50 Curiosity-Inducing Historical Photographs (Best Of All Time)

Every photograph is an immortalized moment. Through the years, they become a time capsule of a bygone era, a reminder of how life was once.

The internet is rich in resources of noteworthy images from the past, and this subreddit is an excellent example. With over three million members, it has no shortage of pictures featuring landmark events and renowned figures, whether in monochrome or full color.

As part of Bored Panda’s recurring series of articles, we’ve compiled this best-of-all-time list for you to enjoy. Whether or not you’re a history buff, prepare to be fascinated and maybe even learn something new.

In 1969, When Black Americans Were Still Prevented From Swimming Alongside Whites, Mr.rogers Decided To Invite Officer Clemmons To Join Him And Cool His Feet In A Pool, Breaking A Well-Known Color Barrier

Cop Stops The Traffic In New York So A Mother Cat Holding A Kitten Can Cross Safely C.1925

When They Realized Women Were Using Their Sacks To Make Clothes For Their Children, Flour Mills Of The 1930s Started Using Flowered Fabric For Their Sacks. (1939)

Since we’re on the subject of historical photos, one that stands out is the ‘Lunch Atop A Skyscraper.’ For the uninitiated, it shows a row of 11 construction workers enjoying lunch seated on a steel beam 850 feet above the streets of Manhattan.

The photograph was taken on September 20th, 1932. According to Smithsonian Mag, it was a publicity stunt to create a buzz for the imminent completion of what turned out to be the Rockefeller Center. And yes, it is all real.

100,000 Iranian Women March Against The Hijab Law, Tehran 1979

Albert Einstein Defying The Prevailing Racial Climate At The Time By Visiting Lincoln University, Pennsylvania — The First Degree-Granting Black College In The Us — To Teach A Class. He Was An Outspoken Civil Rights Advocate For Black Americans. Photographed In 1946

Princess Diana Shakes Hands With An Aids Patient Without Gloves, 1991

The fiery still image of the Hindenburg exploding in mid-air is another all-time classic, outside of its grim and tragic nature. It was a Nazi creation meant to use their supposed engineering skills as propaganda.

Instead, the vessel caught fire from static electricity on May 6th, 1937, resulting in the combustion. Thirty-six people lost their lives.

The photo, however, was so iconic that legendary rock band Led Zeppelin used it as the cover image of their first album.

Charles Thompson Greets His New Classmates At Public School No. 27 In September 1954, Less Than Four Months After The Supreme Court Ruled That Racial Segregation Was Unconstitutional. Charles Was The Only African-American Child In The School. Photo By Richard Stacks For The Baltimore Sun

Incredible Photograph Of A German Soldier Going Against Direct Orders To Help A Young Boy Cross The Newly Formed Berlin Wall After Being Separated From His Family, 1961

"Happiest Man In China", Taken In 1901 By British Anthropologists After Deciding To Document The Chinese. The Chinese Didn't Know Photos Were A "Serious Matter" And Decided To Be Goofy, Hence The Pose And Smile

A Native American Mother And Her Child - 1900s

Jewish Prisoners After Being Liberated From A Death Train, 1945

Mogadishu, 1993. An Italian Soldier Gives Food To A Local Orphan

Fast forward to more recent times, specifically to June 15, 1995. The “Trial of the Century” involving O.J. Simpson was front-page news. From it came the infamous photo of the disgraced NFL star trying on a pair of gloves that were evidence. It was a key moment that led to his eventual acquittal.

However, the photo of Simpson with the bloodied gloves likewise became part of history. It was also a subject of many spoofs and mockeries, which lingered until his death this past April.

Meet The "Night Witches", Fearless Russian Female Pilots Who Bombed Nazis By Night, 1941

Atelier Photo: "A Lesbian Couple In Semi Drag Wedding Attire"; Kingdom Of Hungary - Budapest, 1920

A Man Rides A Bus In Durban, Meant For White Passengers Only, In Resistance To South Africa’s Apartheid Policies, 1986

American Troops Treat A Wounded Dog On Orote Peninsula, 1944

Margaret Hamilton And The Handwritten Navigation Software She And Her Mit Team Produced For The Apollo Project, 1969

A Beach In Iran A Few Months Before The Islamic Revolution, 1979

A Man Arrested For Cross-Dressing Emerging From A Police Van, New York, 1939

Here Is How An Ukrainian Immigrant Celebrated Stalin's Death. 1953

Stoney First Nation Member, Guide Samson Beaver With His Wife Leah And Their Daughter Frances Louise, 1907. Photo Taken By Mary Schäffer

