50 Important Historical Photos That Might Change Your Perspective On Things, As Shared By This Facebook Page
Ever since the invention of the camera in the early 1800s, photographers have documented everything, from wars and protest marches to scientific discoveries, and even space landings, allowing everyone to, in a way, "attend" these special events.
The Facebook page 'Old Photographs' has collected a wide selection of such interesting historical moments—big and small. So let's take a look at some of its top posts, after all, chances are, each of us will find something that will help us to see the past in a new light.
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On 27 January 1945 was the liberation of Auschwitz. To forget would be to say these faces, the faces of millions of others didn't matter. Never forget. Teach the children to remember.
Some of the survivors reunited in 2005. You can click on their names to get more of their stories and Gabi Neumann's who did extensive research including giving a background on the picture which included "Q: Tell me about the famous photograph in which you appear. A: The picture was taken a few days after liberation. I don’t remember exactly how many. It is a completely staged photograph. The Russians walked around the blocks calling on us to be photographed. My sister didn’t want to be photographed, so she isn’t in the picture. I was curious, and allowed my picture to be taken. You can see that they dressed us in prisoner uniforms that were a few sizes too big for us. Underneath the prisoner uniforms we wore the rags that we had. But because of this picture, I found my family. The Russians took my details and that’s how my mother found my sister and me later on." https://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/through-the-lens/auschwitz-child-survivors.asp
Just one of the guys. (WWII)
Laughter has sounded the same throughout generations and languages.
(Unidentified woman and child, Jemez Pueblo New Mexico, by Jesse Nusbaum)
Some of our favorite old photographs are merely everyday people in everyday life.
A family portrait. Gainesville, Florida - 1900.
Source: State Library and Archives of Florida
This picture circa 1900s shows knife grinders also called ventres jaunes (‘yellow stomachs’ referring to the yellow dust released by the grinding wheel). By laying face down, these yellow stomachs would save their backs from being hunched over all day. Workers were encourage to bring their dogs to not only keep them company but to act as heaters to keep them warm by having the dogs lie on their legs.
(Photo is from the web-site of, French knife maker, Claude Dozorme - ” The Wolf ”).
A very moving caption:
"This is a mass burial at sea, on the USS Intrepid in 1944 following a kamikaze attack. I've never seen this photo, and I figure most of you probably haven't either. I posted so people can see, and remember the incredible sacrifices made on our behalf."
There is modern beauty in this photograph of Lota Cheek taken 99 years ago.
Animals bring a type of joy not found in other ways.
When do we gain the inhibitions not present in our youth?
Omg the amount of times we all nearly died during our childhoods, it'll never be the same again, leaving home on your own/with friends in the early morning, someone's dog would be part of the gang, not coming home until dinner time and literally no contact with anyone's parents all day lol. Fantastic photo
Timeless photography looks as beautiful now as it did when it was taken.
Formal portraits rarely featured smiles, but they can be found in photographs of daily life during this period. (1912, South Carolina.)
A routine repair.
Dressed to impress. (1908)
Who loved jumping off? (Even though mom told you not to.)
Is it possible the architects had this in mind when they designed Grand Central Station? (1934)
She was born Mary William Ethelbert Appleton "Billie" Burke, but you would know her as the Good Witch of the North in "The Wizard of Oz".
104 years ago this fountain in Detroit, Michigan was left running allowing it to build layer upon layer in to this 30 foot icy spectacle.
This 1931 photograph captures the spirit of the season as Santa delivers presents to the children of an adoption home in London.
A girl, a dog, a mule. From the 1921 silent film "Through the Back Door" staring Mary Pickford.
1937: when even ice skating was done in a suit.
March 1938: 70-year-old Mrs Elizabeth Arnold, believed to be England's only woman blacksmith, shoes a horse outside the 400-year-old forge in Walmer, Kent. (Photo by Fox Photos).
They wear shoes and clothes with holes and dirt upon their faces, yet they are absolutely perfect. (1936)
Fred Messer's life spanned three centuries. He was born in 1792, 16 years after the United States became a counrty and lived to see automobiles roll along roads, dying in 1907. (North Carolina.)
Two innocent souls from days long ago.
Doggie is straight chillin... Little girl is not so sure lol
A woman on a mission with her baguette and six bottles of wine.
(Paris 1945 - by Branson Decou)
How homework was done before google.
I remember the days, although for me it was 90's s and early 00's :D
An old photograph with a funny twist in today’s context.
