The Most Iconic Moments in History, Digitally Colorized For The First Time
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
During World War II, the genocide of the Jewish people committed by the Nazis knew no bounds. Their concentration camps were bottomless pits of hate and pain that operated almost by random. No one was safe from the crushing mechanism of put into motion by the German military, not even children.
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
In 1969, the Three Stooges were no longer the box office gems that they'd been at the turn of the century but their fans remained legion. It's no surprise that when they took a trip to Yellowstone to film a pilot for a series titled Kook's Tour that they were stopped for photos by the park rangers. Sadly, this appearance would be one of their last.
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
In the 1940s there was no Photoshop, and printing signs to easily go up on a billboard was still incredibly expensive if not purely science fiction. At the time, the easiest way to get an image on a billboard was just to slap it on there with some paint. If the model was present that's even better.
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
As the Cold War descended on America the US military tried to figure out if there was a way to keep families safe from a nuclear missile without loading the entire country into a fallout shelter. In 1953, the Federal Civil Defense Administration put together the Operation Doorstep experiment. They soon found that it wasn't as easy as they thought to stop the effects of a nuclear blast.
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.
Marilyn Monroe on the beach at Avalon, Santa Catalina Island, 1943 😍
In 1943, Marilyn Monroe was hardly the blonde bombshell that turned heads in Asphalt Jungle and Some Like It Hot. At the time she was married to James Dougherty, a 21-year-old factory worker who was her neighbor. He enlistened in the Merchant Marines and was stationed on Catalina Island, bringing along the 16-year-old Monroe.
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
It's an understatement to say that being in war takes a toll on soldiers both physically and emotionally. The heat of battle is frightening and chaotic, but in many ways the down time is just as bad. Not only are you waiting around for the next thing to happen, but you're desperate for the touch of a loved one, for a conversation with anyone but another soldier.
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
Who knew that these two cool cats were so close? When you take a step back it makes sense that these two were thick as thieves, Eastwood was on a hit TV show where he admirably performed as a cowboy with a heart of gold and Davis was maybe the most beloved member of the Rat Pack. Hanging out back stage at the Sands was just what you did in this era if you were in with the hippest crowd.
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
Where exactly does one find two giants to take a photo with? These specific giants were found at the Durbar of 1903, a celebration in honor of the naming of King Edward VII as the Emperor of India. Lord Curzon, the Delhi Durbar, decided to throw a massive party to show off the greatness of India and royalty from India and England were invited.
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
Known the world over as one of the foremost women in the world of aviation, Amerlia Earhart was also fascinated with cutting a cool figure on her way to her plane. Not just an accomplished aviator, Earhart was deeply involved with fashion in the 1930s. She even had her own line of products for a brief period of time.
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
It's so hard to say goodbye to a friend or loved one when they're going on a trip. There's no way to imagine just how hard it is to say goodbye to someone when they're leaving for the front lines of a war. It could be the last time you see them and there's no way to know what's going to happen.
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
Have you ever gone to lake with your friends and thought, "This is great and all but I'd really like to take my car out on the water?" If so then the Terra-Marina Houseboat is exactly what you need. That is, if you can find one.
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
On May 17, 1974, massive flooding occurred after the already full Grand River overflowed following a torrential downpour. The unexpected water rising from the river caused the "Great Flood of 1974" and led to Galt, Ontario flooding completely. Stores and restaurants were completely destroyed in the melee, and the police did what they could to stop looting before it started.
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
When we think about a geisha we often picture them made up complete with painted white face, red lips, and their hair in a traditional bun. This recently colorized photo shows that the women behind the outfit were just like any other young woman of the era. Frankly, this woman looks like she would fit in with anyone in the modern era.
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
Don Knotts is no dummy, but he worked with one when he was a teenager. He started performing as a ventriloquist and comedian when he was in his early teens for his school mates and at church functions. Thinking that his ventriloquism act would take him to the big time he left West Virginia to go to New York City, when his dreams didn't pan out he returned home before joining Army during World War II.
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
After years of dreaming of stardom Marilyn Monroe was ready to take center stage in 1958. That year, Life Magazine published a spread of the blonde bombshell in costume as various actresses from different eras. Each photo was styled and snapped by famed photographer Richard Avedon the magazine’s Christmas issue.
