History is something that affects all of us in some way or another. Even if you don’t appreciate the subject itself, you likely still appreciate learning something about yourself, and that is what history can teach you.
One of the best ways that history teaches us is through historical photos. Although they have only been available for the past couple of centuries, they really speak about the past in ways that we can’t truly appreciate until we look into them.
Looking down through these 49 photos, you will see that history is preserved in a way that is beyond incredible. You are certain to appreciate learning something, and you might even learn something about you.
#1 7 Oct 1943, Ottla Kafka, Beloved Sister Of Author Franz Kafka, Was Gassed On Arrival At Auschwitz After Volunteering To Escort A Group Of Orphans From The Terezin Ghetto So They Wouldn’t Be Afraid
#2 Sabina Chebichi, Kenyan Athlete Who Won A Race In 1973, Barefoot And Wearing A Dress
#3 Aboriginal Tasmanian Fanny Cochrane Smith Singing Into Her Phonograph In 1903. Without Her Efforts To Preserve Her Culture, We Would Have No Audio Traces Of The Tasmanian Language. Pretty OSC
#4 Dance Teacher Patsy Swayze, Center, With Her Daughter-In-Law Lisa Niemi And Son Patrick Swayze, 1978
#5 The First Interracial Marriage In Mississippi, 1970. 3 Years Earlier, The 1967 Loving V. Virginia Scotus Ruling Legalized Interracial Marriage In The US
#6 The Only Known Photograph Of An African American Union Soldier With His Family. Circa 1864
#7 Jane Russell Shows Her Co-Actress Marilyn Monroe (At The Time, Jane Was The Bigger Star) One Of Her Talents: Drawing. Here She Draws An Sketch Of Monroe. Result At The End. This Was During The Filming Of “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” 1953
#8 Remembering The Father, 1925
#9 Rare Photograph Of Marilyn Monroe Without Makeup, 1955
#10 Barack Obama Dressed As A Pirate With His Mother Stanley Ann, 1960s
#11 Beautiful Ukrainian Girl In National Costume, 1935. Photo Before And After Restoration
#12 Lonnie Johnson, Inventor Of The Super Soaker, 1992
#13 Luzon Woman, 1875
#14 New York In The 1960s
#15 Gertrude Ederle, First Woman To Cross The English Channel, 26 August 1926, Done In 14hr And 31 Min, Beating The Male Record Of 16hr And 33 Min. Photos Of The Day She Did The Record
#16 Group Of Friends Enjoys The Beach And Sun In The 1940s
#17 London, 1940, A Girl Sitting In The Wreckage Of Her Bombed-Out Home With Her Doll
#18 In Arviat, Nunavut (Northern Canada), 1949, An Inuit Girl Descends Into Her Ice Igloo House
#19 A Sailor “Meets” His Baby For The First Time After Fourteen Months At Sea, 1940s
#20 Dorothy Counts, The First Black Girl To Attend An All-White School In The U.S., Being Taunted By Her White Classmates At Harry Harding High School In Charlotte, 1957
#21 In The Middle Of A Celebration, A Young Woman From Oaxaca, Mexico, Notices She Is Being Photographed, And Gives A Look To The Camera, 1985
#22 Faces Of Auschwitz, 1940
#23 Mother And Daughter Walking In New York, 1970
#24 A Mother Repairs The Family Car While Her Husband Is Away At War, 1944
#25 Princess Of Egypt And Iranian Queen Fawzia Fuad, C. 1939
#26 112-Year-Old Veteran Of WW1 And Russian Civil War (Teimruz Vanacha) And His Son (Ivan) A Veteran Of WW2 In 1980
#27 1968. My Grandfather In The Second Korean War
#28 This Photo Shows Margaret Ann Neave, An American Woman Who Passed Away In 1902 After Reaching The Age Of 110. This Woman Was Born In 1792, Which Means She Lived In Three Centuries
#29 Blackfoot Chief Two Guns White Calf, Early 1900s
#30 Wedding Rings Found By U.S. Army Soldiers Near The Buchenwald Concentration Camp, Germany, May 1945
#31 Marcy Borders – “Dust Lady” After Escaping The North Tower Of The World Trade Center On 9/11. She Would Die Of Cancer At Age 42
#32 Vintage Photograph Of A Kid Wearing A Monkey Mask, 1920s
#33 A Mother And Daughter Hamming It Up For The Camera, Ca 1900
#34 Republican Party Supporters And Democratic Party Supporters Fight With Snowballs In Front Of The Capitol. January 1921, Washington, USA
#35 Couples In A Bar, 1959 Pittsburgh
#36 A Man Searches For Books In The Former Cincinnati Public Library. The Building Was Demolished In 1955. Today There Is An Office Building And Parking Lot Where It Used To Stand
#37 Sisters In Skirts, 1950s
#38 Until 1956, French Children Were Served Wine With Their School Lunch
#39 Barack Obama Visiting His Step-Grandmother Sarah Ogwel Onyango Obama. Kenya, 1988. Sarah Obama, Affectionately Called Grandma Sarah By The Former U.S. President, Was The Third And Youngest Wife Of Obama’s Grandfather
#40 Photograph From The 1993 Great Flood, When James Scott Intentionally Sabotaged A Levee, Triggering A Massive Mississippi River Flood To Delay His Wife’s Return Home, Allowing Him To Keep Partying
#41 Titanic Orphans, Brothers Michel And Edmond Navratil, 1912. They Were The Only Children To Be Rescued From The Titanic Without A Parent Or Guardian
#42 Mixtec Woman From Oaxaca In Her Traditional Dress, 1970s. They Share Land With The Zapotecs, Which Is A Entirely Different Ethnic Group
#43 Lucky British Soldier Showing Off His Damaged Helmet, 1917
#44 Her Majesty Queen Marie Of Romania, 1896
#45 Mayan Women In The Yucatan Peninsula Around 1952. The Dress Is Called The Mayan Huipil
#46 Victorian Woman With A Very Intense Gaze, Circa 1850-60s
#47 This Photograph, Taken Over 100 Years Ago In Jerusalem (1920), Shows A Sign In The Background Reading “The Palestine German Bank.” Remarkable Window Into History And The Vibrant Multicultural Presence In The Region During That Era
#48 Two Young Boys Standing Barefoot On Moving Electric Looms In Order To Reach The Top Shelf While At Work In A Cotton Mill In Georgia, 1910. Photos Of Child Laborers Working Long Hours In Dangerous Conditions Gradually Led To Child Labor Employment Laws
#49 A Soviet Officer Sees And Tastes A Hot Dog And Coca-Cola For The First Time Aboard The U.S. Cruiser Thomas S. Gates, 1989
