50 Interesting Historical Pictures That Might Teach You Something New About Our World

Time keeps marching on, and we’re powerless to stop it. However, people have been doing a good job of capturing fleeting moments throughphotographs, allowing us to relive memorable events or experience ones we might have missed.

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Black Cat Hug / Andy Prokh (B.1963)

Same Car, Same Guys, 50 Years Later

Talking to Bored Panda abouthistorical pictures, professor, writer, and amateur homesteaderJoshua Wilkeysaid “I think photography can be an essential and powerful tool for understanding history, but I [also] think it is also necessary to view all photographs with a critical eye.““While we might be accustomed to skepticism of photos in the age of Photoshop, photo editing isn’t the only thing that should give us pause.”

“While we might be accustomed to skepticism of photos in the age of Photoshop, photo editing isn’t the only thing that should give us pause.”

1967 || 2019 Same Bike , Same Couple , 52 Years Later . Image Source : Zhangzhesheng

” Dog And Cat In Paris “, C.1950 . Photo By Annick Gérardin

These Progressive High School Girls Learn The Finer Points Of Auto Mechanics In 1927

The historian provided a few very helpful questions we can ask ourselves when analyzing such images. The first one: is the photo lacking context? Or what is happening outside of the frame?“There’s always the chance that the viewer is seeing an intentionally skewed perspective,” Wilkey highlighted. “A picture might be worth a thousand words, but sometimes it takes a thousand words to explain the context of a single photo.As avid Bored Panda readers probably know,pictures can be very strange without context.

The historian provided a few very helpful questions we can ask ourselves when analyzing such images. The first one: is the photo lacking context? Or what is happening outside of the frame?

“There’s always the chance that the viewer is seeing an intentionally skewed perspective,” Wilkey highlighted. “A picture might be worth a thousand words, but sometimes it takes a thousand words to explain the context of a single photo.

As avid Bored Panda readers probably know,pictures can be very strange without context.

Mailman N. Sorenson Poses With His Heavy Load Of Christmas Mail And Parcels, Chicago, 1929

Animals Being Used As Part Of Medical Therapy , 1956 🤍 Three-Year-Old Peggy Kennedy Enjoyed These Ducklings Paddling Around In A Tub. Peggy, A Polio Patient, Wore A Plastic Chest Respirator

Two Women Showing Uncovered Legs In The Public Place For The First Time, Toronto, 1937

In The 1800s , Pit Bulls Were Often Called “Nanny Dogs” Because Of The Protective Behavior They Exhibit Around Children

The second question: is the photo representative? In other words, can the photo indicate something bigger than itself?“For example, the internet has, for years, made fun of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un for marveling at seemingly cool but likely fake things like modern and well-stocked grocery stores,” Wilkey added. “These photos are meant to be representative images portraying for Kim’s people and for foreigners that North Korea is a modern and well-nourished society. [But]the reality is a bit different.”

The second question: is the photo representative? In other words, can the photo indicate something bigger than itself?

“For example, the internet has, for years, made fun of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un for marveling at seemingly cool but likely fake things like modern and well-stocked grocery stores,” Wilkey added. “These photos are meant to be representative images portraying for Kim’s people and for foreigners that North Korea is a modern and well-nourished society. [But]the reality is a bit different.”

To Win A Bet In 1956 , Thomas Fitzpatrick Stole A Small Plane From New Jersey And Landed It Perfectly On A Narrow Manhattan Street While Drunk, In Front Of The Bar He Had Been Drinking At. Two Years Later, He Did It Again After A Man Didn’t Believe He Had Done It The First Time

The photograph was taken in 1957 in the Netherlands where open air schools were quite popular at the time. The idea of an al fresco classroom should be a very obvious one if the weather permits it, but unfortunately, most traditional western schools these days don’t put much emphasis on the benefits of learning outside of four walls.

An Open Air School In 1957, Netherlands

Berlin 1960s. Residents Of West Berlin Show Their Children To Their Grandparents Living In East Berlin , 1961

Two Members Of The Bertram Mills Circus Walk Head-To-Head At Hammersmith Broadway In London 1953

While these concepts can apply to virtually any photograph, they become vital when we’re viewing one as evidence.“They are important for historical photographs because of the power and usefulness of photography in political propaganda.“North Korea is a great example of a regime that uses photography for propaganda, but Wilkey said that the Soviet Union and the US were well versed in the subject too, particularly during the Cold War and the Space Race.

While these concepts can apply to virtually any photograph, they become vital when we’re viewing one as evidence.

“They are important for historical photographs because of the power and usefulness of photography in political propaganda.”

North Korea is a great example of a regime that uses photography for propaganda, but Wilkey said that the Soviet Union and the US were well versed in the subject too, particularly during the Cold War and the Space Race.

Not Something Seen Every Day This Must Be “Take Your Donkey To Work Day " Amusing Life Magazine Back Page Photo!

