Vegas was once a desert and I'm fairly certain that it will be a desert again someday.
Photo From The Restaurant Windows On The World, Which Sat Atop New York City's World Trade Center's North Tower, 1976
A Young Private Waits On The Beach During The Marine Landing At Da Nang, 1965
The Storyville Jazz Club, Copenhagen, Denmark, 1952
Lenin After His Third Stroke, 1923. This Picture Was Prohibited In Ussr At The Time
Looks like Manson in a snuggie. Crazy eyes (unless the photo was touched up for his eyes, but I don't think so).
Women In Bathing Suits Posing With A Prize Bull, Vancouver, 1927
OK I grew up on a cattle ranch and that is a BIG EFFING BULL!!! That thing is huge! I have honestly never seen one so big.
Anti British Propaganda, Japan 1941
Ironically, with the level of cigar smoking and whisky drinking going on, he would definitely have smelled highly offensive to the modern person.
A Soldier And His Two Girl Friends, Us, 1940s
Thats my grandmother on the left. That wasn't her boyfriend, or girlfriend. Haha
Note: this post originally had 80 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
What I mostly come away with from this post...most of the BP commenters illustrate how ugly, ignorant, and divisive people are. My faith in humanity is abysmally low.
These pictures, some of them are so historically important and are supposed to show the progress (and in some cases, subsequent regression) we've made with regards basic human rights for minority groups, women etc. I don't understand how people can refute, ignore or downright deny these things happened or worse still, advocate for a return to a time when rights were afforded to very few people. Photographs tell stories. Humanity needs to listen a lot more.
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What I mostly come away with from this post...most of the BP commenters illustrate how ugly, ignorant, and divisive people are. My faith in humanity is abysmally low.
These pictures, some of them are so historically important and are supposed to show the progress (and in some cases, subsequent regression) we've made with regards basic human rights for minority groups, women etc. I don't understand how people can refute, ignore or downright deny these things happened or worse still, advocate for a return to a time when rights were afforded to very few people. Photographs tell stories. Humanity needs to listen a lot more.
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