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
Whenever a major illness hit Oslo in the 19th century people weren't able to stay home due to cramped conditions, instead they had to stay in plague hospitals or lazaretti. If someone was wealthy enough they were able to receive medical treatment at home, but everyone else had to go to the lazaretti or lazaretto. The image you see here is of mothers visiting their children during an outbreak of diptheria.
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
Johnny Carson is the be all and end all of late night talk show hosts, and his rise to stardom began when he was just a child living in Iowa. He started entertaining his friends when he was only 12-years-old after discovering a book on magic. His mother sewed him a cape (what's a magician without a cape?) and he picked up a kit full of magic tricks.
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
Taken between 1840 and 1860, this daguerreotype shows the five Clark sisters posing for what is likely one of the few photos that was ever taken of them. Ivented by Louis Jaques Mande Daguerre, an artist and designer from France, in a partnership with Joseph-Nicephore Niépce, the two devised a way to apply an image to a polished sheet of silver-plated copper. This was more than just a piece of paper - this was a photo built to last.
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.
A bride restored her family's 120 year old wedding dress in 2015 👰
The dress that the bride is wearing on the left can definitely serve as the "something old" for her wedding. Abby Curtis is the 11th bride to wear the 120-year-old Victorian dress for her wedding. That's definitely amazing, but it took some heavy lifting to get it ready for the big day.
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.
The man in the moon 🌜
Taken by French photographer and rennaisance man Nadar, this photo shows a guy who is definitely doing something with his look. His cresenct moon hair and beard is exactly the kind of thing that Nadar would want to capture, after all he was an artist whose works was spread out across caricature work, novels, journalism, and even hot air ballooning. He was a man who lived on the edge throughout the 19th century.
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
Even in a place as beautiful as Holland kids have to do chores. This vintage photo of two Dutch girls holding pails of water shows exactly why it's a place that's captured the minds of so many fantasy writers throughout time. Just look at the cerulean blue of the water and the way the clouds disperse across the sky, it's the perfect place for a fairy tale.
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
Born in 1887, Violet Jessop has one of the strangest pedigrees of any medical professional to this day. In 1911, Jessop was working as a stewardess on the RMS Olympic when it collided with the warship HMS Hawke. Everyone was fine aboard both ships, but that wouldn't be her last time on board a ship in the middle of a disaster.
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
The indenous people of Saskatchewan, Canada, have been living in the area for something like 11,000 years. In their time on the land they created a long-lasting society where they coexisted among other tribes while adapting to the changing landscape brought on by European explorers and the fur trade. During that time traders would bring pelts that they hoped they could trade for goods like tobacco, ammunition and even blankets.
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
New York City in the 1970s was incredibly weird. It was a melting pot of artists and musicians from across the spectrum - rich, poor, far out, normie, etc - who were learning from one another and holding each other up. Whether they were a part of the CBGB's crowd or the Studio 54 crew many of them comingled at The Bottom Line.
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
After retiring from his job as a ribbon manufacturer at the age of 35, Félix Thiollier dedicated himself to the art of photography. He started publishing illustrated books of his work to show off the environment of Forez and Saint-Étienne. As awe inspiring as his photographs are, Thiollier never went out of his way to become a famous photographer.
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
The Hopi people have long carried on a peaceful existence in Arizona and around the Colorado River region of the American southwest. Members of this tribe are known for being peaceful, well mannered, and concerned with the agriculture of their homeland. They're far from the warring tribes that many picture when they think about Native Americans.
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 ice delivery man cometh, 1930s 🧊🧊🧊
Long before subzero freezers and refrigerators that pumped out ice cubes in a variety of different ways on command families had to have their ice delivered of suffer the wrath of a room temperature glass of water. From the tail end of the 19th century all the way into the 1950s there were ice salesmen, or icemen, who delivered ice to families regularly. In big cities icemen often made daily rounds to deliver their chilly goods.
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
During the Golden Age of Hollywood, Ava Gardner became one of the most beloved actresses of the bigscreen thanks to her work with John Huston in films like Mogambo and The Night of the Iguana. Long before she moved to Hollywood to begin her life as a glittering star she was just the daughter of sharecroppers from North Carolina. This photo was taken one year after her father passed away, one of the hardest times of her life.
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
When Laura Ingalls Wilder released her first book in the Little House series, Little House in the Big Woods, she found almost immediate success. The series grew to eight books that followed the same family through peace and hardships out on the prairie. Even with the success of her fictional stories Wilder hoped that people would love her non-fiction just as much.
