If time travel ever becomes a real thing and not just a plot device for fiction, many of us would probably go back to our favorite era. In 2013, The Economist and YouGov asked Americans which decade from the 20th century they would most want to time travel to, and the 1950s came in first.
The members of the "Historical Capsule" subreddit also like to travel back in time but through the medium of photographs. Whether it's history as recent as the 2000s or moments from the beginning of the 20th century, see things like Niagara Falls without water or how Tokyo looked before all the skyscrapers right here!
More info: Reddit
Image credits: ZERO_PORTRAIT
#2 Mongolian Girl Has A Laugh With Her Camel. The Little Girl’s Name Is Butedmaa And She Was Just 5 When This Picture Was Taken In 2003 By Photographer Han Chengli
Image credits: zadraaa
#3 "The Woman With The Handbag" - A 38-Year-Old Woman, Danuta Danielsson, Hits A Marching Neo-N*zi With A Handbag In Växjö, Sweden. April 13, 1985
Image credits: ZERO_PORTRAIT
r/HistoricalCapsule is the place you go when you feel like looking at some fascinating moments from the past. The subreddit currently has almost 400k members who are all about celebrating the beauty of the past, as it says in the group's bio, one snapshot at a time.
It's a fairly recently established community, created in January of 2024. Still, as subreddits with historical photographs go, it's one of the best. They're not just about aesthetics and cool-looking photos. The stories behind the photographs matter just as much, if not more. So, let's explore some of the moments from this list, shall we?
#4 Mom With Her Psychedelic Baby Pram, London, 1967
Image credits: zadraaa
#5 A Man And His Dog In A Photo Booth, 1943
Image credits: zadraaa
#6 Jimmy Carter At His Naval Graduation With His Future Wife Rosalynn And His Mother On June 5, 1946. He Died At The Age Of 100
Image credits: cv990
The Democratic Party may have said "No" to Bernie Sanders as a presidential nominee, but the Internet often has nothing but praise for his work, choice of style, and lifelong activism. The photograph that we have in this list is from the 1963 Chicago civil rights protest, where Sanders was arrested for protesting racial segregation.
Sanders was only 21 at the time, but he stood for the same progressive values he stands for today. Documentary maker Gordon Quinn filmed the 1963 protests and even turned them into a film in 2017, titled "'63 Boycott".
"One hundred and sixty-nine people had been arrested in the summer of '63, and four people were charged, and one of them was Bernard Sanders," Quin said in 2016. "For a lot of people, Bernie is a tough sell. Not for us. He's saying all the things we believe in."
#7 Fifteen-Year-Old Johnny Gray Confronts One Of The Two White Boys Who Tried To Force Him And His Sister, Mary, From The Sidewalk As They Walked To School In Little Rock, Arkansas On September 16, 1958
Image credits: zadraaa
#8 A Woman Named Corrie Ten Boom Showing The Secret Hiding Place Her Family Constructed In Her Attic Bedroom To Shelter Jewish People And Resistance Members In Haarlem, Holland During Wwii
Image credits: WorldofJedi727
#9 Michelle Obama At 6 Years Old In Chicago. 1970
Image credits: ZERO_PORTRAIT
Another political figure on this list is John F. Kennedy. His friendship with Lem Billings has been a topic of speculation, with people on social media (especially TikTok), suggesting they might have been more than friends.
However, historians believe that even if there were romantic feelings, they were one-sided. While Billings might've been infatuated with the future president when both were young boys, JFK never reciprocated. Upon receiving a suggestive note from Billings, he replied: "'Please don't write to me on toilet paper any more. I'm not that kind of boy.'"
#10 An Arab Man Cries For Israeli President Yitzhak Rabin After His Assassination On November 4, 1995. Rabin Was Seen By Many As The Last Hope Of A Lasting Peace Between Israel And The Palestinians
Image credits: Lobineau
#11 “Auntie Mary And Her 'Friend', Ruth, 1910.”
Image credits: zadraaa
#12 Royal Portuguese Reading Room, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. It Opened To The Public In 1883
Image credits: zadraaa
You can visit one place from this list even today. That's the Royal Portuguese Reading Room in Rio de Janeiro. Some call it "The coolest library on Earth", as its aura of 19th-century architectural grace is truly something awe-inspiring. The library boasts over 350k volumes, including authentic manuscripts, and scrolls. Historians, literature fanatics and academics would probably never leave after setting foot there!
