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.
#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
Image credits: listentobellion
#2 Cop Stops The Traffic In New York So A Mother Cat Holding A Kitten Can Cross Safely C.1925
Image credits: mikihak
#3 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)
Image credits: ukselta04
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
Image credits: poaia
#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
Image credits: FireAndIce_3
#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
Image credits: notbob1959
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 Princess Diana Shakes Hands With An Aids Patient Without Gloves, 1991
Image credits: zsreport
#8 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
Image credits: imgur.com
#9 Jewish Prisoners After Being Liberated From A Death Train, 1945
Image credits: reddit.com
#10 "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
Image credits: crushedmoose
#11 Mogadishu, 1993. An Italian Soldier Gives Food To A Local Orphan
Image credits: reddit.com
#12 Meet The "Night Witches", Fearless Russian Female Pilots Who Bombed Nazis By Night, 1941
Image credits: Beast667Neighbour
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 A Native American Mother And Her Child - 1900s
Image credits: admaiora_
#14 American Troops Treat A Wounded Dog On Orote Peninsula, 1944
Image credits: gnevzmaja
#15 Atelier Photo: "A Lesbian Couple In Semi Drag Wedding Attire"; Kingdom Of Hungary - Budapest, 1920
Image credits: Andrzej1963
#16 A Beach In Iran A Few Months Before The Islamic Revolution, 1979
Image credits: darxouls
#17 A Man Rides A Bus In Durban, Meant For White Passengers Only, In Resistance To South Africa’s Apartheid Policies, 1986
Image credits: reddit.com
#18 Here Is How An Ukrainian Immigrant Celebrated Stalin's Death. 1953
Image credits: cameraman502
#19 A Man Arrested For Cross-Dressing Emerging From A Police Van, New York, 1939
Image credits: Geeglio
#20 Margaret Hamilton And The Handwritten Navigation Software She And Her Mit Team Produced For The Apollo Project, 1969
Image credits: Wikimedia Commons
#21 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
Image credits: Regidrago7
#22 Arnie Supporting Disabled Athletes, 1983
Image credits: SkoolieCats
#23 Anne Frank’s Father Otto, Revisiting The Attic Where They Hid From The Nazis. He Was The Only Surviving Family Member. (1960)
Image credits: PILLUPIERU
#24 Ruby Bridges, The First African-American To Attend A White Elementary School In The Deep South, 1960. Colorized
Image credits: QuickShifter87
#25 1972: 3 Women On The Streets Of Kabul, Afghanistan
Image credits: BickKattowski
#26 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
Image credits: OIFVet303
#27 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
Image credits: reddit.com
#28 Stoney First Nation Member, Guide Samson Beaver With His Wife Leah And Their Daughter Frances Louise, 1907. Photo Taken By Mary Schäffer
Image credits: Snoo_90160
#29 A Man Guards His Family From The Cannibals During The Madras Famine Of 1877 At The Time Of British Raj, India
Image credits: firstalphabet
#30 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
Image credits: _Raven_Roth
#31 Young Queen Elizabeth As A Mechanic During Ww2 (C. 1939)
Image credits: dill_on123
#32 Albert Einstein, His Secretary Helen (Left), And Daughter Margaret (Right) Becoming U.S. Citizens To Avoid Returning To Nazi Germany, 1940
Image credits: reddit.com
#33 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
Image credits: RyanSmith
#34 African-American Boys On Easter Morning, Southside, Chicago, Illinois, April 1941 [colorized]
Image credits: rishicolors
#35 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
Image credits: File-Environmental
#36 A Policeman In San Francisco Scolds A Man For Not Wearing A Mask During The 1918 Influenza Pandemic, 1918
Image credits: Itstoolongitwillruno
#37 A German Soldier Returns Home Only To Find His Family No Longer There. Frankfurt, 1946 - By Tony Vaccaro
Image credits: reddit.com
#38 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)
Image credits: earthmoonsun
#39 Russian Inmate Points An Identifying And Accusing Finger At A Nazi Guard Who Was Especially Cruel Towards The Prisoners In Buchenwald Camp. Colorized
Image credits: scoopbh
#40 Annette Kellerman Promotes Women's Right To Wear A Fitted One-Piece Bathing. She Was Arrested For Indecency. (1907)
Image credits: mrkyle31
#41 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
Image credits: 999kid999
#42 In 1945, The Auschwitz Death Camp Was Discovered And Liberated By The Red Army
Image credits: hollmantron
#43 Woman Cutting Her Birthday Cake In Iran 1973, 5 Years Before The Islamic Revolution
Image credits: Familiar_Internet
#44 In 1973, Marlon Brando Rejected His Oscar For The Godfather To Allow Sacheen Littlefeather To Protest Hollywood’s Portrayal Of Native Americans
Image credits: WhenPigsRideCars
#45 Martin Luther King Jr. Removing A Burnt Cross From His Front Yard In 1960
Image credits: reddit.com
#46 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
Image credits: reddit.com
#47 Rosa Parks's Booking Photo Following Her February 1956 Arrest
Image credits: Alabama Department of Archives and History
#48 David Isom, 19, Broke The Color Line In A Segregated Pool In Florida On June 8, 1958, Which Resulted In Officials Closing The Facility
Image credits: Scaulbylausis
#49 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
Image credits: reddit.com
#50 An Undercover Police Officer On Duty. New York, Brooklyn, 1 July 1969
Image credits: verostein
