The Most Iconic Moments in History, Digitally Colorized For The First Time
By | August 23, 2022
Rare historical photos are always fascinating, but thanks to magnificent colorizing technology we can finally experience history the way it happened. These vintage colorized photos provide a glimpse into the past in a way that you'll never see in history books. These aren't just photos, they're time machines.
Look closer at each of these photos... you'll find a side of history that you won't see anywhere else. They don't just provide context for some of the biggest moments in history, they tell the real stories about what happened in the past.
While you may be able to see black and white versions of these photos somewhere else, seeing them in color is the only real way to experience the past. Keep scrolling and fall into colorized history, you'll never want to leave.
After a string of successes at the box office Audrey Hepburn did the unthinkable in 1966. She retired from acting. She wasn't on a downward swing through the B-list, and she was still getting great reviews, but she wanted to be around to watch her children grow up.
Hepburn retired to Switzerland where she raised her family and took part in humanitarian drives. In 1991, she attended a retrospective of her work and when she was asked why audiences are still drawn to her long after her final film she responded:
It's impossible for me to know, but if you asked me what I would like it to be, though it may sound presumptuous to say so, it's an experience I've had with other performers who somehow make you open up to them. For me, it always has to do with some kind of affection, love, a warmth. I myself was born with an enormous need for affection and a terrible need to give it. That's what I'd like to think maybe has been the appeal. People have recognized something in me they have themselves -- the need to receive affection and the need to give it. Does that sound soppy?
Istvan Reiner was only four years old when this photo was taken at the Auschwitz concentration camp
This photo shows a bright-eyed young boy named Istvan who was only four-years-old when he was sent to Auschwitz with his family. Upon their arrival he was separated from his mother and given to his grandmother. They were both executed shortly afterwards. His mother and other family members survived the war and immigrated to the United States in 1947.
From left to right: Larry, Curly Joe, and Moe AKA the Three Stooges visit Yellowstone
Kook's Tour was meant to be a primetime series that combined the slapstick of the Stooges with documentary style footage. After filming across the Great Plains, Larry Fine suffered a stroke and the concept was shelved. Kook's Tour was the last film the trio ever made.
A young woman's likeness is painted on a billboard New York, 1947
It's not clear if this was the normal way that billboard business was done in 1947, but if these guys were doing a rush job then it makes sense that they needed this young woman to model for them. As hard as it must have been to hold a pose stories above the city it's a pretty great way to make a living. All you have to do is stand and watch the traffic go by, that's not so bad.
Atomic test mannequins sitting down for dinner, 1950s
Decamping to the Nevada Test Site, federal researchers built two houses mirroring those found in the newly constructed American suburbs. Each home was fully furnished and filled with department store mannequins to make the houses feel as realistic as possible. Along with the two homes, fifty automobiles and eight bomb shelters designed for residential use were constructed and then an atmospheric bomb was dropped over the area. Both homes performed "as expected," but it's still not advisable to be in a house directly beneath an atomic blast.
Monroe has always said that she was "dying of boredom" in her marriage to Dougherty, but at the same time she was finding work as a pinup with the Blue Book Model Agency. After spending a few months as a post card model Monroe bleached her hair platinum blonde and straightened it. By 1946, she had appeared on more than 30 magazine covers and was signed to 20th Century Fox. The former Norma Jean's life quickly changed forever.
A soldier smells a letter from home
This photo shows just how much some military veterans long to return home in the middle of a war. Of course they want to serve their country, but who wouldn't want to be home with their loved ones? Hopefully this guy made it home and found the love he was looking for.
Clint Eastwood with Sammy Davis, Jr. after Davis' performce at The Sands Hotel, Las Vegas
What we don't know is how often Eastwood hung with the Rat Pack. He was a busy guy throughout the '50s and '60s when Vegas was really hopping, so it's unlikely that he spent every weekend there. But who knows? Maybe Eastwood didn't get a lot of sleep for the first few decades of his career.
The two Kashmir Giants posing with the American photographer James Ricalton, 1903
The Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir made the invite list and brought along with him two legit giants. One man was 7'9" tall and the other was a spritely five inches shorter. They were happy to pose with whomever they came across... how high would they tower over you?
Amelia Earhart prepares to fly in style plane
Earhart started sewing at a young age, and by the time she was hitting the runway she was designing her own clothing. She was tall and slender and made sure that her pilot apparel fit her perfectly. She even designed and constructed her own jumpsuit meant to be worn in the cockpit of her plane.