#13 Disney Animator Used Live Pupies And Dalmatian Dogs To Learn How To Properly Animate Them, For The Film 101 Dalmatian, 1961
Image credits: Electrical-Aspect-13
#14 High School Teacher Sandy Brockman Wearing A Bold Print Hippie-Style Dress , In Denver, Colorado. 1969
Image credits: zadraaa
#15 An Inuit Girl Descending Into Her Home, An Ice Igloo, In Arviat, Nunavut (Northern Canada), 1949
Image credits: zadraaa
We've got some pups in this list too: the picture of a Disney animator using live Dalmatians to properly animate the dogs for the movie 101 Dalmatians. Interestingly, the animators used actors as stand-ins for the human characters, too. Actress Helene Stanley was the live model for Anita Radcliffe in 101 Dalmatians and was also the model for Princess Aurora in Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella.
#16 Mother Helping Her Son Through A Tough Level In Super Mario Land On Gameboy From 1989
Image credits: zadraaa
#17 Webcam Was Invented In 1991 By Researchers To Check If The Coffee Pot In Another Room Is Empty Or Not
Image credits: zadraaa
#18 New York City In 1996
Image credits: zadraaa
One of the history enthusiasts on r/HistoricalCapsule shared a photograph of Corrie ten Boom next to the hideout in the wall of her home where her family hid and saved Jewish people during WWII in Haarlem, Holland. The Corrie Ten Boom house today is a museum where visitors can see the wall and house for themselves. Ten Boom also released a memoir "The Hiding Place" in 1971.
#19 The Last Picture Taken Of Late U.S. President Jimmy Carter In His Final Public Appearance, A Tribute Service For His Deceased Wife Rosalynn. Atlanta, Ga, November 28th, 2023
Image credits: Village_Cobb
#20 A Rare Example Where An Engineer Thought About The Mechanic. (1950s)
Image credits: zadraaa
#21 Flight Attendant For The German Airline Lufthansa Serving Draft Beer From A Wooden Barrel And Ham On A Flight, Circa 1963
Image credits: zadraaa
Did you know that the first prototype of a webcam was created so that researchers could check if the coffee pot in another room was empty or not? Scientists at the University of Cambridge Dr Quentin Stafford-Fraser and Dr Paul Jardetzky decided to solve the always-empty coffee pot mystery by rigging up a camera. It would capture images three times a minute and send them to the researchers' internal computer network. Thus, the world's first webcam was born.
#22 JFK Poses His Lifelong Friend Lem Billings, 1933
Image credits: Ill-Doubt-2627
#23 The “No-Bra” Movement In The 1970s, Part Of The Feminist Wave Challenging Societal Norms
Image credits: zadraaa
#24 A Photo Of A Young Kuwaiti Girl Holding Her Lamb, During The Gulf War, (1991)
Image credits: lwddv
A photo of a woman whacking a neo-n**i with her handbag perhaps resonates with us just as much, if not more, today than it did in 1985 when the photograph was taken. The moment features a Polish-Swedish woman Danuta Danielsson, whose mother was reportedly sent to a Nazi concentration camp. After seeing the Neo-N**i Nordic Reich Party's demonstration, the lady just couldn't contain her irritation, it seems.
#25 A Then 122-Year-Old Jeanne Calment Pressing The Key Of A PC Keyboard, France, 1997
Image credits: WorldofJedi727
#26 A Young Infant Who Has Polio, In A Tiny Iron Lung Machine; Only The Infant's Head Is Visible. 1940s
Image credits: zadraaa
#27 The Funeral Of Private Richard Hunt, The 200th British Soldier To Die In Afghanistan, 2009. In Total, 454 British Service Personnel Died During The War In Afghanistan
Image credits: zadraaa
You can even learn about different cultures on r/HistoricalCapsule: like in the case of this photograph of a Rwandan man wearing a popular Amasunzu haircut from the 1920s and 1930s. Surprisingly, you can see the haircut today, too. Lupita Nyong'o was rocking a hairstyle inspired by Amasunzu in 2018.
The cover of Tyler The Creator's 2024 album "Chromakopia" features a traditional Amasunzu as well. In pre-colonial Rwandan culture, the hairstyle was a sign of a certain social status, power, and wealth.
#28 Amasunzu Was A Traditional Rwandan Hairstyle Popular In The 1920s And 1930s
Image credits: zadraaa
#29 African American Woman Poses With Her Handmade Flour Sack Dresses In The 1930s
Image credits: Electrical-Aspect-13
#30 Holding A Boombox Up To Your Mullet Was A Great Way To Party In The 1980s
Image credits: zadraaa
How many new things did you learn today, Pandas? Let us know which photographs from this list surprised you the most. And if you want to see more historical curiosities from the r/HistoricalCapsule subreddit, see our previous articles on the community here, here, and here!