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
This photograph of a bountiful banquet is about as close as many people would get to a Hotel Astor party in the early 1900s. The parties began in 1898 when socialite Caroline Astor invited hundreds of guests to her home after a night at the Metropolitan Opera House. There, they had what she called "Midnight Supper" with her friends, the "Astor 400."
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.
Bob Ross was a 20 year veteran of the military before he taught people to paint 🎨🖌🖼
Long before he was soothing restless sleepers with his laid back vibes and skillful artistry, Bobb Ross was a member of the United States Air Force. The TV painter enlisted when he was only 18-years-old and he wound up at Eilson Air Force Base in Alaska, that's a long way from his home in Orlando, Florida. During his time in the military Ross became someone he didn't exactly love.
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
Taken by Ramón Masats, a Spanish photographer who showed the realities of poverty in his home country, this photo shows the realities of life in Spain at the end of the Franco regime. His work shows the way that povery struck everyone in the country without care of who they are and what they did. Masats sought to tell the real story of Spain through his photography.
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 model clearly took the phrase "high fashion" literally. Taken for Harper's Bazarre in 1939, this photo showcases a dress by the Mainbocher label in daredevil fashion. After all, if you want someone to notice your art you've got to get it out there in the most outrageous way possible.
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
In the late 19th century the one-room school was one of the only ways for a young person in a rural era to learn. These single room buildings were used for more than just eductation. Regardless of whether they were constructed of fronds or standard wooden beams they were a gathering place for children, community church services, and even parties.
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
Clint Eastwood has always been cool, but there's something about seeing him riding a skateboard through the streets of Rome in the 1960s that makes him even cooler. Taken by Elio Sorci, this shot of Eastwood shows him in a completely new light. Which is exactly what Sorci wanted to do with his work, change the viewer's perception of the subject.
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.
College students in their dorm room at the University of Illinois, circa 1910 🤓🤓
It's fascinating to see that even in 1910 college students were decorating their dorms with posters, photos, and little knick-knacks that reminded them of their friends. At the turn of the century many colleges were still isolated from major cities and students had to find a place to stay, be it a boarding house or with a relative. For many, on campus dormatories just made sense.
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.
Turn of the century cat lady sits with her beloved pets 🐱🐱🐱
At the turn of the century photography technology was accurate enough so subjects didn't have to sit forever to wait for one photo to be taken. It's not as if photos took an hour to be snapped, but the process could take minutes and no one wants to hold their pet still for that long. This shot definitely took some wrangling, but it came out pretty well.
A World War II era "Animal Ambulance" brings a dog in for treatment
During World War II everyone had a job to do, whether it was making sure that the trains ran on time, fighting on the front lines, or taking care of pets. These workers with the National Air Raid Precautions Animal Committee can be seen bringing an airdale to an animal hospital on October 7, 1940. The doggo seems fine in this picture, and it's likely just freaked out after a bombing.
The discovery of an ancient Maya statue deep within the jungles of Honduras, 1885
Modern researchers and historians have long been infatuated with the Mayan culture and its people. Long before European settlers were traipsing across the Americas, the Maya were constructing massive pieces of architecture, putting together a dense written language, and even studying the stars. It's no wonder that we're still fascinated by these mysterious people.
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 ✌
Steve McQueen may have been one of the coolest guys of the 20th century and an ace driver, but that doesn't mean he wasn't pulled over by the police on multiple occassions. In 1972, McQueen was arrested for driving under the influence while in Anchorage, Alaska. Apparently he was speeding through the city in a rented Oldsmobile Toronado.
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
During her short life Princess Diana did so much for the people that she loved and people that she never even met. It's hard to imagine her just being a mom, but she somehow found time to raise to rambunctious boys while she lent aid to foreign countries and oversaw an effort to remove landmines. Her giving nature was passed down to her sons, especially Harry who's done everything he can to keep her memory alive.
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
Supposedly this photo was taken in 1860 and it shows Nicholas Veeder, one of the last surviving veterans of the American Revolutionary War. The story goes that Veeder joined the colonial army when he was only a teenager and survived to tell the tale. It's amazing that he was a part of one of the biggest moments in history and lived through so many more riveting stories.
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
There's something about being a child that makes every experience incredibly fun. Even hanging out on a deck somewhere in the city and get sprayed with a hose by a nun can be a magical time. Everything is so new and exciting that each experience comes with its own piece of joy.