An anguished family bids farewell to a young Russian soldier
This colorized photo shows the pain and sadness of wishing someone the best before they go off to serve their country. It's clear that these women don't want their loved one to go but they know that he has to. It's truly sad and no matter the era it's never easy.
The Terra-Marina Houseboat could hold your family... and your car
Marketed in the 1960s as the perfect vessel for "business or holiday trips," the Terra-Marina Houseboat was constructed by a company in Florida that used a Volkswagen to propel the trailer on land. The same car was allegedly able to rest on the trailer's roof when it was put in the water. It's not clear if that design ever worked, but judging from the fact that we don't see houseboats like this every summer the idea probably didn't hold water.
Officer Jack Shuttleworth guarding Galt, Ontario pharmacy in waist-high flood waters, May 17, 1974
Officer Jack Shuttleworth stood still as a stone sentry at the corner of Ainslie and Dickson to keep the local shops as safe as possible. He may have been soaking wet but he did his job and kept looters at bay. He later explained:
The whole idea was to be a deterrent. So nobody would be picking this stuff off.
A Geisha after washing her hair and before styling it, c. 1905
Before geishas were a main part of the social scene in Japan they were assistants to the oiran, an upper class and expensive courtesan. By the end of the 19th century customers began gravitating to the less expensive and more socially available geisha. By the early 20th century geisha were considered a must have at any social event.
19 year old Don Knott's with his ventriloquist dummy, Danny
Knotts' career found the boost he was looking for in the Pacific Islands of all places. Most of his time in the war was spent working with the G.I. variety show Stars and Gripes where he performed with Danny until 1946. Supposedly, Knotts threw Danny overboard after their final performance.
Marilyn Monroe as silent film star Theda Bara by Richard Avedon
For the spread Monroe was styled as Theda Bara, a silent film star, as well as Lillian Russell, Clara Bow, Jean Harlow, and Marlene Dietrich. Avedon later said that Monroe was not only easy to work with but that she gave everything she had for the camera:
She gave more to the still camera than every other actress – every other woman – I had the opportunity to photograph…
Mothers in Oslo visiting children in quarantine
Borghild Barth-Heyerdahl Roald, a professor at the University of Oslo, explained to Science Norway why those who were ill had to quarantine in a hospital rather than at home like we do now:
Today we think of the hospitals mostly as treatment institutions, with the patient at the center. But 100 years ago, few therapies were available when it came to treating diseases, and it was therefore more important to isolate patients who were ill.
A very young Johnny Carson poses next to a classic car in the snow
Carson's first taste of a real live audience came when he was just 14. He staged a performance at his local Kiwanis Club as "The Great Carsini." His show was a hit and he started performing at county fairs and before hitchhiking to Hollywood and joining the United States during World War II.
The Clark Sisters, late 19th century
Daguerre and Niépce could have kept the invention to themselves or sold the patent to the French government, but everyone involved acted completely opposite of what you'd expect. January 1839, the French government announced the existence of the Daguerreotype process and explained how it worked. Daguerre and Niépce earned lifetime pensions from the government and the world of photography was changed forever.
A patient leaves a bad review for a "painless" dentist, 1920s
How can you advertise as being painless when your whole deal is removing pieces of bone that are growing out of someone's mouth? If you're Edgar Randolph Parker you change your name to "Painless" so you're not actually committing some form of false advertising. Parker made a show out of his dentistry, but at the end of the day patients discovered that he wasn't nearly as "painless" as he promised.
In 2015, Curtis told ABC that with the help of a designer she was able to get the dress into the perfect shape:
We did keep the original Belgian lace on here. We opened the seams in the dress and put in new fabric strips underneath and fused the new fabric to the old fabric so that it would hold together.
When it came to photography, Nadar refused to use any kind of traditional backgrounds in his work. He preferred to use natural lighting to photograph something somewhat unnatural. His photos are stark and shadowy - perfect for showing off an expertly created quaff.
Two girls in Holland gathering water
It's amazing how modern this photo looks thanks to the colorization process. Sure, these girls are dressed in fairly traditional outfits (look at those clogs! those kerchiefs!) but their faces are those of teenagers frustrated with their chores. Colorized photos from history show that people never really change.
