Old pictures combine two elements that curious minds like – history and photography. But have you ever wondered why you like looking at pictures more than written history? Why is that volume of World History so boring and less informative when it doesn’t have any photographs in it? That's because our brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text, making it easier to learn through visual stimuli.
With the help of online communities such as Historical Pictures, we can keep learning more about our history and planet. It's a Facebook group where people post fascinating images from the past. "Going back to the past. Exploring Earth's true history," the group admin's bio claims. So let's explore the past together, Pandas, shall we?
#1
A group of kids had arranged to care and feed the dog after the owner had died, England 1936.
Image credits: Արո Զադոյան
#2
A streetcar conductor in Seattle not allowing passengers aboard without a mask during the Spanish Flu pandemic, 1918.
Image credits: Mourad Hm
#3
Austrian Boy Receives New Shoes During WWII.
Image credits: Adam Halawa
Historical Pictures is a Facebook group created by a page of the same name. And the creator is the same person behind the Historic Pix IG page. We've written about it before and even spoken with its creator, Peter Cors. Both the IG and FB pages share interesting and rare historical photos.
The difference with the Historical Pictures group is that it's a community effort – members can share photographs they deem worthy of sharing. The group boasts over 66k members and has been going strong since 2018. It also has an educational mission, as it urges its community members to learn more about the US and world history through this group.
#4
Young girl Kiowa tribe , Oklahoma , 1894
Image credits: Mourad Hm
#5
Child labor strike in Philadelphia, 1902
Image credits: Khaled Mohamed Fouad
#6
Jesse Owens breaking the World record 200 - meter race at the 1936 Olympic Games of Berlin
Image credits: Mourad Hm
Back in 2022, the admin of the Historical Pictures page and its group told Bored Panda why he thinks historic photographs are important today. "Especially in this day and age, it is a good reminder that, while history isn't always pretty, it's okay to talk about it and enter in respectful discourse."
"I try to comment to, and talk with, as many followers as possible to share opinions and debate. It feels really good to have healthy and respectful discussions with strangers. It reminds me that this is what social media is all about. It makes me very happy to talk with others about a shared hobby/interest," Peter told Bored Panda back then.
#7
19 year-old Shigeki Tanaka was a survivor of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and he then went onto win the 1951 Boston Marathon. The crowd was silent.
Image credits: Adam Halawa
#8
In 1941, Slovenian Albina Mali-Hočevar joined the People's Liberation Movement at the age of 16. She was wounded twice as a resistance fighter at the age of 17. For the remainder of the war, she worked as a nurse.
Image credits: Amila Prasanna
#9
U.S. cavalry soldiers pose in front of a sequoia in Yosemite known as "Grizzly Giant," in 1900. This tree still stands today.
Image credits: Sujit Samajpati
The creator of the Historical Pictures group also previously told us his motivation behind creating the Historic Pix IG page. "I want people to feel something when they see a piece of history. Especially for myself, seeing a memorable picture from the past helps me put life into context and appreciate the little things a bit more."
#10
The 3,000 men who helped build the Chase Manhattan Bank in New York City pose for a photo near the end of the constructional work, Aug 19, 1964.
Image credits: Shisa Printables
#11
An exotic dancer demonstrates that her underwear was too large to have exposed herself, after undercover police officers arrested her in Florida! 1983
Image credits: Adam Halawa
#12
The return of a German soldier from Soviet captivity. He was taken to the war when his son was 1 year old. Germany. 1956
Image credits: Grigory Sarkisov
The pictures seen on this list are snapshots of a moment in time – a documentation of a certain period. Over time, they become historical and more meaningful. But that is the intention of these photographers, who most often are photojournalists or documentation photographers. Their main goal is to capture facts and reality. A photojournalist or a documentation photographer is merely an observer, and patience is key to them.
#13
Native Americans photographed by , Roland W. Reed between 1907 and 1913
Image credits: Mourad Hm
#14
New York City. 1957. A Llama in Times Square.
