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“Be A Witness To The Events That Changed Mankind”: 40 Important Historical Photos That Might Change Your Perspective On Things
Although we cannot get into the minds of the people waiting in a queue on a cold day in Chukotka, Soviet Union back in 1985 to get wine, or what the daredevil sky boys who built the Empire State Building in 1930-31 were thinking when balancing unsecured on the 88th floor, we can get a fairly good glimpse into the wonders of history.
Thanks to photography, a new means of visual representation that debuted in 1839 and startled the entire world, a lot of incredible moments of the past are now carved into film forever. So today we’re taking a miscellaneous history class, one you wouldn’t have skipped at school, thanks to this educational Facebook page titled “Historic Photographs.”
With almost 2.5M followers, the page is an online destination for rare historical photos and incredible stories behind them. Below we selected some of the most captivating ones, so pull your seat closer!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Long Before Color-Sensitive Film Was Invented, Russian Photographer Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky Took 3 Individual Black And White Photos, Each With A Filter (Red, Blue And Green) To Create High Quality Photos In Full Color. This Self Portrait Is Over 110 Years Old
Few things captivate our imagination as much as historical photographs that tell stories about people and their lives in the past. While very distant in time, they also feel somehow familiar – old photographs have a power to transcend time and space and put us in long-gone contexts, places, and situations.
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#2
On August 23, 1989, About 2 Million People From Latvia, Estonia And Lithuania Formed A Human Chain That United All 3 Countries To Show The World Their Desire To Escape The Soviet Union And The Communism That Brought Only Suffering And Poverty. This Power Stretched 600 Km
#3
Mary Wallace: First Female Bus Driver For Chicago Transit Authority, 1974 (Colorized)
According to Lisa Yaszek, this shouldn’t come as a surprise, since old photos affect our perception of time in unique ways. Yaszek is a Regents Professor of Science Fiction Studies at Georgia Tech where she researches and teaches science fiction as a global language crossing centuries, continents, and cultures. We previously spoke with her about the cultural significance of old and historical photographs and what it tells us about the way we perceive not just the past, but also the present.
They affect the way we understand time “by making abstract historical events visually concrete, giving us an emotional connection to eras we might not otherwise know very much about, exactly, through books or family stories.” Yaszek explained: “For instance, when I was looking over the photos for this article I was really taken by images of Japanese-Americans in WWII U.S. internment camps, young people protesting low wages for teachers in the Great Depression, female engineers working for the Space Race, and little kids protesting Daylight Savings Time—my own son especially appreciated that one…”
#4
Rosa Parks Sits At The Front Of A Bus Following The End Of Racial Segregation By The Transit Company, Circa 1965
#5
Stoney First Nation Member, Guide Samson Beaver With His Wife Leah And Their Daughter Frances Louise, 1907. Photo Taken By Mary Schäffer
ScrupulousScribbler 2 years ago
This picture shows that no matter your race, gender, heritage, culture, or religion, we all share the same feeling of love and happiness when it comes to having a happy, supportive family around you
#6
World War One Memorial In Vácrátót (Hungary)
Random Anon 2 years ago
This monument needs to be preserved to remind us, there is nothing to gain from wars. It's 2022 and people are still at it.
According to Yaszek, if you look closely at the subjects of historic photographs, you realize how alive they look. This is because they have a range of emotions on their faces—“from determination to silliness to fear to hope. It reminds us that historical events don’t just happen on their own—they involve real people taking real action, for better or for worse.”
#7
A Dapper Group On Their Way To Church, Chicago 1940s
#8
German Soldier Helps A Little Boy Sneak Across The Berlin Wall, 1961
#9
The Level Of Detail On The Column Of Marcus Aurelius In Rome Which Was Completed Around Ad 193
Although we may not realize that, old photos also remind us that people in the past led rich and complex lives, just as we do today. “For instance, we tend to assume that in the past, women were limited to work as wives and mothers, and we certainly see a number of images here celebrating women’s work in the home. But we also see women doing all sorts of work in the public sphere as well—everything from attending school graduations and working on supercomputers to taking back the streets of postwar London and bouncing drunks out of bars!” Yaszek explained.
#10
Negotiation Between The Zoo Director And Escaped Chimpanzee. Belgrade, Yugoslavia, 1988
#11
Residents Of West Berlin Show Their Children To Their Grandparents Living In East Berlin, 1961
#12
20-Year-Old Helen Mirren Dressed For Her Role As Cleopatra In A Theatrical Production, 1965
When asked whether we tend to idolize the past and vilify the present, Yaszek said that it’s true and that old photos can indeed play a part in that process. She explained: “Even as some photos help us put a personal face on big historical events, others give us very unrealistic understandings of what everyday life was really like in the past.”