Violet Jessup, the queen of sinking ships
One year later, Jessop was working as a stewardess on the RMS Titanic when it collided with an iceberg in the North Atlantic. She escaped the sinking ship on lifeboat 16 where she was put in charge of a baby found on deck - the mother later snatched the baby from Jessop on board the RMS Carpathia. Because life hits you in threes, Jessop was working as a stewardess for the British Red Cross during World War I when her boat - the HMHS Britannic - sank in the Aegean sea following an unexplained explosion. Jessop survived and continued working on ships until 1950.
Young love at Waterhen River in Saskatchewan, Canada, 1931
Many tribes changed and grew with the times, but as the fur trade melted away these tribes found themselves without roles to play in the area's agricultural future. While they once worked as go-betweens for the fur traders and general store owners, they now found themselves without work. It wasn't until the middle of the 20th century that many of Canada's indigenous people were able to start putting the legacy of their people back together.
Dolly Parton and Mick Jagger backstage at The Bottom Line, 1977
When Dolly Parton took the stage at The Bottom Line on May 12, 1977, it was the first night of a three-night residency. Everybody came out to see Parton perform: Bruce Springsteen, John Belushi, Mick Jagger, they were all there. These performances are most well known as the place where Parton knocked the socks off the crowd with her heartbreaking rendition of her classic song, "Jolene."
A woman trains a horse in the French countryside, 19th century
Thiollier was more interested in creating work that showed the possibilities of the medium as well as the aesthetic beauty of his native land. Much of Thiollier's most popular work comes from Le Forez pittoresque et monumental, published in 1889 at the behest of seniror figures in his local government. We're glad that Thiollier obliged, his images are genuinely stunning.
An Arizona Hopi woman and her mother, 1912
In the late 19th century the Hopi were given a reservation on Arizona that borders along the Navajo reservation in the same state. The location of the two reservations has created conflict between the two tribes in spite of the many attempts to get them on the same page. The conflict between the Hopi and Navajo remains peaceful but it's unlikely to come to an end any time soon.
The hook that this grizzled iceman may look like something out a '70s slasher movie, but it's one of the main tools of the profession. It's not fun or safe to grab a big block of ice with your bare hands and a large hook or set of clamps is really the only way to do it without getting personal freezer burn. Even with this helpful tool it was still a rough day delivering ice from house to house.
Ava Gardner, 1937
Gardner studied to be a secratary after graduating high school, but after her portrait was displayed in the window of a family friend's photography studio in New York City she became the talk of the town. In 1941, one year after she started secretarial school she was offered a contract by MGM even though Louis B. Mayer didn't know if they would make a dime off of her. he famously said to Al Altma, the head of MGM's New York talent department, "She can't sing, she can't act, she can't talk, she's terrific!"
Laura Ingells Wilder and her pioneer family
Autobiographer Pamela Smith Hill told BookPage that Wilder's early nonfiction writing served as rough practice for her later, successful fiction:
Pioneer Girl was Wilder’s first attempt at writing a long-form narrative, and she hadn’t yet broken free from the constraints of writing short, concise, but descriptive newspaper columns. This is especially true in the first third of Pioneer Girl, where many episodes are roughly the length of a newspaper column. As I point out in the annotated edition, words are a luxury for a newspaper columnist and Wilder had learned to use them sparingly. But as she gained confidence in writing a longer narrative, she added more details and lingered over key episodes in her family’s life—the grasshopper plague, for example, and the Hard Winter of 1880-1881.
Dinner party at Hotel Astor, 1904
These Midnight Suppers featured a 10-course meal, ballroom dancing, and 400 handpicked guests. It was a long night but you had to go if you were invited or you might never be invited again. In 1904, the parties moved from the Astor home to the St. Regis hotel and became the must-attend party of the season.
Ross explained that during his 20 years in the service he became hardened, and that he was tired of telling people to follow rules all the time:
I was the guy who makes you scrub the latrine, the guy who makes you make your bed, the guy who screams at you for being late to work. The job requires you to be a mean, tough person. And I was fed up with it. I promised myself that if I ever got away from it, it wasn't going to be that way anymore.
San Antonio Market, Barcelona, 1955
An exhibition of Masats' work at PhotoEspana explains just how he was able to take such uninhibited photographs:
Masats worked on assignments for Mundo Hispánico, Gaceta Ilustrada and the new Ministry of Information and Tourism. He poured all his photographic intensity into investigating what he called his homeland’s cultural cliches, such as popular rites and festivals, religious or folkloric. It was a different way of telling a story.