Image credits: Biniam Hirut
#15
Social distancing from 1953. A child with measles sits and eats alone during a Coronation party in Chelsea, England.
Image credits: Shisa Printables
One might argue that street photography can also capture history. In a way, yes, but the primary goal of a street photographer won't be for the photograph to have historical significance. Different from street photographers, for example, photojournalists aim to capture pictures that are interesting to the broad public. Street photographers capture what they personally deem worth attention.
#16
The original Moulin Rouge the year before it burned down in Paris , 1914 . Photograph Albert Kahn
Image credits: Adam Halawa
#17
One of the first-known photographs of Niagara Falls captured by British chemist Hugh Lee Pattinson in 1840, sits within a glass case at the National Gallery of Art.
Image credits: Dave Bennison
#18
A farmer paints stripes on her cow to increase its visibility at night and prevent car accidents should it wander onto the road during blackout conditions.
Image credits: Alp Emeç
Documentation photography also contributes to the vast volume of historical photographs. But it's different from photojournalism, and the difference is time. Storytelling in documentary photography might take weeks, sometimes even years. The photographers aim to raise awareness about an issue: environmental, social, political, or other.
#19
A fleet of Concordes at London Heathrow Airport, 1986
Image credits: Robert Lordan
#20
Mt St Helens erupeted 40 years ago today. The photo was taken by Richard Lasher who did survive. Nobody knows what happened to the Pinto or the Yamaha.
Image credits: Steve Michaels
#21
Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, left, explores the completed tower with a friend, 1889.
Image credits: Nika Danelia
Photojournalists, however, have to work at a much quicker pace. They may also be interested in social, economic, or political issues, but their photographs may appear in news outlets, TV, and social media after a day or two. In online media outlets, sometimes even the same day or a few hours after capturing it.
#22
This is probably the most famous photograph of Józef Kudelka. Until 1968, the photographer did not photograph news events. Everything changed on the night of August 21. In the midst of the turmoil of the Soviet invasion, he took a series of photographs that were miraculously smuggled out of Czechoslovakia. In this image, his hand shows the time when Soviet tanks began to invade Prague.
Image credits: Ella Tomaszewski
#23
Swinging London, late 60s.
Image credits: Stefan Bülck
#24
Aircraft tester George Aird barely escapes death by launching sideways from his plane (1962). Aird fell through a nursery on his way down, breaking both legs.
Image credits: Alfred T. Talamantes
Who are some of the most famous photojournalists in the recent history of the 19th and 20th centuries? Dorothea Lange and Margaret Bourke-White are two of the most famous American photojournalists. Lange covered the Great Depression extensively, photographing poverty, joblessness, and homeless individuals. Her most famous photograph is of a migrant woman she took in 1936 at a migrant camp.
#25
Two widows gathered for Martin Luther King’s funeral, April 1968
Image credits: Grigory Sarkisov
#26
Chicago. August 4, 1948. This photo originally published in the Vidette-Messenger of Valparaiso, IN, tells a tragically heart-breaking, yet all too familiar story about Chalifoux family and the trials and tribulations surrounding poverty. Well ... that's what the original caption wanted the reader to think. Facing eviction from their apartment, the jobless couple decided to sell their four children ranging in age from two to six. The mother posted a sign in the front yard and waited for buyers while Lana, Rae Ann, Milton, and Sue Ellen just sat on the steps oblivious that their fate was about to spiral out of control. According to several articles I read regarding this photo, It seems no one really knew whether the sign was up there for days, or years or just long enough for the camera to take its shot. Several family members even stated that the mother was paid to stage the whole thing. Regardless, within days newspapers across the country picked up the photo and job offers and financial help poured in. But that didn't change the inevitable. Rae Ann was sold and sexually abused. Milton went to live on a farm with John and Ruth Zoeteman who beat him daily, tied him up and worked as a slave. Lana's life remained a mystery to the other siblings. She died in 1998 of cancer. Unlike the others, Sue Ellen was adopted legitimately and seemed to fare better than the others. Years later and well into their sixties and seventies, sisters Rae Ann and Sue Ellen found each other and were telling their version about what actually happened to them. "I was sold for $2.00 so my mother could have bingo money," claimed Rae Ann, "and because the man she was dating wanted nothing to do us," Sue Ellen's response about her birth mother, "she needs to be in hell burning."
