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Every photograph is an immortalized moment. Through the years, they become a time capsule of a bygone era, a reminder of how life was once.
The internet is rich in resources of noteworthy images from the past, and this subreddit is an excellent example. With over three million members, it has no shortage of pictures featuring landmark events and renowned figures, whether in monochrome or full color.
As part of Bored Panda’s recurring series of articles, we’ve compiled this best-of-all-time list for you to enjoy. Whether or not you’re a history buff, prepare to be fascinated and maybe even learn something new.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
In 1969, When Black Americans Were Still Prevented From Swimming Alongside Whites, Mr.rogers Decided To Invite Officer Clemmons To Join Him And Cool His Feet In A Pool, Breaking A Well-Known Color Barrier
#2
When They Realized Women Were Using Their Sacks To Make Clothes For Their Children, Flour Mills Of The 1930s Started Using Flowered Fabric For Their Sacks. (1939)
Jill Rhodry 4 months ago
These days they'd charged extra for printed or even better, force you onto a subscription service - but that's neo-capitalism I guess.
#3
Cop Stops The Traffic In New York So A Mother Cat Holding A Kitten Can Cross Safely C.1925
Since we’re on the subject of historical photos, one that stands out is the ‘Lunch Atop A Skyscraper.’ For the uninitiated, it shows a row of 11 construction workers enjoying lunch seated on a steel beam 850 feet above the streets of Manhattan.
The photograph was taken on September 20th, 1932. According to Smithsonian Mag, it was a publicity stunt to create a buzz for the imminent completion of what turned out to be the Rockefeller Center. And yes, it is all real.
#4
100,000 Iranian Women March Against The Hijab Law, Tehran 1979
#5
Albert Einstein Defying The Prevailing Racial Climate At The Time By Visiting Lincoln University, Pennsylvania — The First Degree-Granting Black College In The Us — To Teach A Class. He Was An Outspoken Civil Rights Advocate For Black Americans. Photographed In 1946
#6
Charles Thompson Greets His New Classmates At Public School No. 27 In September 1954, Less Than Four Months After The Supreme Court Ruled That Racial Segregation Was Unconstitutional. Charles Was The Only African-American Child In The School. Photo By Richard Stacks For The Baltimore Sun
The fiery still image of the Hindenburg exploding in mid-air is another all-time classic, outside of its grim and tragic nature. It was a Nazi creation meant to use their supposed engineering skills as propaganda.
Instead, the vessel caught fire from static electricity on May 6th, 1937, resulting in the combustion. Thirty-six people lost their lives.
The photo, however, was so iconic that legendary rock band Led Zeppelin used it as the cover image of their first album.
#7
Incredible Photograph Of A German Soldier Going Against Direct Orders To Help A Young Boy Cross The Newly Formed Berlin Wall After Being Separated From His Family, 1961
#8
Princess Diana Shakes Hands With An Aids Patient Without Gloves, 1991
#9
Meet The "Night Witches", Fearless Russian Female Pilots Who Bombed Nazis By Night, 1941
#10
A Native American Mother And Her Child - 1900s
#11
"Happiest Man In China", Taken In 1901 By British Anthropologists After Deciding To Document The Chinese. The Chinese Didn't Know Photos Were A "Serious Matter" And Decided To Be Goofy, Hence The Pose And Smile
#12
Jewish Prisoners After Being Liberated From A Death Train, 1945
Fast forward to more recent times, specifically to June 15, 1995. The “Trial of the Century” involving O.J. Simpson was front-page news. From it came the infamous photo of the disgraced NFL star trying on a pair of gloves that were evidence. It was a key moment that led to his eventual acquittal.
However, the photo of Simpson with the bloodied gloves likewise became part of history. It was also a subject of many spoofs and mockeries, which lingered until his death this past April.
#13
Mogadishu, 1993. An Italian Soldier Gives Food To A Local Orphan
#14
American Troops Treat A Wounded Dog On Orote Peninsula, 1944
#15
Atelier Photo: "A Lesbian Couple In Semi Drag Wedding Attire"; Kingdom Of Hungary - Budapest, 1920
#16
Margaret Hamilton And The Handwritten Navigation Software She And Her Mit Team Produced For The Apollo Project, 1969
Forrest Hobbs 4 months ago (edited)
I've got a book which says that's a stack of print-outs from simulated moon missions run on a mainframe computer to test that the Apollo guidance computer software worked okay. But the book is wrong: that really is software, assembly language, one command per line. Also, Margaret Hamilton is the engineer who came up with the term "software".