#31 Actress Belle Bilton In The Role Of "Beauty" (Belle) Of Beauty And The Beast, 1889
Image credits: Electrical-Aspect-13
#32 Mexican Homosexuals Being Detained In A Police Station In Mexico City, 1935
Image credits: bncout
#33 A Us Soldier Shares A Chocolate Bar With A Local Japanese Lady, 1946
Image credits: zadraaa
#34 This Guy In The Movie Grease (1978) Is Supposed To Be A Teenager
Image credits: zadraaa
#35 Niagara Falls Without Water In 1969
Image credits: zadraaa
#36 Leo Trotsky With His Wife And Frida Kahlo, Mexico 1937. Original Color Photo
Image credits: zadraaa
#37 Tokyo In 1960, Before There Were Any Skyscrapers (Pictured Tokyo Tower)
Image credits: zadraaa
#38 Kids Casually Enjoying The Playground In New York City, 1926
Image credits: zadraaa
#39 In 1990, Muhammad Ali Flew To Iraq To Help Free 15 American Hostages. Without The U.S. Government's Permission, The Heavyweight Champ Directly Negotiated With Saddam Hussein And Convinced Him To Let The Americans Come Home Safely
Image credits: zadraaa
#40 Rooftop Message From Hurricane Katrina, 2005
Image credits: Naturally_Fragrant
#41 A Fake City On The Roof Of A Factory That Produced Boeing Combat Airplanes. USA, 1944
Image credits: zadraaa
#42 Ladies At A Small Home Gym In 1950s
Image credits: zadraaa
#43 Family In A Cardboard House (Detail Of The Walls) And Flour Sack Dresses For The Girls Pose For A Photo, 1930s
Image credits: Electrical-Aspect-13
#44 In 1959 George Barris Built Xpak 400 Air Car Which Actually Flew
Image credits: zadraaa
#45 Soviet Peasants Listen To The Radio For The First Time, 1928
Image credits: zadraaa
#46 An Afghan Girl Braiding Braids For An American Tourist. 1969
Image credits: zadraaa
#47 Women Preparing For An Upcoming Ball, 1900
Image credits: zadraaa
#48 An Unusual Couple On The New York City Subway, 1980
Image credits: Dreamy_Twinkles
#49 Unemployed At Their Huts In A Hooverville In New York City 1935
Image credits: Beautiful-Bit9832
#50 Memories Of Food Shopping In 2020
Image credits: zadraaa
#51 This Is What It Looked Like Riding The New York City Subway In The 1980s
Image credits: WorldofJedi727
#52 "Cynthia" Was A Mannequin Created In 1932 By Lester Gaba. She Became Famous And Well-Liked To Society; She Received Numerous Invitations And A Large Amount Of Fan Mail. When She Fell From A Chair And Shattered, Her Death Was Reported By The Press As If She Were A Real Person
Image credits: ZERO_PORTRAIT
#53 Mount Rushmore Under Construction In 1940
Image credits: zadraaa
#54 A Female Demonstrator Offers A Flower To Military Police On Guard At The Pentagon During An Anti-Vietnam Demonstration. Arlington, Virginia, USA, 1967
Image credits: zadraaa
#55 Bamboula’s Village, France, 1994. A Human Zoo Which Trafficked Victims, Withheld Their Passports, And Forced Them To Perform Seven Days A Week. Owners Were Fined 1 French Franc
Image credits: feckshite
#56 A Woman Living In An Iowa "Hooverville" Cleaning Her Shack — Hoovervilles Were Shantytowns Built All Across The Us During The Great Depression. They Were Named After President Herbert Hoover, Who Was Widely Blamed For The Great Depression, 1930s
Image credits: RandomGuy92x
#57 Protests After A Black Girl, Ruby Bridges, Was The First To Attend A School For Whites, 1960
Image credits: zadraaa
#58 “Black Monday” In 1987, One Of The Worst Stock Market Crashes In History. Worldwide Losses Were Estimated To Be $1.71 Trillion
Image credits: zadraaa
#59 A “Prettiest Legs” Competition In Paris, 1950
Image credits: zadraaa
#60 A Us Airman And His Girlfriend In Saigon. 1971
Image credits: zadraaa
