Photographs serve as portals to history, allowing us to witness life in eras vastly distinct from our own. They reveal stories of sorrow and success, while also showcasing the ongoing transformations shaping our world. We've shared many historical photos with you in the past, yet numerous other photographs capturing crucial or extraordinary moments throughout history remain unseen by many. So, let's take a look at some historical moments, some great some not-so spectacular, that may help us view the world from a different perspective.
Related: You Will Love This Collection of Rare Historical Photos
1. Following the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989, a man and a woman hide beneath a bridge
2. A woman stands on Omaha Beach in Normandy, France, in 1947, three years after the Allied forces liberated German-occupied France. Photo By David Seymour.
3. As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's funeral train departed Warm Springs, Georgia, on April 13, 1945, Chief Petty Officer Graham Jackson, an accordion player, can't control his tears.
4. A majestic assembly of totem poles, meticulously crafted by the Haida people in Skidegate, British Columbia, 1878
5. An infant Colo, the first baby gorilla born in captivity. When Colo died, she was the oldest known gorilla at the time. Colo lived from 1956 to 2017.
6. Richard Lasher's incredible photo of the 1980 eruption of Mount Saint Helens in Washington State, USA
7. Mrs. Hale, the wife of a British soldier, plays the accordion for a group of American soldiers outside her home in England in 1944.
8. A man standing on the lap of a statue of Ramesses in Egypt, 1856
9. Paris during the La Belle Époque, or “the beautiful era”. Sandwiched between the end of the Franco-Prussian War and the outbreak of World War I, it was the era of growth, invention, and optimism in Europe.
10. The Patrouille Suisse, the Swiss Air Force's acrobatic team, during a loop in front of the Alps, 1967
11. Walt Disney explaining Mickey Mouse to a cat in 1931
12. French alpinist Gaston Rébuffat mountain climbing in France, 1944
13. Emperor Minilik the 2nd of Ethiopia, 1896
14. A view over Berlin in 1920
15. Window cleaners in New York City, 1958
16. Queen Elizabeth during her WWII service
17. A police officer on a Harley-Davidson transports a prisoner in a mobile holding cell, 1921
18. A fortunate British soldier grins while proudly displaying his helmet, bearing the marks of battle. (1917)
19. This is one of the pipes that make up the Hoover Dam.
20. An audacious young girl fearlessly rides an alligator in the 1920s
21. Invented in the nineteenth century, the "Mass Shaving Machine" could shave a dozen men at the same time.
22. Two German soldiers and their mule wearing gas masks in WWI, 1916.