A Young Man Demonstrating Against Low Pay For Teachers, Ca. 1930. “I Left School To Earn $21 A Week. My Teacher’s Pay Is $17.78 A Week.” Photographer Paul Thompson

Basket men were hired and their sole purpose was to take patrons home when they were too drunk to stand up

A Drunken Man Placed In A Basket And Carried Away, Istanbul, 1960s

An Ostrich Carriage Being Stopped By The Police For Crossing Speed Limit . Los Angeles Around 1930

“Another good example of government using photography to achieve a political end was the Farm Service Administration’s use of photography to document the impact of the Great Depression as a means of garnering support for the New Deal,” Wilkey then said.“Roosevelt’s opponents argued it was political propaganda, while his proponents argued it was an accurate depiction of what was happening. Ultimately, most scholars have concluded that, while it accomplished political ends, it was indeed an accurate portrayal of reality.”

“Roosevelt’s opponents argued it was political propaganda, while his proponents argued it was an accurate depiction of what was happening. Ultimately, most scholars have concluded that, while it accomplished political ends, it was indeed an accurate portrayal of reality.”

Here’s A Camouflaged Road In Finland During Ww2 , The Trees Were Hung Up With Rope So The Russians Couldn’t See The Road ( 1941 )

Abandoned Baby Sleeping In Desk Drawer At Los Angeles Police Station , ( 1971 ) Policewoman Pat Johnson , 28, Tends A Baby Girl , About 9 Months Old, Who Was Found Alone And Crying In A Downtown Hotel Room In Los Angeles , California

A Time Long Gone… (Photo From The 1980s)

How Friends Were Deleted In 1859

“ No Dog Biscuits Today ”, London , 1939

Caught In The Rain In The Ginza District, Tokyo, Japan, 1969

Brothel Candles. At Some Of The Lesser Brothels , This Box Of Match Candles Are Used By Women As A Timer . A Man Can Pay His Dues And Then Light The Candle . Once The Candle Goes Out , The Session Is Over

New York City 1975 Photo By Joel Meyerowitz

Camping In The 1960s

Beech-Nut Girl In Harlem , 1940s Harlem 1940’s , Beechnut Chewing Gum Girl Making A Sale

Travelling Hairdresser ' Stop Me ' The Entrepreneurial Spirit Was Alive And Well Back In The 1920’s As This Enterprising Young Lady Demonstrates With Her Traveling Hairdresser Business

Budapest In 1987 ( Hungary ) Photo By Attila Manek

Parisians Navigate Flood Waters By Walking Across Rows Of Chairs, 1924 Photographer / Henri Manuel

Cleaning Day At Church, Leipzig Germany C.1920

An Iron Worker Balances Himself On A Beam 15 Floors High. Ge Building , Rockefeller Center , 1932 Photographer Charles Clyde Ebbets

Hairdresser’s Hot Dog , Ca. 1960 Photo By John Drysdale

The Woodstock Music Festival began on August 15, 1969, as half a million people waited on a dairy farm in Bethel, New York, for the three-day music festival to start. Billed as “An Aquarian Experience: 3 Days of Peace and Music,” the epic event would later be known simply as Woodstock and become synonymous with the counterculture movement of the 1960s. Woodstock was a success, but the massive concert didn’t come off without a hitch: Last-minute venue changes, bad weather and the hordes of attendees caused major headaches. Still, despite—or because of—a lot of sex, drugs, rock ‘n’ roll and rain, Woodstock was a peaceful celebration and earned its hallowed place in pop culture history

Aerial View Of Over 400,000 People At Woodstock , 1969

the guys who didn’t have a wife or girlfriend waiting for them didn’t exactly suffer – they had plenty of attention from the opposite sex!

After The War Ended In May 1945, It Took Months To Transport All Those Men And Women Home Again, And Some Didn’t Arrive Until Just Before Christmas

In 1949, Bedridden French Artist Matisse Used His Apartment In The Hôtel Régina In Cimiez, To Prepare Designs For The Chapel Of Rosary In Vence , Which Was Of Similar Size

Fair Fun 1930s Two Young Women Enjoying Themselves On The ' Caterpillar ' Ride At Southend Fair, Essex, October 1938 … Photo By Kurt Hutton

The Evolution Of The Female Bathing Suit From 1875 To 1927

1937 : A Mother Fastening A Notice Reading " Please Mr Motorist , Watch Out For Me ,” Onto Her Son’s Back Before He Sets Out On A Trial Bicycle Ride . By Hulton Archive

1950s All Women’s Hot Rod Club. “Dragettes” Hotrod Club Kansas City , Kansas

On A Balcony In Paris , The Refresh Break With Family A Parisian Family During The Heatwave Of The Summer Of 1937

Couple On A Malvern Star Abreast Tandem Bicycle, New South Wales, Australia. C. 1930s Photo By Sam Hood

Meet Kuba Komet , the mothership of Space Age entertainment systems . This rocket-like structure includes a 23″ black and white television , eight speakers , a Telefunken phonographs and a multi-band radio receiver .At the time of release in 1957 , The Komet cost more than a year’s average wage

Kuba Komet 1950s

A Man Begging For His Wife’s Forgiveness Inside Divorce Court , Chicago , 1946

In 1931 , Mary Smith Earned Six Pence A Week In East London By Shooting A Pea Into The Windows Of The Sleeping Workers. Knocker-Uppers Also Used Long Bamboo Sticks, Batons And Canes To Rouse Residents Of The Upper Floors