It took more than 15 years to take the Statue of Liberty from concept to reality. Construction is pictured here in 1884, less than two years before she was completed.
And it took only one presidential mandate to throw liberty into the gutter and revamp racism, bigotry, vandalism, and xenophobia.
1890s Walmart. So many great details inside this general store. It was a time when you knew your grocer and they knew you. We have more, but we in some ways have less.
When I was still in elementary school we moved from a decent size city to a very very rural town. It was like we had wound the clock back 30 years. It was a major culture shock.It had one chain fast food place and all the other ones were mom and pop joints.It had at that time the only bar I'd ever seen. It had one pharmacy which was mom and pop. And the gas station was the same way. The coolest thing about the whole town was the general store. It was like you'd see in movies. They made keys the old fashion way. If you wanted paint it had to be whatever color was in the can because they didn't mix custom colors. They had all types of gardening tools, seeds, fertilizer made from local chicken farm poop, and bee keeping supplies. It was one of the last stores that sold old style shotguns and rifles for hunting. And lastly, it had one of those old time rolling ladders that rode on a track mounted to the ceiling to get to the stuff on the shelves that went from floor to ceiling. Good times.
Be thankful for what you have.
Be thankful for one another.
This caption is beyond inappropriate. The photo is of street orphans who have no one living that can take care of them. There was a movement at the time in art including painting and photography to make the public aware of their plight. They probably had not eaten in days. No telling what happened to their parents. It was meant to teach empathy.
Its not about where you are, its who you're with. (1945)
Rush hour in Chicago didn’t look any better 104 years ago.
Isn't it interesting that we meet some of the best friends we ever have within the first years of our lives.
(Photo by Edouard Boubat. Paris, 1952.)
I had an entirely different youth than suggested. Lot of bullying. No one I would consider a friend until middle school when I found the nerds.
The less you have, the more you appreciate what you do have.
(Western North Carolina 1914-1917, from the William A. Barnhill Collection.)
My grandchild still hug chicken in todays world. They are the best pets....
There’s nothing quite like getting hand delivered mail. (1900)
Today, be thankful.
(Arizona migrant family, 1940.)
These captions are giving me the shits. Yes we should be thankful, but we shouldn't be using real people in pain and poverty to make ourselves feel better about our own lives.
Instead, we should be working to eradicate such poverty—which still exists today, it just looks a bit different and more modern, but it’s poverty, nonetheless.
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Dude - dramatic caption. I don’t know why it bothers me so much other than modern associations. But they were labourers and farm hands. It was their profession and they had lives outside of it too. My grandma and grandpa were born into migrant worker families a decade before the period depicted (and their families were also from at least the 1690’s which is how far back we can trace)
Stop this 'Thankful' nonsense, and work to make the world a better place. Show some empathy!
I think we can show empathy and be thankful for what we have at the same time. I visited the Gambia some years back and visited a 'compound'. Not one of the ones the tourists visit on a day trip, but a one we were taken to by some Gambian friends we had made whilst we were there. The poverty was unimaginable. It broke my heart. It made me do two things. Raise money to buy and send supplies, and also reassess my own life that I constantly moaned about, and realise that I should be so thankful for what I have and to stop moaning about what I don't. My car is second hand a a bit beat up, but I have a car. My furniture is mostly second hand, but I have furniture. My food is from Lidl and not Waitrose, but I have food. You get the gist I'm sure. So I do understand what the captions of these pictures are trying to convey. Being thankful and appreciating what we have is a good thing.
Load More Replies... Be thankful for what? They've been driven out of their home by poverty, travelling to wherever they might find employment. They're living in a slum with nothing-I'm sure the mother is beside herself with worry about what's going to happen to her children when she can't feed them. We shouldn't be thankful, we should be angry that society abandoned them, because we're repeating exactly the same thing now. Even in the richest country in the world, there are children living in poverty and families relying on food banks and that's obscene. Its not socialism to look after the vulnerable and the poor in your community, it's simply behaving ethically and doing the right thing for your fellow man.
Back then most folks were poor so they really didn't see a whole lot wrong with living that way. My grandmother before she passed would tell stories about not having electricity, no running water in the house, and having to go to the outhouse when nature called. Strangely enough she spoke about those times with a fondness saying how much simpler life was back then and how much more she appreciated the things that she did have because she worked worked for them. People today feel like they have to have the nicest car or the biggest house, or the most money in the bank to be happy.
The vast majority of Americans had electricity and running water in 1940. Those things passed 50% in like 1920.