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
Taken in 1895, this photo remains both mysterious and inspiring. Both of these women are dressed as freedom fighters and they're carrying weapons, but are they really preparing to war? According to researchers, a note on the back of the original photograph reads "souvenir," which could mean that this is a gag photo of some sort but it's hard to tell what's real and what's not without habing all of the information.
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
Ryan White became the poster child for the AIDS epidemic in 1984 when he was diagnosed with the illness following a lung biopsy. White was a hemophiliac and required regular blood transfusions. During one of those transfusions he was given tainted blood and doctors predicted that he only had six months to live.
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
During World War II no one had radar capabilities which made detecting enemy planes a major hassle. In order to get a jump on the Allied Forces, the Japanese military made use of passive acoustic location to literally hear planes when they were one their way. This tool was literally a group of horns that fed back to the listener, when they zeroed in on the source they knew were the planes were coming from.
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
Loated in sunny San Pedro, California, just south of Los Angeles, the Man at the Wheel saloon once offered libations and good conversation all within a wild looking building. At the tail end of the 19th century American bars were still trying to capture the spirit of British pubs. Hence the funny name and statue on top of the building.
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
In 1970, Paul Hogan was working as a rigger on the Sydney Harbor Bridge but one year later he was wowing audiences on Australia's New Faces before earning his own sketch comedy program. Hogan says that the change in his life was stark, but that it was incredibly hard for his children. It's hard to imagine what it must have been like to go from being a normal suburban family to wealthy over night.
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
What do you expect to see at a pet show, regardless of where it's located? Dogs, cats, maybe even a horse or a goat, but a frog? That's definitely a surprise. However, in the 1930s it makes perfect sense that a girl would keep a frog as a pet. Money was tight and it made sense to keep something around that didn't need a lot of food.
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
In the 1920s, the Moulin Rouge was up and running after it was destroyed by a fire in 1921. Three years later the Hoffman girls, an American dance troupe, did their best can can on the stage of this famous Parisian landmark. This colorized photo shows exactly what it was like to be in the backstage area of the club and boy it sure looks like a lot of fun.
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
1971 was a landmark year for the Glastonbury festival. Not only was it the second time in a row that the massive show was put on, but the event was totally free and it included a giant pyramid stage. This iteration of the festival catered to everyone, whether they were priests of hippies - it was an amazing show of peace and love across the pond.
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.
Buzzer the Cat poses with one of Arnold Genthe's many models 🐱📸
We're not sure who the woman in this picture is, but we do know the star of the show. Buzzer the Cat belonged to a German photographer named Arnold Genthe, the two made their home in New York City and it didn't takelong for Buzzer to start popping up in his person's photos. Using Buzzer may have been a way to relax his clients, or maybe they just wanted to hold a cuddly cat.
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
John Candy was a comedy icon that was gone too soon. Over the course of his career he worked on some of the most beloved John Hughes films and he made kids everywhere howl with laughter as Barf in Spaceballs. However, he was more than a stellar comedic actor, he was a great parent.
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
Johnny Cash made a living off of being the Man in Black, and even though he's known for songs like "Ring of Fire," he inspired hits by his friends as well. When Cash was on tour with Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley in 1955, he told both of them a story about a soldier he served wtih while he was stationed in Germany who referred to his military issue kicks as "blue suede shoes." That's right. Johnny Cash inspired the title of one of the most beloved country songs ever.
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,
Legends and rivals, John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg 🎾
Over the course of their shared careers John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg went head to head on the court 16 times. This photo was taken the first time they faced off with one another at a tournament in Stockholm. McEnroe describes the meeting as "extremely important," saying that Borg's friendship was so important to him as a 19-year-old professional athlete.
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
Photography was still a burgeoning art form when Abraham Lincoln was president, so much so that many of the shots of Honest Abe were taken by the same photographer. Alexander Gardner began his career as the assistant of Matthew Brady, but Gardner and Lincoln hit it off. Their friendship blossomed into something that would expand the breadth of history by leaps and bounds.
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
Kangaroos are notoriously ready to throw hands, but apparently John Drysdale didn't know that in the 1960s. Drysdale grew up in East Africa and trained in photography at the Guildford School of Art before he went on to work with children and animals. This photo series of Drysdale getting whomped must have been the nadir of his work.
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.
A day at the pub, London, 1967 🍻
Pubs have always been an important part of life in England. They can be found across the country in villages and towns where they range from posh to working class. In 1960s London there were pubs for every type of person you can imagine: art students, criminals, people on dates, and there were even "rough pubs."
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.