#17
A Man Rides A Bus In Durban, Meant For White Passengers Only, In Resistance To South Africa’s Apartheid Policies, 1986
#18
Tokyo Residents Mourning Hachiko. He Would Regularly Meet His Owner, Professor Ueno, At Shibuya Station After He Returned From Work. Sadly, Ueno Died On May 21, 1925 & Never Returned. However, Hachiko Would Return To The Station Every Day For 9 Years, Waiting For Him To Come Back, 1935
KittyGaming 4 months ago
Is this the dog that had a statue built for him, a youtuber I watch went to this statue when her family went to Japan
#19
Stoney First Nation Member, Guide Samson Beaver With His Wife Leah And Their Daughter Frances Louise, 1907. Photo Taken By Mary Schäffer
#20
Here Is How An Ukrainian Immigrant Celebrated Stalin's Death. 1953
#21
Arnie Supporting Disabled Athletes, 1983
Falcon on Dizzy 4 months ago
just imagine, you're a star athlete with a disability and F*****G ARNIE SHOWS UP AND CONGRATULATES YOU
#22
A Beach In Iran A Few Months Before The Islamic Revolution, 1979
#23
Six-Year-Old Austrian Boy “Werfel” Receiveing A New Pair Of Shoes At The Am Himmel Orphanage, Donated By The Junior Red Cross In America (Colorized). Published In The Life Magazine In 1946
#24
Ruby Bridges, The First African-American To Attend A White Elementary School In The Deep South, 1960. Colorized
Multa Nocte 4 months ago
A little piece of me dies every time I think of what this little girl went through.
#25
A Man Arrested For Cross-Dressing Emerging From A Police Van, New York, 1939
#26
1972: 3 Women On The Streets Of Kabul, Afghanistan
#27
Anne Frank’s Father Otto, Revisiting The Attic Where They Hid From The Nazis. He Was The Only Surviving Family Member. (1960)
#28
18-Year-Old Keshia Thomas Protects A Fallen Man, Believed To Be Associated With The Ku Klux Klan From An Angry Mob Of Anti-Clan Protestors. Ann Arbor, Michigan USA. 1996 By Mark Brunner
#29
An American Soldier Cradles A Wounded Japanese Boy And Shelters Him From The Rain In The Cockpit Of An Airplane During The Battle Of Saipan While Waiting To Transport The Youngster To A Field Hospital. July, 1944
#30
Young Queen Elizabeth As A Mechanic During Ww2 (C. 1939)
#31
Albert Einstein, His Secretary Helen (Left), And Daughter Margaret (Right) Becoming U.S. Citizens To Avoid Returning To Nazi Germany, 1940
Jess Smith 4 months ago
Oh, fun/depressing story: So, he was going someplace, visiting somewhere, right after the Nazis took over. So they break into his house to find evidence he was to undermine Germany. Here is the smoking gun: Albert Einstein had a bread knife. In his kitchen. The Einsteins left shortly thereafter.
#32
Nakano Takeko (Onna-Musha Of The Aizu Domain) In Imperial Japan, She And Other Women Fought In The Battle Of Aizu In October 1868 During The Boshin War, When On October 16th, She Was Killed In Battle By Rifle Shot. Shown In Full Samurai Armour, C. 1860 - 1868
#33
African-American Boys On Easter Morning, Southside, Chicago, Illinois, April 1941 [colorized]
![African-American Boys On Easter Morning, Southside, Chicago, Illinois, April 1941 [colorized]](https://www.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/6696481318e4d_c0ojnruq6db91__700.jpg "African-American Boys On Easter Morning, Southside, Chicago, Illinois, April 1941 [colorized]")
#34
A Policeman In San Francisco Scolds A Man For Not Wearing A Mask During The 1918 Influenza Pandemic, 1918
#35
A Man Guards His Family From The Cannibals During The Madras Famine Of 1877 At The Time Of British Raj, India
#36
Russian Inmate Points An Identifying And Accusing Finger At A Nazi Guard Who Was Especially Cruel Towards The Prisoners In Buchenwald Camp. Colorized
#37
British Soldiers (Interrupted During Drag Show Rehearsals By A German Raid) Manning A Bl 6-Inch Mk Vii Naval Gun At Shornemead Fort, England In 1940
#38
A U.S. Marine Rescues Two Vietnamese Children During A Gun Battle At The City Of Hue, During The Tet Offensive Of The Vietnam War - 1968
#39
In 1945, The Auschwitz Death Camp Was Discovered And Liberated By The Red Army
#40
A German Soldier Returns Home Only To Find His Family No Longer There. Frankfurt, 1946 - By Tony Vaccaro
Marie-Louise Palmer 4 months ago
Just another young man doing his duty. Being told to fight while the ruling classes never do. Very sad.
#41
West German School Children Pause To Talk With Two East German Border Guards Beside An Opening In The Berlin Wall During The Collapse Of Communism In East Germany In November 1989 (Photo: Stephen Jaffe)
#42
Annette Kellerman Promotes Women's Right To Wear A Fitted One-Piece Bathing. She Was Arrested For Indecency. (1907)
Little Wonder 4 months ago
Well obviously, you can't just get your arms out like that, the gentlemen will swoon!
