50 Important Historical Photos That Might Change Your Perspective On Things, As Shared By This Facebook Page
Sorting through dusty manuscripts and volumes of mysterious books is how many of us imagine finding evidence in history. But our past is far more than a string of names and dates. It is about how people lived in the past and molded our society. It is about their hopes and dreams, their fears and disappointments, and what pushed them to make the decisions and inventions they did.
But there’s something else that can offer us an intimate glimpse into the lives they led and make historical events seem more real, rather than merely stories. We’re talking about authentic pictures that documented the wonders of that time. Luckily for us, plenty of examples can be found in a heartfelt corner of the internet called the 'Old Photos Of The World' Facebook page.
While we can’t time travel back to the past (yet!), we can at least look at these pictures full of unstaged scenarios and build our own interpretations. So continue scrolling because we at Bored Panda gathered some of the best pictures for you to enjoy! And after you’re done, make sure to check out our earlier compilations full of important historical images and old photos in real life.
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Camberley Kate, And Her Stray Dogs In England. She Never Turned A Stray Dog Away, Taking Care Of More Than 600 Dogs In Her Lifetime (1962)
An Officer Halts Traffic To Make Way For A Cat Carrying A Kitten Across The Street, 1925
Settler Family On The American Prairie In The 1880s
Photography has come a long way in its rather short history. When you think about it, cameras are everywhere today, helping us capture important occasions and put them into our visual collection of memories. But it was not always like that. A bigger part of history passed without people preserving memorable moments, and only when the French inventor Joseph Nicéphore Niépce created the first permanent photograph in 1826/27, a breakthrough in the history of photography began. People started capturing their everyday life often without realizing future generations would look at this concrete evidence of a world long gone with immense fascination.
This Mirror Portrait Was Taken 100 Years Ago In Japan
Two Armenian Women Pose With Their Rifles Before Going To Battle Against The Ottomans, 1895
Rare Photo Of A Remote Control From The 70's
The 'Old Photos Of The World' Facebook page lets us in on this world. Ever since it was created, it has amassed history and photography lovers from far and wide to share opinions, have discussions and look for answers to the questions they have about that time. It is exactly the place for all history enthusiasts to get a peek into the early days.
"The purpose of this page is to remember history by sharing historic photos and videos from around the world," the creators wrote in the page description. "We post old photos from the 1800s and 1900s. We also love colorized photos and videos!" They invite more than 507K of their devoted fans to go on a trip with them to the past and offer a fair share of content to explore.
Happy French Girl And Her Cat, 1959
Soldier Coming Home To His Daughter After WWII, 1945
David Isom, 19, Broke The Color Line In A Segregated Pool In Florida On June 8, 1958, Which Resulted In Officials Closing The Facility
Good man, David! You and your fellow campaigners made the world a better place. But there's still a long way to go.
According to Anna Pegler-Gordon, associate professor at the University of Michigan, even when history textbooks are full of images that illustrate our past, we rarely spend time exploring these pictures and focus on the written content instead. "We do so because of the way that images are presented in many historical texts and also because of the way that historians are trained to view images — as illustrations of written history rather than sources of history themselves," she explained.
However, there’s evidence of a "visual turn" in learning and teaching the subject because more academics are starting to pay attention to the paintings, illustrations, and photographs in history. Pegler-Gordon noticed that visual media often seems more accessible to her students than written records. They sometimes mention to her that images give a more concrete shape to a world that sometimes seems intangible. Moreover, historical pictures transmit information much quicker than words written in an old, unfamiliar, or even foreign language.
Two Gentleman From The Early 1900s
A Man Getting To Hear Music On A Record Player, 1922
Same Scene, Same Motorcycle, Same Woman, 72 Years Old After
"Our students are often sophisticated readers of visual media and, with guidance and support, they enjoy the process of viewing and analyzing historical representations," the historian wrote. "However, visual images are also inaccessible for the same reasons that they are accessible. The apparent legibility of the image hides its historical construction, the ways in which the image was made, distributed, and read at the time it was produced and since," she added.
The Top Of The Great Pyramid Of Giza, Egypt
These Progressive High School Girls Learn The Finer Points Of Auto Mechanics In 1927
Train Travel In The 1890s
To become better at reading images, we need to consider two things. The first would be to become more informed about our past and the context that surrounds it. Second, we should also learn how to distinguish when we're looking at an authentic photograph, and when we come across a manipulated one. Bored Panda previously reached out to the professor, writer, and amateur homesteader Joshua Wilkey who explained that while photography is a powerful tool for understanding history, it is also necessary to view all pictures with a critical eye.
Helen, An American Indian Telephone And Switchboard Operator, Montana, 1925
This is actually pretty mind blowing. To me at least. Old culture meeting new culture.
Or it could just be that new culture took everything from her people and she had no choice but to get a job to take a job so the white man could talk s**t about her over the phone
Load More Replies...Isn't it American Native, or American indigenous. I thought American Indian was an outdated term
Knowing the time period, I'm willing to bet they had her pose in her traditional clothes just for the picture, and she probably wore something more "every day white people" usually
Native American is the proper term. Edit: I have been corrected by @sarah rose that the proper term is native or indigenous. I apologize if I have offended or led anyone astray. I was ill informed, and I admit it.
