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Before the invention of photography, the appearance of famous and historical figures was documented in statues, paintings, engravings, and written sources. However, such depictions aren’t exactly accurate, as artistic limitations and biases can make the person look different from reality. Thankfully, when photography came about, it changed how well-known people are recorded, and now we can see them truly as they were. To celebrate this and remind us how fortunate we are to be able to take such a glimpse into history, Bored Panda compiled a list of historical figures who lived long enough to be photographed. Scroll down to find it below, and don’t forget to upvote those pictures that left you star-struck.
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#1
Harriet Tubman, C. 1868
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#2
Tesla Sitting In Front Of A Spiral Coil Used In His Wireless Power Experiments At His East Houston St. Laboratory, 1896
Forrest Grump 7 months ago
There is a fine line between genius and madness. And Tesla had one foot on each side of that line.
#3
Vincent Van Gogh, 1873
person (i think) 7 months ago
Holy s*, I _never_ would have gotten that right if i had to guess
1826 was the year when the first photograph was taken, which means that we haven’t had that much time to capture people in photos, which also means that many historical figures went without ever being photographed. Of course, there were other ways their appearance was recorded, but they aren’t very reliable.
For example, the Chandos portrait that is thought to depict William Shakespeare and from which we form our view of the playwright might not be an accurate representation of him at all. To this day, experts can’t definitively say that it’s the playwright who is depicted in the painting. In addition, over the centuries, the portrait has gone through retouching, which has altered the portrait’s true appearance. Experts claim that the subject’s beard and hair have been lengthened, and the varnish has discolored with age.
#4
Annie Oakley, C. 1903
#5
Geronimo, Or Goyahkla, 1887
#6
Wedding Photo Of Pierre And Marie Curie, 1895
Many historical figures’ appearances are misrepresented in this way due to artistic conventions, myths, or incorrect interpretations. A few other examples of this include Cleopatra, Mary, Queen of Scots, and Julius Caesar. However, thanks to technological improvements, scientists are trying to debunk the misconceptions about how ancient figures looked.
#7
Mark Twain, 1908
martymcmatrix 7 months ago
Listen, Joaquin Phoenix...can you imagine playing (becoming) Mark Twain? After all that make-up (Joker) and the bad weather (Napoleon), all you'd have to do is growing out a fancy beard...🤔 🤹🏽 🤨
#8
Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna, 1914
Lee Gilliland 7 months ago
The Czar was an enthusiastic a mature photographer. There's book called _Tsar:The Lost World of Nicholas and Alexandra_ by Peter Bluth that contains most of them, including one of Nicholas skinny-dipping!
#9
Churchill In 1900 Around The Time Of His First Election To Parliament
They are able to do this by using forensic facial reconstruction, which is a process used to recreate an individual's appearance from their skeletal remains, primarily the skull, to help visualize historical figures. Techniques used for this include clay reconstruction, when a forensic artist is working with clay to recreate a face, and CT scans, which can create 3D digital facial models on a computer screen.
#10
Pablo Picasso, 1904
#12
President Abraham Lincoln, C. 1846
But before rendering how the person looked, researchers have to gather as much information about the person they’re reconstructing as possible. They need to understand who they were, where and how they lived, what they ate, and what health they were in. Archaeological and DNA analyses can help reveal details like eye and hair color and even their favorite foods or the climate they inhabited.
#13
Hannah Stilley Gorby, Possibly The Earliest-Born Person To Be Photographed, Born Around 1746
#14
Roosevelt After Leaving Office In October 1910
#15
Harriet Beecher Stowe, C. 1852
An individual’s age, gender, ethnicity, and weight all give information about their features. Skulls also often possess subtle markings that indicate where muscles were once connected to the bone. “Sometimes it’s very easy to see exactly where the muscle was placed, because it leaves stress marks or ridges on the skull,” said the sculptor and forensic artist Oscar D. Nilsson. All this data helps the reconstructionist decide what features go where, resulting in a realistic face model.
#16
Frederick Douglass, C. 1847-1852
Lady Eowyn 7 months ago
An important abolitionist, born into slavery. Also hot. He's on 2 US postage stamps.
#17
Robert Cornelius, The First Person To Photograph Themself, 1839
#18
Rasputin And His Admirers, 1914
Bananaramamama 7 months ago
I recently had heard on a podcast that the treatment for pain during this time was aspirin. Which for the heir (with hemophilia) would have exacerbated his condition. So when he was injured and Rasputin insisted the Tzar's wife rely on prayer instead of medical intervention, it actually did improve his recovery time. Whether Rasputin himself knew that is unlikely. But that was the catalyst for her relying on his advice. Just an interesting blurb
However, such reconstructions also spark debates, as there’s no way to know whether the depictions are accurate since reconstructionists use their knowledge and judgment to shape the faces. Nilsson also mentioned that he adds his own touches to his reconstructions, like wrinkles or sunspots to the face of someone who died old, or includes signs of diseases discovered during the DNA research, which might not always be close to the truth.
#19
Daimyo Shimazu Nariakira, Subject Of The Earliest Surviving Japanese Photograph, 1857
Serena Myers 7 months ago
Wondered what I was reading for a minute there. "Subject of the Ear click me" Thanks BP!
