Human history is full of moments that stop you in your tracks, moments both grand and surprisingly intimate. Luckily, thanks to photography, we have glimpses into these times, preserved for us to witness. In this collection, you’ll find 18 rare photos that reveal history in a whole new light.
Related: These Photos Are of Incredibly Fascinating Things
1. It's amazing to think that someone had to hand-carve all of the presidents' eyes on Mount Rushmore
2. This tea chest is one of two surviving chests from the Boston Tea Party back in 1773
3. Astronaut Charles Duke put a picture of his family on the moon back in 1972, and it remains there to this day
4. This is what the Panama Canal looked like while it was under construction
5. This is the Willamette meteorite, the largest meteorite that's ever been found in the United States
6. The Empire State Building under construction in 1930
7. The Hollywood sign we all admire now used to be called "Hollywoodland" before it took on its famous form
8. Times Square in 1921
9. The opening of the very first New York City subway back in 1904
10. In 1969, Niagara Falls was emptied to get rid of a lot of boulders that had been collected at its base
11. This is the dish rag that Robert E. Lee used when he surrendered the Confederate army to the Union in the Civil War
12. The USS Langley, the first United States aircraft carrier
13. This billboard was placed outside Oak Ridge, Tennessee, a town created for manufacturing during the Manhattan Project
14. Henry Ford cruising around in the first car he designed, the Quadricycle
15. Andrew Jackson was among the first U.S. presidents to be captured in a photograph. This image is from 1844.
16. This is Zach T. Wilcox, owner of the world's longest beard, in 1922
17. The first ever ticket sold for Disneyland
18. John Smith, a member of the Chippewa tribe, was said to be 137 years old when he passed away
