Although history is only what’s in the past, it’s simultaneously never ending. We could study the history of one specific place for a lifetime and still not fully understand the richness of its story, as our lifetimes are only a small sliver of time compared to how long our world has existed. And while it’s impossible to know everything, it’s quite fascinating to learn as much as we possibly can. But we don’t all have time to dedicate to reading history books and visiting museums around the world on the regular. For some of us, even just learning little bits of history on Facebook is much better than nothing.

The Historyfeels Facebook page is so great because it is so accessible. A quick scroll through their feed can teach you a wide variety of historical fun facts, and you’re likely to remember these tidbits of information because they’re always paired with a captivating image. Historyfeels has amassed 143k followers since its launch and describes itself as a page dedicated to “posting the forgotten people, events and powerful moments of history”. We hope you enjoy your scroll through this list and that you too keep these snapshots from history from being forgotten.

One of the most important reasons to study history is because it always inevitably repeats itself. I’m sure your teachers in school told you this from a young age, and perhaps you rolled your eyes at the implication that you could prevent the next World War or that you were responsible for keeping democracy alive. But it is important that we all understand history and how our world became what it is today. According to MOOC.org, one of the main reasons we study history is to understand how it continues to impact us nowadays.

“Take the Great Depression, for example—one of the most difficult but impactful periods in American history,” MOOC notes on their blog. “The economic crisis put almost 15 million people out of work and sent countless families into homelessness, stealing their sense of security. Many of those people would feel insecure for the rest of their lives. The government had to learn how to help. This effort gave rise to Social Security, federal emergency relief programs, and funding for unemployment efforts. These changes continue to make life more secure for millions of Americans. Society today comes from hundreds and thousands of actions like these. The more you learn about how these things happened, the better you understand real life.”

MOOC also explains that history is not simply a study of others, it’s a study of us. We’re not so different from our ancestors, and by viewing them as “others”, we risk feeling like we’re immune from making the same mistakes they did. But as Spanish philosopher George Santayana once said, “Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” The people who came before us shaped our world, created the societies we live in and gave us the traditions we continue to uphold or decide to challenge today. Understanding history also allows us insight into why some societies thrive while others fail, why humans have gone to war so many times and how we have changed society for the better. Without taking time to analyze the past, we would never have innovation or make improvements.   

Studying history also gives us context for the human experience, MOOC explains. Without knowing that there have been global pandemics throughout history, such as the flu pandemic during 1918-1919, we might have had no way of knowing whether or not the COVID-19 pandemic would wipe out the entire population. It would be terrifying to experience something like that without any knowledge of people living through a similar situation in the past. But thankfully, we have historical records. We know that this has happened before, and although the COVID-19 pandemic has been a tragic and frightening situation, we can find comfort knowing that other humans have been through this before. Many of them survived and learned from it, and now we will be even more prepared the next time a pandemic occurs.  

If you’re interested in learning more about history, you’re lucky we live in such a technologically advanced time. Nowadays, we can research anything we want just by hopping onto the internet. And the more historical events we know about, the more we can think critically about the world’s past and how all of these occurrences tie together. MOOC notes that learning history is not simply about memorizing facts and dates, it’s about understanding why things happened. “Take the fall of Rome, for example. In the Roman Empire’s last years, the central government was unstable yet the empire continued to spend money on expansion,” MOOC notes.

“Outside groups like the Huns and Saxons capitalized on that instability and invaded," MOOC continues. "The empire had split into East and West, further breaking down a sense of unity, and Christianity was replacing the Roman polytheistic religion. When you become a student of history, you learn how to process facts like these and consider how one event affected the other. An expanding empire is harder to control, and invasions further tax resources. But what caused that instability in the first place? And why did expansion remain so important? Once you learn how to think this way and ask these kinds of questions, you start engaging more actively with the world around you.”

One interesting benefit of understanding history that you might not have considered is that it can protect people from falling prey to conspiracy theories. The Important Site notes that conspiracy theories tend to spread much more rapidly during times of stress or chaos. But when you actually understand historical context and what is causing major changes in the world, you will know that there is not some big conspiracy behind it all. Conspiracy theories can not only be untrue, but they can also be dangerous, as they sometimes lead to real-world violence. If you have a firm understanding of history, you won’t be susceptible to falling down a YouTube rabbit hole and claiming that the world is flat or that vaccines are evil… 

Although the internet is a treasure trove of information, one thing to be aware of when researching history online is the fact that it can be manipulated to fit an agenda. There are many things that certain groups would prefer not to remember,” the Important Site notes. “We can see this happening in places like the United States, where teaching about slavery and race has been controversial for decades. History textbooks contain multiple errors, omissions, or interpretations that downplay slavery. Recently, many states are passing laws that ban critical race theory in schools, but the definition isn’t clear and could lead to teachers being penalized for simply teaching about race. History is at the center of this culture war.” Be sure to get your information from reliable sources, and check your facts. 

Have you learned anything from this list that would make your former history teachers proud? We hope you’re enjoying viewing these captivating photos and that you’ve been reminded that there’s nothing wrong with looking back every now and then. In fact, it can be incredibly entertaining and informative to learn about history! Keep upvoting your favorite pics, and if you’d like check out another Bored Panda article featuring historical photos after you’re finished here, we recommend reading this article next.