These 40 Significant Historical Photographs Might Change The Way You See The World Around Us

If you look closely at the subjects of historic photographs, you realize how alive they look.

Damjan

• Published in Interesting
• June 3, 2022

Old photographs give us insight into the past. And that past has shaped the world we live in today.

Although we can't know what the people waiting in line for wine in Chukotka, Soviet Union in 1985 were thinking, or what the daredevil sky boys who built the Empire State Building in 1930-31 were thinking while balancing unsecured on the 88th floor were thinking, we can get a pretty good idea of the wonders of history.

Historical images that convey stories about people and their lifestyles in the past captivate our imagination like few other things. They feel familiar even though they are from a long time ago – old images can transcend time and space and transport us to long-ago settings, places, and situations.

Many spectacular moments from the past are immortalized on film thanks to photography, a kind of visual expression that debuted in 1839 and stunned the entire world. So, due to this instructive Facebook group dubbed "Historic Photographs," we're taking a miscellaneous history class today, one you wouldn't have missed in school.

The page, which has nearly 2.5 million followers, is an internet destination for rare historical photographs and the extraordinary stories behind them. Pull your seat closer as we present some of the most captivating ones below.

1. "American Soldiers At Mass In The Rubble At Cologne Cathedral, March 1945"

2. "Residents Of West Berlin Show Their Children To Their Grandparents Living In East Berlin, 1961"

3. "A Dapper Group On Their Way To Church, Chicago 1940s"

4. "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"

5. "Residents Of Hanoi Wait In Chest-Deep Sidewalk Shelters For The All Clear Signal, During An Air Raid Alert. Hanoi, North Vietnam, 1967"

6. "150 Million Year Old Dinosaur Footprints In France"

7. "A 32 Year Old Mom Trying To Start A New Life In California, March 1937"

8. "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"

9. "The Roof Of An Old Fiat Factory. Yes, That Is A Track (Lingotto, Turin - Italy)"

10. "A Motor Home In 1922"

11. "Mary Wallace: First Female Bus Driver For Chicago Transit Authority, 1974 (Colorized)"

12. "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"

13. "Bruce Lee And His Family In 1970"

14. "Shoemaker’s Lunch, 1944. Photo By Bernard Cole"

15. "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"

16. "Stoney First Nation Member, Guide Samson Beaver With His Wife Leah And Their Daughter Frances Louise, 1907. Photo Taken By Mary Schäffer"

17. "Star Wars Characters Together From Left To Right : Han Solo, Darth Vader, Chewbacca, Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker And R2-D2, 1977"

18. "Pablo Picasso Painted This When He Was 15 Years Old"

19. "The FBI Finger Print Files, 1944"

20. "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"

21. "The Seal Of Tutankhamun's Tomb (On The Third Golden Shrine) Before It Was Opened In 1923. It Was Unbroken For Over 3000 Years"

22. "Three Generations Of Women Outside Their Stone Cottage In Ireland 1927"

23. "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"

24. "Monica Bellucci And Gianni Versace, 1995"

25. "20-Year-Old Helen Mirren Dressed For Her Role As Cleopatra In A Theatrical Production, 1965"

26. "Us Cavalry Soldiers Pose In Front Of A Tree Known As The "Grizzly Giant" 1900. The Tree Still Stands"

27. "World War One Memorial In Vácrátót (Hungary)"

28. "There Was A Time When You Could See The Core Structure Of The Twin Towers. (1970, During The Construction)"

29. "Niagara Falls Froze Over In 1883"

30. "The Level Of Detail On The Column Of Marcus Aurelius In Rome Which Was Completed Around AD 193"

31. "The Sioux Nation Of Native Americans Teepees Spread Across The Great Plains In 1800s (Image Believed To Have Been Taken In The Dakota Territory)"

32. "Marilyn Monroe Photographed By Earl Leaf 1950"

33. "German Soldier Helps A Little Boy Sneak Across The Berlin Wall, 1961"

34. "Silent Film Actress, Delores Costello, Drew Barrymore's Grandmother, 1928"

35. "An Elevator Parking Lot In Chicago, 1930s"

36. "Sailors Saluting A War Veteran, Leningrad 1989"

37. "Negotiation Between The Zoo Director And Escaped Chimpanzee. Belgrade, Yugoslavia, 1988"

38. "Rosa Parks Sits At The Front Of A Bus Following The End Of Racial Segregation By The Transit Company, Circa 1965"

39. "A Rare Example Where An Engineer Thought About The Mechanic. (Daf-Domburg Diesel From 1949. Made In The Netherlands)"

40. "World War I Field: More Than 100 Years Later"

These photos are amazing. Old images have a special effect on our impression of time.

They have an impact on how we see time by visualizing abstract historical events and providing an emotional connection to eras we might not otherwise be familiar with. And this makes them kind of magical.

Wouldn't you agree?

Damjan