No, it is not. If you're not native, do not speak for our community. If you are, please speak to our community before making such claims. It is native or indigenous, some people will tell you their tribe or geographical region. It is not American Native, or American Indigenous, nor is it American Indian, or Indian as all of these are colonial terms. The term America comes from Amerigo Vespucci, we don't claim ancestoral links to this Italian colonizer. It is offensive if you continue to do so once informed. There are plenty of people in the native community that still use these colonial terms or even Indian. After hundreds of years of surviving colonization, this is no surprise
Load More Replies..."Helen." Right. How said her true name has been lost to history and the whitewashing of the Native American population :(
Please refer to people from this land as native, indigenous, or by their tribe. Many people in the native community, ask that the colonial term "Native American" not be used to describe us
Load More Replies...Somehow, I think the Native American blanket and feathers were staged by the (most likely white) photographer. There was a lot of really condescending, unfair, and completely untrue stereotyping done in those days, and this just smells like that’s what’s happening here. Chances are higher that this young woman spent her days, including going to work, wearing fairly typical clothing for the twenties. Maybe not high fashion, but at least average for most working people. She might not have bobbed her hair, she might not have worn lipstick, and she might have accessorized with a native belt or jewelry, but she would otherwise have been dressed like any other woman of the day.
I suspect if she had dressed this way at school, she would have been punished pretty harshly.
Load More Replies...They are called NATIVE! Here LONG before it was America or Canada.
Thank you for respecting my native community, you're the only one who got it right.
Load More Replies...Was this lady working as Switchboard operator on the American Indians reserve? I don't believe that a white telephone company would hire anyone that was not lily white!
I'm not sure why you're getting down voted. This is factual
Load More Replies...She's native American. India is on the other side of the world, actually.
It is native or indigenous, some people will tell you their tribe or geographical region. It is not American Native, or American Indigenous, nor is it American Indian, or Indian as all of these are colonial terms. The term America comes from Amerigo Vespucci, we don't claim ancestoral links to this Italian colonizer. It is offensive if you continue to do so once informed. There are plenty of people in the native community that still use these colonial terms or even Indian. After hundreds of years of surviving colonization, this is no surprise. I wouldn't say a native person referring to themselves as Indian is offensive to people from India. Mostly because my community was forced to use this term by colonizer, after colonizer, up to the present day USA at the risk of death. Also, most USA documents prior to the 1950's refer to us as "savages" or "indians"
Load More Replies...She is beautifful, all the love to our native sisters. I'm so proud of her, her very existance is resitance
Load More Replies...Did this woman really wear her ceremonial garb while answering phones? Just a question!
Probably because they couldn't pronounce or spell her real name, or even an attempt at making her fit in with the white culture. It happens a lot with people from Africa and Asia too when they come to live in the West.
Load More Replies...Helen is Native!!! Not indian in anyway! It's only cause columbus was looking for India! Helen is not even american. Helen is a Native on her land!!! Wish the Americans would realise THEY are foreigners! How dare they think THEY should build a wall against anyone when they are the imposters!!!! And thanksgiving is a kick in the teeth to natives!!
Thanksgiving is not a "kick in the teeth". It was a beautiful time where natives and Europeans got along together and a time when no one was fighting. Isn't it good to celebrate a time like this? The answer is yes, btw. Nobody celebrates Thanksgiving to rejoice in the oppression of anyone, that's ridiculous and entirely incorrect.
Load More Replies...Native!!! Not indian in anyway! It's only cause columbus was looking for India! Not even america. Helen is a Native on her land!!! Wish the white Americans would realise they are foreigners! How dare they think they should build a wall against anyone when they are the imposters!!!! And thanksgiving is a kick in the teeth to natives!!
She would have no choice but to dress in colonial styled clothing on a daily basis.. Indigenous people were forbidden to wear traditional garb. The foundation of colonization was to erase the entire indigenous culture of any place they settled. Facial tattoos and using the native language were punished in extreme ways children were taken to boarding schools never to see their loved ones again. Genocide germacide and shaming were all used to erase the indegenouse population from the gold rich land they lived on for 10 of thousands of years. It's a true tragedy and a blemish just as bad as slavery on this country.
She's not Indian. Unless she is actually from India. She's Indigenous or Native American or First People, def not Indian. But fab photo, for sure.
I still operated a switchboard like that in Maine and in NW Ohio in the 1960s.
My bet is that she was dressed like this deliberately to make a point about how the employers took on a native woman.
Load More Replies...No argument. However, this woman is not from Asia, she’s American First Nations.
Load More Replies...A Little French Girl Gives An American Soldier A Kiss On Valentine’s Day, 1945
Cat Taking A Photo, 1909
"While we might be accustomed to skepticism of photos in the age of Photoshop, photo editing isn't the only thing that should give us pause," Wilkey noted. He provided a few helpful questions people can ask themselves when analyzing old pictures. For example, is the photo lacking context? Or what is happening outside of the frame?