Model wearing Mainbocher dress at the Eiffel Tower
This daring photo was taken in the days before Photoshop and digital tomfoolery. That means that the photogrpaher had to schlep their equipment up the tower along with a model in an incredibly expensive gown, take multiple shots and hope that one of them worked out so they didn't have to make the trek again. The things we do for fashion.
Class portrait in front of a one room school house made of fronds, 1890
More than just the place where children receivedd their all important education, these one-room schools were where young people learned to be social. As long as the weather was fair young people traveled from miles away to see their friends and hopefully learn something. An average class could have students as young as six-years-old and as old as someone in their teens.
Clint Eastwood carves some major grindage on an early skateboard
it's not totally clear where the skateboard came from in this photo, whether it belonged to Eastwood, Sorci, or if one of them just picked it up. Wherever it came from isn't the point. It's that Eastwood is riding it like a boss. This single shot reminds viewers that he's more than just the stoic man from nowhere who starred in some of the most beloved westerns of all time.
Harvard University initially created dorms that were just one building full of "sleeping rooms" situated directly next to the school. The governing board thought the proximity would give students "an advantage to Learning" due to "the multitude of persons cohabiting for scholasticall communion” away from civilization would help make America’s first real group of Puritan ministers. Things didn't exactly work how they intended.
A World War II era "Animal Ambulance" brings a dog in for treatment
The discovery of an ancient Maya statue deep within the jungles of Honduras, 1885
At the tail end of the 19th century explorers were discovering Mayan artifacts left and right on journies through Central America. Alfred Maudslay and Teoberto Maler were two of the leading researchers who traveled through Honduras to find pieces of this former civilization. It's through their work and the work of countless others that we now know about this astounding tribe.
Steve McQueen poses for the coolest mugshot ever ✌
When McQueen was pulled over and asked to walk down the white line during his sobriety test he did a full somersault and was almost immediately arrested. McQueen didn't hold a grudge, in fact he signed autographs for everyone at the station while he was still in handcuffs. After posting bail he got the heck out town and was convicted for reckless driving in absentia.
Princess Diana holds Prince Harry on an outing
While speaking with Good Morning America, Harry became emotional when his mother came up. He said:
We will do everything we can to make sure that she's never forgotten and carry on all of the special gifts, as such, that she portrayed while she was alive. I hope that my mothers talent's are shown in a lot of the work that I do.
100-year-old Nicholas Veeder poses in the uniform he wore when he served as a teenage soldier in the American Revolutionary War, 1860
Taken at the onset of the Civil War, it's hard to imagine that someone who was alive for America's fight for independence was still around to witness yet another battle for freedom. We don't know how long Veeder stuck around, but if was able to witness the end of the Civil War that would be amazing. The breadth of history may be long, it's amazing that Veeder was able to see so much of it.
A nun waters a group of children
Think about this photo from the nun's perspective. It's likely summer in the city, it's a hot day and there's no pool where these kids can cool off but they need to get some fresh air. She may be giving these kids the most low rent version of cooling off but it's the thought that counts. Clearly, these kids are having a great time.
An Ottoman-era photograph of two Armenian women dressed as Armenian fedayis or freedom fighters
Judging from the weapons that both women are carrying, a rifle and a revolver, this photo was staged. The rifle isn't the same kind that was used by the Armenian military in the late 19th century and the revolver that the woman on the left has in her belt is HUGE. It's proportions are all wrong. As cool as this photo is, it's most likely something that was taken for fun.
Ryan White, face of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s
White survived until he was 18-years-old. He used his final years to bring light to the AIDS epidemic, something that no one had been able to do up until this point, and he did what he could to raise money for research into the disease. Following his death in 1990, President Reagan told ther American people:
We owe it to Ryan to make sure that the fear and ignorance that chased him from his home and his school will be eliminated. We owe it to Ryan to open our hearts and our minds to those with AIDS. We owe it to Ryan to be compassionate, caring, and tolerant toward those with AIDS, their families, and friends. It's the disease that's frightening, not the people who have it.
Before there was radar... there was acoustic plane detection
These horns might looks ridiculous but they actually worked very well. The British had their own version of this tool that required sound mirrors to get to locate the position of an oncoming squadron. The military is far more high tech today, but it's amazing to see that they could do so much with so little.