Load More Replies... I hate all these captions. We are literally using people in the worst of the worst situations and saying how much better we are/we have it
This is why birth control is crucial, and this is why Conservatives in America want to ban it. They want to keep us poor and birthin' more working class babies. Our history shows this clearly over its trajectory.
Birth Control had existed for almost a century by 1940. It was only the pill that hadn't exited yet.
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I'm sorry but...I'm seeing like PARAGRAPH-long rants about a three-word caption. Relax, people. There is no need for everyone to know every thing you think about it. Simmer down. Yes, there are issues. Yes, they need to be addressed. But this is not the place. Admire the photographer's skill instead of bashing the post. Remember that your BP rants, while they may feel good, are ultimately not accomplishing a whole lot.
People hating on the caption don't realize how many people just forget how good they have it and need to be reminded. Nobody is saying they don't have sympathy for this family. But how many people making comments actually get up every single day, before you even get out of your comfy bed, and either thank God for being so blessed, or if you don't believe, still being thankful for being so "lucky" that you don't have to live like this? These captions are just meant to remind you that you ARE blessed, or lucky, however you look at it.
Today vote for economic safety nets so we never have this situation again. Everyone deserves food and safe and warm shelter.
Anyone else thinking of Roe vs Wade right now? This woman could have used Planned Parenthood, paid contraceptive care, etc
Oh my God! It almost seems like tRUMP wrote those ignorant captions. But I know it's not possible. tRUMP can't read or write.
lucky she was. today, you would lose your kids to the government and foster care to a rich family. legal kidnapping
This is The Backs of These Folks that The RICH felt ENTITLED to work to near Death!!
They're still together. The government hasn't taken the kids. The two older children are wearing shoes, so they're probably managing. And anyone who complains about dirty children after they've been out playing is an idjit.
They may be poor and not have much but those children could be as happy as ones today or even happier, no wishing for the latest anything. Make do with what you have and find.
there are people going through this right now. so no. i am not thankful
Read "The Four Winds". It's about families traveling to California, desperate for work. You'll have a new appreciation for many of these folks.
Be thankful if you have a good life but don't give a s**t about those who don't.
Note: this post originally had 128 images. It’s been shortened to the top 49 images based on user votes.
This would have been so much better without those ridiculous (and sometimes insulting) captions.
Like seriously. We get it. We’ve all heard it a billion times now. Phone bad, internet bad, Nikola Tesla was a witch. Now shut the hell up for once and let us enjoy these fascinating historic photos.
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Loved these beautiful old photos. They give a person a feel for the time they were taken.
Imagine ,people a century from now, seeing pictures from today as "the 20's"
Imagine their shame when they see tiktok and other modern atrocities
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This isn't the oldest family photo I have, but it's one of the most important. This is my great grandfather, standing with his regimental flag (I think) complete with bullet hole WHHM-Civil...18efef.jpg 
I always feel very melancholic when looking at such pictures, knowing that every single person and creature shown is long dead and, likely, not remembered. Certainly, there is a record of sorts that they existed at all, but there is nothing of their lives or their experiences. Such will befall us all regardless of how we might wish to leave our mark.
My Aunt Angela with Pungie the dog during WW2. She held down the fort in the family business while her brothers were off at war. Family business is still around, and Broadway Lock in South Boston is celebrating 100 years now. Aunt-Angie...b29b9e.jpg 
This would have been so much better without those ridiculous (and sometimes insulting) captions.
Like seriously. We get it. We’ve all heard it a billion times now. Phone bad, internet bad, Nikola Tesla was a witch. Now shut the hell up for once and let us enjoy these fascinating historic photos.
Load More Replies... Loved these beautiful old photos. They give a person a feel for the time they were taken.
Imagine ,people a century from now, seeing pictures from today as "the 20's"
Imagine their shame when they see tiktok and other modern atrocities
Load More Replies... This isn't the oldest family photo I have, but it's one of the most important. This is my great grandfather, standing with his regimental flag (I think) complete with bullet hole WHHM-Civil...18efef.jpg
I always feel very melancholic when looking at such pictures, knowing that every single person and creature shown is long dead and, likely, not remembered. Certainly, there is a record of sorts that they existed at all, but there is nothing of their lives or their experiences. Such will befall us all regardless of how we might wish to leave our mark.
My Aunt Angela with Pungie the dog during WW2. She held down the fort in the family business while her brothers were off at war. Family business is still around, and Broadway Lock in South Boston is celebrating 100 years now. Aunt-Angie...b29b9e.jpg