#43
Woman Cutting Her Birthday Cake In Iran 1973, 5 Years Before The Islamic Revolution
#44
Rosa Parks's Booking Photo Following Her February 1956 Arrest
#45
Martin Luther King Jr. Removing A Burnt Cross From His Front Yard In 1960
#46
David Isom, 19, Broke The Color Line In A Segregated Pool In Florida On June 8, 1958, Which Resulted In Officials Closing The Facility
#47
Wwi. A Canadian Soldier Tries To Comfort A Little Belgian Baby, Who Was Hurt And Whose Mother Was Killed By An Artillery Shell. November 1918
#48
A French Boy Introduces Himself To Indian Soldiers Who Had Just Arrived In France To Fight Alongside French And British Forces, Marseilles, 30th September 1914
Did I say that out loud? (he/him)cis/het 4 months ago
Even today, the role, importance, and sacrifice of troops from the Empire are still largely overlooked or ignored here.
#49
In 1973, Marlon Brando Rejected His Oscar For The Godfather To Allow Sacheen Littlefeather To Protest Hollywood’s Portrayal Of Native Americans
Onan Hag All 4 months ago
Littlefeather said her father was of Apache and Yaqui ancestry and her mother was of European descent. Shortly after Littlefeather's death, Navajo writer and activist Jacqueline Keeler interviewed Littlefeather's two sisters, who said that their family is not Native American and that Littlefeather fabricated her Native American ancestry. They also said that their father, who was born in Oxnard, California, was of Spanish-Mexican descent and had no tribal ties
![[colorized] Three Scout Girls Collect Peach Pits, Which Will Later Be Processed To Make Gas Mask Filters During World War I. Washington, 1917-1918](https://www.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/669649d88a01c_tgs7fesdxc791__700.jpg "[colorized] Three Scout Girls Collect Peach Pits, Which Will Later Be Processed To Make Gas Mask Filters During World War I. Washington, 1917-1918")
![Eiffel Tower Under Construction, July 1888 [colorized]](https://www.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/66964a0d19a43_kf8odovps9781-png__700.jpg "Eiffel Tower Under Construction, July 1888 [colorized]")
![Acrobats Balance On Top Of The Empire State Building, 1934 [1271x1600]](https://www.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/66964ad650c97_4bxvijun5k461__700.jpg "Acrobats Balance On Top Of The Empire State Building, 1934 [1271x1600]")
![[1200x803] An Enthusiast For Men's Dress Reform Walking Down The Strand In London. The Mdrp (Men’s Dress Reform Party) Was Formed In The Interwar Years In Britain, 1930](https://www.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/66964937142a8_6juhvj6vr9l91__700.jpg "[1200x803] An Enthusiast For Men's Dress Reform Walking Down The Strand In London. The Mdrp (Men’s Dress Reform Party) Was Formed In The Interwar Years In Britain, 1930")
![Inside Of An Airplane In 1930 [572x768]](https://www.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/66964a6ecedac_yNgwOYn__700.jpg "Inside Of An Airplane In 1930 [572x768]")
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What do you think ?
Multa Nocte 4 months ago
While these were lovely, most of them have been on here before multiple times. Any chance there are other photos that could be featured?
Little Wonder 4 months ago
This is a "best of all time" post, so it's all repeats.
Load More Replies...
Justin Tyme 4 months ago
Bored Panda Staff: "Let's repost this photo series every week. It's easier than finding new content."
Catherine Chance 4 months ago
I have not seen this photo series before and I go on Bored Panda about 4 times a week. For some people it might be the first time on Bored Panda.
Load More Replies...
Catherine Chance 4 months ago
Not everyone has seen all of these before I really appreciated that post, thank you!
Regina Yegge 4 months ago
It was very long but I was fascinated and could not stop looking. Amazing!
ANTIVICTORIA 4 months ago
I'm pretty disgusted. All these curiosity-inducing photos celebrate mostly positive and notable events EXCEPT for 4 random posts on Muslim women that seem to invite hating on Muslims, which every post has plenty of comments doing just that. Some racism is not only acceptable, but encouraged still.
Multa Nocte 4 months ago
While these were lovely, most of them have been on here before multiple times. Any chance there are other photos that could be featured?
Little Wonder 4 months ago
This is a "best of all time" post, so it's all repeats.
Load More Replies... Justin Tyme 4 months ago
Bored Panda Staff: "Let's repost this photo series every week. It's easier than finding new content."
Catherine Chance 4 months ago
I have not seen this photo series before and I go on Bored Panda about 4 times a week. For some people it might be the first time on Bored Panda.
Load More Replies... Catherine Chance 4 months ago
Not everyone has seen all of these before I really appreciated that post, thank you!
Regina Yegge 4 months ago
It was very long but I was fascinated and could not stop looking. Amazing!
ANTIVICTORIA 4 months ago
I'm pretty disgusted. All these curiosity-inducing photos celebrate mostly positive and notable events EXCEPT for 4 random posts on Muslim women that seem to invite hating on Muslims, which every post has plenty of comments doing just that. Some racism is not only acceptable, but encouraged still.
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