Man at the Wheel Saloon, 1895
Saloons were big business in the 1890s, and San Pedro was a great place to have a business where you could sell some drinks and offer a place to sleep for the night. San Pedro is a port city, and if something is coming into California from the Pacific it's likely coming through this town. More often than not sailors would spend a night or two in the area before getting back on their ship for the long ride home.
Paul Hogan working as a rigger before he was Crocodile Dundee
Hogan later said that seeing how the change affected his children took a huge toll on him and he tried to keep their lives as normal as possible. He said:
It was hard for all my kids, thrust into a limelight that they didn't invite. So as much as we could, we left it at the gate.
A girl shows off her frog at the Venice Beach Pet Show, 1936
America was still in the middle of the Great Depression in the 1930s and families hardly had enough money to pay for their own meals let alone the meals of a dog or a cat. At this point in time girls and boys alike made pets out of frogs and snakes, or really anything that could just eat bugs or grass. The frog is definitely cute, but it's also economical.
Moulin Rouge dressing room, 1924
It was also a lot of work to make a show at the Moulin Rouge go off without a hitch. There's choreography, costume changes, and scenery that needs to be put in place. Doing that today is hard, but making it happen in the 1920s took a lot of skill, patience, and luck. One dancer at Moulin Rouge explained:
The whole team including dancers, aides and technicians need to be very organized. A little mistake or a little delay and you can miss your entrance. You really need to be at the right time at the right place.
Priests mingle with hippies at Glastonbury, 1971
Not everyone thought the festival was such a good idea. The BBC's John Craven visited the festival and reported on the very chill debauchery to the folks back home:
Though to the hippies the Glastonbury Fayre has been a time of peace and happiness to everyone, there have been certain aspects of it that have disturbed what they call 'the straight society' - that's just about everyone but themselves. Aspects such as the free love-making, the fertility rites, the naked dancing and most of all, the drug-taking.
Genthe photographed many important people who came through New York City at the turn of the century including Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Woodrow Wilson, and even Jack London. Every person that came through the studio met one of Genthe's four Buzzers and many of them posed with the relaxed feline. Genthe took astounding photos, but the real reason to visit the photographer was to meet his cat.
John Candy and his daughter Jennifer, 1983
His son, Chris Candy, told The Hollywood Reporter that John was all about the work, so much so that he spent more time on the product than he did enjoying the fruits of his labor:
He put a lot of effort and love into everything he did, but he didn’t like going to the premieres. He had a hard time watching the final product. I remember watching dailies with him. He didn’t have a hard time watching himself in that manner.
Johnny Cash models thigh high boots, 1971
Cash has always been the lynchpin of mid-century country so it's not a surprise that he was around to help his honkytonk bretheren. Did his shoe obsession extend to these thigh high boots? Or were these bad boys just something he was trying out that was captured forever thanks to the magic of photography? We'll never know,
McEnroe said of the first time he met Borg, hours before their first match:
When you have a hero who you have the opportunity to compete against, and ultimately become friends and rivals with, it’s very weird to meet him, but he was disarming. It meant a lot to me that he showed me respect in the locker room when he didn’t have to.
Abraham Lincoln poses with a young fan
Richard Lowry, William & Mary Associate Professor of English said of their friendship:
Gardner took more photographs of Lincoln than anyone else, more than 38. Lincoln himself sat for about 130 photographs, which made him the most photographed man of his generation. Many of those Gardner took are the most iconic.
Kangaroo punching photographer John Drysdale in the face
It's not clear what kind of project Drysdale was working on when he came face to face with a kangaroo, but he couldn't have expected it to turn out this way. There are two more photos in this series that show how caring a kangaroo can be even after they throw a punch. The third photo shows Drysdale on the ground, and the fourth shows the kangaroo giving him a hug.
In 1966, Beatles biographer Hunter Davies' wrote a travel guide for the hip and those who wanted to be hip called New London Spy. The guide offered tips on which pubs to visit and which to avoid all in very cool, flowery prose. Davies writes:
Pubs are what other countries don’t have. In England, country pubs are perhaps nicest of all. After that come the London ones. Pubs change character as you tipple down from the top of Britain. In the dry areas of Skye you have none at all. In Glasgow they are just drinking shops. In Carlisle they are cheerless and state controlled. But in London, there are pubs for all men and for all seasons.