Image credits: L. Donsky-Levine
#27
Teenagers of the 50th years of the last century. Feel the difference.
Image credits: Grigory Sarkisov
Bourke-White is one of the first famous news photographers. She covered WWII, the German invasion of Moscow in 1941, and the freeing of many concentration centers in 1945. Bourke-White took the famous photograph of Gandhi next to his spinning wheel, just hours before his assassination.
#28
Unpacking the Statue of Liberty. New York City. 1885. The colossal assemblage of 350 Neoclassical pieces, gifted by the people of France, took workers four months to put together.
Image credits: L. Donsky-Levine
#29
View of the St-Lawrence River from Québec City in the 1800's
Image credits: Photos Historiques du Québec
#30
Ostrich reads the newspaper of the caretaker.
Nationaal Archief 1951.
Image credits: Adam Halawa
One of the most famous French photojournalists is Henri Cartier-Bresson. Bresson captured the Spanish Civil War, Gandhi's funeral, and the student rebellion in France. Many call him the father of modern photojournalism because he wasn't afraid to photograph the most dangerous events in the world's history.
#31
One of the most evocative photos.
Image credits: Max Šesto
#32
Beach Volleyball , Venice Beach CA June 1934
Image credits: Adam Halawa
#33
A woman tests a stroller intended to be resistant to gas attacks in Hextable , England in 1938 , not long before the outbreak of World War II
Image credits: Adam Halawa
#34
The Picture shows a photographer taking a Picture of New-York City streets , 1925.
Image credits: Mourad Hm
#35
England - France 2-0 World Cup 1920 Dick Kerr Ladies Football Team , Preston , 28 May 1920.
The team captains of England and France exchange a goodwill kiss before the game in Preston .
Photo ~ Het Leven / Fotograaf onbeken
Image credits: Adam Halawa
#36
Milano 1972
Image credits: Numidia
#37
Morning walk on the Brooklyn bridge , New-York , 1905
Image credits: Mourad Hm
#38
Signing off, 1934
Image credits: Sim Ang Mon
#39
The U.S. military inspects a collection of works of art collected by Hermann Goering, 1945
Image credits: Grigory Sarkisov
#40
Life in the Texas Dust Bowl, 1935. A dust storm gets ready to engulf everything in its path.
Image credits: Shisa Printables
#41
Italian troops raise a gun, a dog and a soldier on a mountain. Italian Alps, World War I, 1915
Image credits: Grigory Sarkisov
#42
Born Free, 1966 George Adamson (Bill Travers) and his wife, Joy (Virginia McKenna)
Image credits: Inde Takhar
#43
Patients being treated in an Army Hospital during the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic.
Image credits: Shisa Printables
#44
Manhattan New-York , ca 1917. A horse-car and a modern tram side by side
Image credits: Mourad Hm
#45
Marble Arch Tube Station, 1900
Image credits: Inde Takhar
#46
German WWII POWs harvesting grapes for the Widmer Winery in Naples, NY. Every state housed prisoners but most camps were built in warm weather climes to save on barracks heating costs.
Image credits: Ronald Paul Miller
#47
“Smokey” Buchanan from the West Palm Beach police force, measuring the bathing suit of Betty Fringle on Palm Beach, to ensure that it conforms with regulations introduced by the beach censors. 1925.
Image credits: Obaidullah Arya
#48
Manhattan, VW with Rolls Royce grille, New york City 1976
Image credits: Kushal Suman
#49
Petre Mshvenieradze, Tbilisi-born Olympic Soviet water polo player, with his grandson 1950.
Image credits: Nika Danelia
#50
A heartwarmingly lovely photo of a young woman writing to her sailor.
Image credits: Grigory Sarkisov
