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77 Rare Photos From The Past That Capture The Details History Books Usually Skip
History is rich and fascinating, but with so many moments to remember and life moving as fast as it does, we tend to hold onto only the biggest ones. The lesser-known stories get lost along the way—which is a shame, because they’re often just as captivating.
Thankfully, corners of the internet like the Instagram page Rare Histories do a wonderful job of giving them the spotlight they deserve. We’ve rounded up some of their most interesting posts below. Scroll down to check them out.
Image credits: rarehistories
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#1
Albert Einstein Plays His Beloved Violin, 1941
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#2
A Pig Photobombing A Wedding In 1927
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 7 hours ago
That's not a nice thing to say about the new mother in law!
#3
Pierre Culliford (Peyo), Creator Of The Smurfs, Presenting His Finished Drawing Of A Smurf At A Studio In Brussels, Belgium, 1983
#4
Women Marching For The Right To Vote, 1913
#5
A Beautician Paints Stockings Onto A Customer's Skin During Stocking Rationing, London, England In 1941
#6
Arnold Schwarzenegger On The Day He Received His American Citizenship
#7
Kmart Employees Watching The Moon Landing, July 16, 1969
Tucker Cahooter 2 hours ago
I'm sure there was a shopper there complaining they could find anyone to help them
#8
Female Police Officer Inspecting A Woman's Bathing Suit, 1920s
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 7 hours ago
I see the woman being inspected has raised two points of contention.
#9
Padaung Women Asking A London Policeman For Directions, 1935
#11
Nagasaki, 20 Minutes After, 1945
Forrest Hobbs 4 hours ago
It's worth bearing in mind that there are hardly any nuclear warheads in service these days with a yield that small. (some of the 'dial a yield' types can deliver a blast that small, if set to do so). I read that back in the late 1940s, the US military planners reckoned that 200 ordinary single stage fission bombs (similar to what we see going off here) would be enough to effectively destroy the USSR. Now? Both the US and Russia have thousands of nuclear warheads, all of which are much more powerful. 21kt was the Nagasaki 'Fat man' yield. Trident missile warheads have around 100kt to 475 kt yield - potentially 8 (or 12) per missile (variations depending on US/UK service and warhead type). US B61 nuclear bombs have around a 400 kt yield. Fun fact: the civilization-ending nuclear war could be starting now. Between its start and the end of the world as we know it could be less than an hour and once the orders are given, it can't be stopped. 😁🥺
#13
South Vietnamese Parents And Their Five Children Fleeing Toward Saigon, June 19, 1972
Forrest Hobbs 4 hours ago (edited)
Under normal circumstances, I'd be critical of the parents - seven on one small motorcycle? No footwear on the children? On the other hand, when fleeing from actual warfare? Yeah - never mind all that, just run away. Maybe they should have put some more air in the back tyre - but if it worked, it worked. Also: the bike looks like a Honda Cub, often judged the best motorcycle ever designed. The fact that it did the job we see it doing goes some way to explaining that judgement.
#14
A "Prettiest Legs" Competition In Paris, 1950
#16
A Group Of Havana Schoolboys In 1937 The Boy With The Lollipop Is Fidel Castro
#17
Winston Churchill In His Swimming Costume, 1922
#18
Harvey Ross Ball And His Creation, 1960s
#19
Newly Built F4u Corsair And F6f Hellcats Being Prepared To Be Shipped To The Pacific Theatre, USA, 1944
#20
P.t. Barnum & Bailey's Combined Circus Performers, New York 1924
#21
An Airman Being Captured By Vietnamese In Truc Bach Lake Hanoi In 1967
NightOwlPanda 7 hours ago
The airman was then-Lt. Cmdr. and later Senator John McCain. He was held prisoner by the North Vietnamese until 1973 and endured t*****e and solitary confinement. This is the courage and endurance Tr*mp mocked when he said, "I like people who weren't captured."
#22
Al Capone's Prison Cell In Eastern State Penitentiary, Pennsylvania
#23
Hindenburg Airship, 1920s
NightOwlPanda 6 hours ago
Hindenburg's first flight was March 4, 1936. Either the date is wrong or the airship's name is.
#24
Presley Concert, 1957
#25
Glass Soda Bottles Were Popular Back Then (Late 1970s/Early 1980s)
Bored Jellyfish 6 hours ago
I remember hunting for bottles to return for money. Even the cardboard carriers would get a little refund. I wish this were a thing again. I’d much rather have beverage in glass rather than aluminum cans or plastic.
#26
Typist Of The Future - Circa 1970
NightOwlPanda 7 hours ago
I've seen this photo before and thought the setup looked pretty comfy. I hadn't noticed previously, though, that she's using a Dvorak keyboard.