"There's always the chance that the viewer is seeing an intentionally skewed perspective," Wilkey told us. "A picture might be worth a thousand words, but sometimes it takes a thousand words to explain the context of a single photo. Some pictures are downright strange without context."
Four Generations, Circa 1905
The two.women in the middle, look like Sisters! Instead of mother- daughter
Woman And Her Dog In Her One Room House, Texas, 1938
Sophia Loren, Circa 1955
Moreover, you should determine whether the photo is representative. In other words, can the photo indicate something bigger than itself? "For example, the internet has, for years, made fun of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un for marveling at seemingly cool but likely fake things like modern and well-stocked grocery stores. These photos are meant to be representative images portraying for Kim's people and for foreigners that North Korea is a modern and well-nourished society," he explained. However, "the reality is a bit different."
Men In Harlem Gather In Front Of A Shop To Listen To The Radio, 1940
A Housewife Taking Frozen Long Johns Off The Washing Line, 1940s
Do Your Bit! Skate To Work. Save Gas, NYC, 1940s
“Mother And Son” Ireland, 1890
He's holding what looks to be a ticket for a ship. After the horrors of the famine, I hope they had some happy years. So many people left Ireland in the 19th century, but most left their heart behind.
Easter Bunny Bringing Joy To Children, 1955
The Use Of Masks During The Spanish Flu Pandemic, 1918
Testing Out The Latest Flight Helmet In A Highly Scientific Way, 1912
Charlie Chaplin Meeting Deaf-Blind American Author Helen Keller, 1919
Drying The Pasta, Italy, 1929
This Farmhouse Once Stood In Manhattan Where 84th Street And Broadway Now Cross (1879)
Unusual Portrait Of A Victorian Lady
Samurai Warriors Taken Between 1860 And 1880
Unusual Portrait Of A Victorian Lady
Berlin Zoo Handler Gives Roland, A 4,000 Pound Elephant Seal, A Snow Bath, 1930s
Grandma Patching The Only Pants Of Her Grandson, 1907
In 1839, Robert Cornelius Took The World's First Selfie
Bavarian Boy Enjoying His Camera, 1910
Three Old School Archers In Japan, 1860s
A Soldier Coming Home From War, 1940s
So Young & So Happy, 1920s
I love this picture. And I'm not even going to speculate about where her other hand is
Two Ladies And A Local Man Watching The Sunset, 1925
An Angry Kangaroo Is Seen Knocking Out A Woman For Trying To Photograph Him, 1960's
Queen Elizabeth And Prince Philip Share A Laugh While Watching A Rope Acrobat, 1963
The Last Known Photo Of The Titanic Afloat. April 12, 1912
This is from Francis Browne's collection but Snopes has done a detailed explanation on what they consider to be the final photograph of the Titanic if you want to see the one experts believe it is https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/final-photograph-titanic/ And Time Magazine about Browne and other photos of inside the Titanic which have been used as references https://time.com/3787439/titanic/
Robert Wadlow, The Tallest Man In History (8 Ft 11 In)
Davide Chislagi Testing His Single-Wheel Engine, 1933
King George VI Of England Enjoying A Slide, 1925
Bonnie Parker And Clyde Barrow In Arkansas, 1933
They've been glamorized by Hollywood and legend but they were murderous criminals who don't deserve their fame or our admiration.
Note: this post originally had 102 images. It’s been shortened to the top 49 images based on user votes.
Don't get me wrong, I love historic photographs but not providing the source, not only robs credit from the photographers but it also robs the institutions that hold them money. Not only that 99% of these are copyrighted and therefore this is stealing if you don't cite your source.
BP always has a tiny link to their sources underneath the photo (lower left corner). This one links to THEIR source… a Facebook group. So feel free to let their moderators know.
Load More Replies...Great collection, but many of them should have their stories mentioned also, because it adds many to the photo.
The photo of the woman taking frozen long johns off the clothes line is my mother!! Her brother, my uncle, was a commercial photographer and used family members as models. To make the clothes look frozen they soaked them in water and froze them in a big freezer in the basement! As a kid I was in many of his advertisement photos so I love old pictures and much to my surprise and delight came across this photo of my mom while browsing on Bored Panda!!!
Yes, but not by that one guy the other day who “mastered” it LOL
Load More Replies...Don't get me wrong, I love historic photographs but not providing the source, not only robs credit from the photographers but it also robs the institutions that hold them money. Not only that 99% of these are copyrighted and therefore this is stealing if you don't cite your source.
BP always has a tiny link to their sources underneath the photo (lower left corner). This one links to THEIR source… a Facebook group. So feel free to let their moderators know.
Load More Replies...Great collection, but many of them should have their stories mentioned also, because it adds many to the photo.
The photo of the woman taking frozen long johns off the clothes line is my mother!! Her brother, my uncle, was a commercial photographer and used family members as models. To make the clothes look frozen they soaked them in water and froze them in a big freezer in the basement! As a kid I was in many of his advertisement photos so I love old pictures and much to my surprise and delight came across this photo of my mom while browsing on Bored Panda!!!
Yes, but not by that one guy the other day who “mastered” it LOL
Load More Replies...