#20
Calamity Jane, 1901
#21
Wright Brothers, 1909
Nowadays, people also make use of AI to visualize how historical figures might have looked. For instance, in 2022, a digital artist gained popularity for using AI technology to recreate the faces of Roman emperors from their busts. There’s even a Hello History AI tool that allows people to chat with anyone from the past and have lifelike conversations with historical figures.
#22
M. Lefebre, One Of The Last Surviving Veterans Of Napoleon's Army, 1858
#23
William F. Cody ("Buffalo Bill"), 1911
Scarlett O'Hara's Ghost 7 months ago
I'm from Niagara falls NY. My best friend from high school is related to Buffalo Bill. He spent quite a bit of time at the Falls
However, photography still remains the most accurate way that allows us to see historical figures, which we should never take for granted. For more interesting historical photos, make sure to check out this post on more historical figures or this one on rare historical images.
#25
Ernest Hemingway At His Typewriter, Circa 1939
#26
Portrait Photograph Of Jack London, 1876-1916
HardBoiledBlonde 7 months ago
American journalist and author best known for "Call of the Wild."
#27
Emily Dickinson, C. 1847
Scarlett O'Hara's Ghost 7 months ago
Not the usual dower facial expression popular during the time.
#28
Sylvia Plath, 1950s
HardBoiledBlonde 7 months ago
American poet and author of "The Colossus" and "The Bell Jar" to name just a few. She had a tragic life and ended it.
#29
A French Veteran Of The Battle Of Waterloo, 1897
#30
Charles Darwin, 1869
#31
Portrait Of Karl Marx, 1818–1883
#32
Helen Keller And Anne Sullivan, C. 1913
#33
Portrait Of Charles Dickens, Between 1867 And 1868
#34
Isambard Kingdom Brunel, 1857
Richard Graham 7 months ago
Brunel designed the Great Western Railway, the Clifton Suspension Bridge, the Box Tunnel (the longest tunnel in the world at the time) and London Paddington Station. All of these are still working today. His ship SS Great Britain was the first with a steam-powered propeller. It's now a museum.
#35
John Herschel, 1867
BarkingSquirell 7 months ago
A famous Englishman known for his talents in many of the sciences.
#36
Photographic Portrait Of Sigmund Freud, Circa 1921
#37
Billy The Kid, 1878
Huddo's sister 7 months ago
I never thought croquet would be something Billy the Kid played, or even something that was played it the 'wild west' at all. I just evokes those classic English country home images.
#38
Daniel F. Bakeman, The Last Surviving Soldier Of The Revolutionary War, 1868
Michelle C 7 months ago
He was about a century old when this photograph was taken and died at the age of 106!
#39
Lewis Carroll, 1857
T'Mar of Vulcan 7 months ago
There is no proof that he was a pa3dophile. The child he based Alice on never said anything about that. They did have a falling out at some point, but she still did not claim anything like that.
#40
Queen Victoria, 1887
#41
Ulysses S. Grant, C. 1870s
#42
John Quincy Adams, 1843
#43
Butch Cassidy, C. 1900
#44
Wild Bill Hickok, C. 1860s
#45
The Duke Of Wellington, 1844
#46
Martin Van Buren, C. 1849
#47
President Franklin Pierce, C. 1851-1860
#48
President James K. Polk, 1849
#49
John Chapman, Aka Johnny Appleseed, C. 1840s
#50
Confederate President Jefferson Davis, C. 1861
#51
President John Tyler, C. 1845
Richard Graham 7 months ago (edited)
John Tyler's grandson is still alive. John Tyler was born in 1790, when George Washington was President. (This makes John Tyler the first President born when the U.S. existed). Tyler had ten children. His youngest son Lyon Gardiner Tyler was born in 1853 when John was 63. Lyon Gardiner Sr., in turn, was in his 70s when Lyon Gardiner Tyler Jr. and Harrison Ruffin Tyler were born. Lyon Gardiner Tyler Jr., grandson of tenth president John Tyler, died on September 26 at age 95. Lyon’s brother Harrison Ruffin Tyler—born in 1928—is still living. He is a retired Engineer and conservationist. (The United States is still a young country)
#52
Robert E. Lee And His Son William Henry Fitzhugh Lee, C. 1845
#53
Peter Freuchen With Wife Dagmar Cohn, 1950s
Richard Graham 7 months ago
Six-foot-seven-inch Peter Freuchen was a Danish artic explorer. Dagmar Freuchen-Gale (née Cohn) was a Danish illustrator, writer and editor.
#54
George Armstrong Custer At West Point, 1859
#55
John Brown, C. 1846-1847
#56
Samuel Wilson, Before 1854
Multa Nocte 7 months ago
"Samuel Wilson (September 13, 1766 – July 31, 1854) was an American meat packer who lived in Troy, New York, whose name is purportedly the source of the personification of the United States known as "Uncle Sam"."
#57
Benito Mussolini, 1920s
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What do you think ?
persephone134 7 months ago
Looking at the current headline of this thread, why would I think that no photographs of these people existed? Especially if they are famous. Especially the 20th century people.
Auntriarch 7 months ago
Bored Panda titles are notoriously inapt, take them with a pinch of salt. Also sometimes they have changed if you go back to them
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persephone134 7 months ago
Looking at the current headline of this thread, why would I think that no photographs of these people existed? Especially if they are famous. Especially the 20th century people.
Auntriarch 7 months ago
Bored Panda titles are notoriously inapt, take them with a pinch of salt. Also sometimes they have changed if you go back to them
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