Six-Year-Old Austrian Boy “Werfel” Receiveing A New Pair Of Shoes At The Am Himmel Orphanage, Donated By The Junior Red Cross In America (Colorized). Published In The Life Magazine In 1946

Arnie Supporting Disabled Athletes, 1983

18-Year-Old Keshia Thomas Protects A Fallen Man, Believed To Be Associated With The Ku Klux Klan From An Angry Mob Of Anti-Clan Protestors. Ann Arbor, Michigan USA. 1996 By Mark Brunner

Tokyo Residents Mourning Hachiko. He Would Regularly Meet His Owner, Professor Ueno, At Shibuya Station After He Returned From Work. Sadly, Ueno Died On May 21, 1925 & Never Returned. However, Hachiko Would Return To The Station Every Day For 9 Years, Waiting For Him To Come Back, 1935

Anne Frank’s Father Otto, Revisiting The Attic Where They Hid From The Nazis. He Was The Only Surviving Family Member. (1960)

Ruby Bridges, The First African-American To Attend A White Elementary School In The Deep South, 1960. Colorized

1972: 3 Women On The Streets Of Kabul, Afghanistan

A Man Guards His Family From The Cannibals During The Madras Famine Of 1877 At The Time Of British Raj, India

Nakano Takeko (Onna-Musha Of The Aizu Domain) In Imperial Japan, She And Other Women Fought In The Battle Of Aizu In October 1868 During The Boshin War, When On October 16th, She Was Killed In Battle By Rifle Shot. Shown In Full Samurai Armour, C. 1860 - 1868

Young Queen Elizabeth As A Mechanic During Ww2 (C. 1939)

African-American Boys On Easter Morning, Southside, Chicago, Illinois, April 1941 [colorized]

An American Soldier Cradles A Wounded Japanese Boy And Shelters Him From The Rain In The Cockpit Of An Airplane During The Battle Of Saipan While Waiting To Transport The Youngster To A Field Hospital. July, 1944

Albert Einstein, His Secretary Helen (Left), And Daughter Margaret (Right) Becoming U.S. Citizens To Avoid Returning To Nazi Germany, 1940

A Policeman In San Francisco Scolds A Man For Not Wearing A Mask During The 1918 Influenza Pandemic, 1918

British Soldiers (Interrupted During Drag Show Rehearsals By A German Raid) Manning A Bl 6-Inch Mk Vii Naval Gun At Shornemead Fort, England In 1940

Russian Inmate Points An Identifying And Accusing Finger At A Nazi Guard Who Was Especially Cruel Towards The Prisoners In Buchenwald Camp. Colorized

A German Soldier Returns Home Only To Find His Family No Longer There. Frankfurt, 1946 - By Tony Vaccaro

West German School Children Pause To Talk With Two East German Border Guards Beside An Opening In The Berlin Wall During The Collapse Of Communism In East Germany In November 1989 (Photo: Stephen Jaffe)

A U.S. Marine Rescues Two Vietnamese Children During A Gun Battle At The City Of Hue, During The Tet Offensive Of The Vietnam War - 1968

In 1945, The Auschwitz Death Camp Was Discovered And Liberated By The Red Army

Annette Kellerman Promotes Women's Right To Wear A Fitted One-Piece Bathing. She Was Arrested For Indecency. (1907)

Rosa Parks's Booking Photo Following Her February 1956 Arrest

Woman Cutting Her Birthday Cake In Iran 1973, 5 Years Before The Islamic Revolution

In 1973, Marlon Brando Rejected His Oscar For The Godfather To Allow Sacheen Littlefeather To Protest Hollywood’s Portrayal Of Native Americans

David Isom, 19, Broke The Color Line In A Segregated Pool In Florida On June 8, 1958, Which Resulted In Officials Closing The Facility

A French Boy Introduces Himself To Indian Soldiers Who Had Just Arrived In France To Fight Alongside French And British Forces, Marseilles, 30th September 1914

Martin Luther King Jr. Removing A Burnt Cross From His Front Yard In 1960

Wwi. A Canadian Soldier Tries To Comfort A Little Belgian Baby, Who Was Hurt And Whose Mother Was Killed By An Artillery Shell. November 1918

An Undercover Police Officer On Duty. New York, Brooklyn, 1 July 1969

Note: this post originally had 119 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.