#27
Slot Machine Selling Warm Sausages On A Railway Station In Germany, 1931
#28
Diner Drive-In In Los Angeles, 1950s
#29
Girls At A Beatles Concert In Plymouth, 13 November 1963
#30
A Pigeon Bus From Wwi Served As Collecting Point For Messenger Pigeons From The Front Lines
#31
The Changing Shape Of Female Swimwear From Victorian Era To Late The 1920s
John Dilligaf 5 hours ago
I don't think "swimwear" is the right term for the 1875, 1890, 0r 1900 costumes. "Wadingwear" maybe, but I'd defy anyone to swim in those things.
#32
A Japanese Commuter Train Early In The Morning, 1964
#34
Members Of The US Board Of Tea Experts Meet To Taste Teas, Their Mission Was To Set Up Quality Standards For Imported Tea, 1947
Eugene the Jeep 4 hours ago
"We've secretly replaced their regular tea with new Folger's, now let's see what they think."
#35
People Parked Curbside To Watch A Plane Take Off (NYC), 1951
#36
Unpacking Mona Lisa After The End Of World War IL In 1945
#39
Playing Chess On Broadway, NYC At The Corner Of Broadway And West 49th Street In Midtown Manhattan, August 1986
#40
Navy Pilots Playing Basketball In The Forward Elevator Well Aboard Uss Monterey The Jumper Of The Left Is Future U.S. President Gerald Ford, 1944
#42
Shoe Shiners Taking A Lunch Break New York City, 1947
nottheactualphoto 5 hours ago
Shoeshine boys have been known to turn into underdogs from time to time.
#43
Female Worker Bottling Ketchup At The Original Heinz Factory Circa 1897
NightOwlPanda 7 hours ago
What mind-numbing work this was. Something to be said for automation.
#44
Walt Disney On The Day They Opened Disney Studios
#46
100,000 Units Of Marks, Equal In Value To One US Dollar, 1923
Forrest Hobbs 4 hours ago (edited)
Yes, but it was worth a lot less come the next morning. Hyperinflation ain't great. Thing is, the underlying cause of German hyperinflation at that time was a combination of factors - mostly, the fact that the French continued to demand war reparation payments; then the fact that the German government provided those payments on the basis of printing more money; then the fact that they hadn't really understood the economic problems this would cause. Everything is more complicated than you might think. No-one involved had any idea that the subsequent very bad consequences would be Hitler and all that stuff.
#47
Helmet With A Built In Communication Device So That The Riders Can Communicate To Each Other, 1960s
#48
A Man From France Tastes Coca-Cola For The First Time, Paris, 1950
#49
Chess Lesson In A School Pskóv, USSR, 1975
Tucker Cahooter 2 hours ago
Keen observers will see that White is playing the Bongcloud Attack, years before others embraced it
#50
A Worker Paints The Golden Gate Bridge With A Fresh Coat Of Its Iconic Color, 1956
#51
16-Year-Old Walt Disney As A Red Cross Ambulance Driver During WWI
#57
New Recruits Of The 7th Queen's Own Hussars Regiment Practice Balancing On Wooden Horses, 1935
#58
In 1953 The 600-Foot Long, 70- Foot-Wide Marine Angel Transited The Chicago River
#60
Moving A House In San Francisco, Us In 1919
#62
The Face Of The Statue Of Liberty, 1800s Before Being Attached To Body
#63
The Five Romanov Children With Their Heads Shaved After An Attack Of Measles, In January 1917
#64
Passengers Watching The In-Flight Film On An Imperial Airways Flight, 1925
Eugene the Jeep 3 hours ago
Didn't have to worry about the engine drowning out the dialogue, anyway.
#65
Lounge Interior Of A Trans World Airlines (Twa) Convair 880, 1958
UnclePanda 6 hours ago
Early attempts at in-flight location updates were found to be labor intensive.
#66
Old Derricks At Venice Beach, Los Angeles, 1931
#67
The Control Room At The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Continues To Operate After The Disaster, Circa July-August 1986
Forrest Hobbs 4 hours ago
The plant was built with four reactors. One exploded. They continued to operate the other three. Unit two closed down in 1991 (turbine fire), unit 1 continued to operate until 1996 (despite 1982 partial meltdown), while the final operating reactor - unit 3 - was shut down in 2000. In 2025, Russia attacked and blew a hole in the 'new safe confinement' enclosure, so radioactive contamination can once again escape.
#69
A Douglas Aircraft Company Worker Rivets An A-20 Bomber At The Plant In Long Beach, California
Tucker Cahooter 2 hours ago
Ask her "Is your name Rosie?" and she'll probably throw the rivet gun at your head
#71
Automated Drive-In Delivery Metal Track At The Fast Food Restaurant "The Track" Los Angeles, California, USA, 1949
#72
Fishermen On Baker Beach As The Golden Gate Bridge Is Under Construction, 1936
#73
14-Year-Old Osama Bin Laden (2nd From The Right) In Sweden
#74
"The Apple", India's First Satellite Being Transported Manually
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What do you think ?
Bored Jellyfish 6 hours ago
I have’t seen any of this photos before. It’s nice to have an original list to go through. Thank you.
Bored Jellyfish 6 hours ago
I have’t seen any of this photos before. It’s nice to have an original list to go through. Thank you.
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