#13
A Motor Home In 1922
#14
Us Cavalry Soldiers Pose In Front Of A Tree Known As The "Grizzly Giant" 1900. The Tree Still Stands
#15
Pablo Picasso Painted This When He Was 15 Years Old
Anna Nowak 2 years ago
I've read that he did that in order to finish art school. They wouldn't let him graduate without completing classical art course. Not sure if it's true tho.
Moreover, before the advent of digital cameras that could take and store hundreds of photos without costing users very much in terms of effort or money, photos were more expensive and difficult to create—in the 1800s, subjects had to stand still and pose to create good images.
“Throughout the early and middle 20th century, good cameras were often complicated to master; and even when instant cameras made it easier for people to take decent photos at the drop of a hat in the 1970s, users had to have the money to purchase expensive film cartridges,” Yaszek explained.
#16
Lt. Col. Robert Stirm, Is Greeted By His Family, Returning Home After More Than Five Years As A Prisoner Of War In North Vietnam. Burst Of Joy Is A Pulitzer Prize-Winning Photograph By Associated Press Photographer Slava "Sal" Veder, Taken On March 17, 1973 At Travis Air Force Base In California
#17
Sailors Saluting A War Veteran, Leningrad 1989
#18
The Sioux Nation Of Native Americans Teepees Spread Across The Great Plains In 1800s (Image Believed To Have Been Taken In The Dakota Territory)
Patti Vance 2 years ago
when ever i see these kinds of pics i think of how ignorant the white/europeans were to think that they were savages or less than them. they had/have a very unique culture and community that seemed to have far less conflict than the whites. they had a form of government that was respected. they even possessed the same kind of values and morals although they were expressed in different ways. even today there are those that think that people of another race are not as 'good' just because of racial/cultural differences.
#19
Star Wars Characters Together From Left To Right : Han Solo, Darth Vader, Chewbacca, Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker And R2-D2, 1977
#20
There Was A Time When You Could See The Core Structure Of The Twin Towers. (1970, During The Construction)
#21
Silent Film Actress, Delores Costello, Drew Barrymore's Grandmother, 1928
#22
World War I Field: More Than 100 Years Later
#23
A Rare Example Where An Engineer Thought About The Mechanic. (Daf-Domburg Diesel From 1949. Made In The Netherlands)
#24
Niagara Falls Froze Over In 1883
#25
150 Million Year Old Dinosaur Footprints In France
#26
Marilyn Monroe Photographed By Earl Leaf 1950
#27
The First Photo Of Chernobyl On The Morning Of The Nuclear Disaster (April 26, 1986). The Heavy Grain Is Due To The Huge Amount Of Radiation In The Air That Began To Destroy The Camera Film The Second It Was Exposed For This Photo. Photo Taken By Igor Kostin
#28
Three Generations Of Women Outside Their Stone Cottage In Ireland 1927
#29
Bruce Lee And His Family In 1970
#30
Nan Wood Graham And Dr. Byron Mckeeby Pictured In 1942 Recreating Their Original Poses For The Iconic ‘American Gothic’. She Was The Painter’s Sister, And He Was Their Dentist
ScrupulousScribbler 2 years ago (edited)
I see the resemblance in the man, but I feel like the woman was given a more thin face, and her hair doesn't quite look the same
#31
The Seal Of Tutankhamun's Tomb (On The Third Golden Shrine) Before It Was Opened In 1923. It Was Unbroken For Over 3000 Years
#32
Shoemaker’s Lunch, 1944. Photo By Bernard Cole
#33
American Soldiers At Mass In The Rubble At Cologne Cathedral, March 1945
#34
The FBI Finger Print Files, 1944
#35
A 'Knocker-Up' In London (1929). Before Alarm Clocks, People Were Paid To Wake Clients Up For Work By Knocking On Their Doors And Windows With A Stick
#36
An Elevator Parking Lot In Chicago, 1930s
#37
The Roof Of An Old Fiat Factory. Yes, That Is A Track (Lingotto, Turin - Italy)
#38
A 32 Year Old Mom Trying To Start A New Life In California, March 1937
TuesdayDangerGirl 2 years ago
This looks like Florence Owens Thompson - the "Migrant Mother" photo by Dorothea Lange - actual backstory is pretty sad
#39
Monica Bellucci And Gianni Versace, 1995
Let’s All Just Try And Be Decent 2 years ago
To the people asking why this is relevant or historical or worth thinking about... Maybe because this man was an openly gay immigrant to America who worked hard and became hugely successful, and by all accounts was a lovely person in a loving, long term stable and happy relationship before being brutally assassinated on his own doorstep for no reason? I think there's probably a lot to learn from that in a lot of ways. Also, this picture was taken nearly 30 years ago, and he died 25 years ago, so I'm afraid that counts as the past, (history) I mean it was in a different decade, century, millennium, etc!
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