These unforgettable pictures from history capture everything from the Holocaust to Woodstock to the Civil Rights heroics of Mister Rogers.
This powerful photo from the Holocaust captures the immense relief of Jewish prisoners freed by the U.S. Army in April 1945. They were being transferred to the Theresienstadt ghetto and concentration camp in the final days of World War II when they were suddenly set free. U.S. Army Photo
On a May 1969 episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, Fred Rogers soaked his feet in a kiddie pool with his frequent guest star, “Officer” François Clemmons. The moment may seem unremarkable today, but it came across as a brave and firm stance during the American Civil Rights Movement when integrated public swimming pools were seen as controversial. YouTube
The all-Black Harlem Hellfighters fought longer than any other unit during World War I. Although they were celebrated in their own time, especially in France, their legacy has since gone too often overlooked. This photo shows them in 1919, just after they were awarded the Croix de Guerre in France for gallantry in action. Getty Images
Hippies at the original 1969 Woodstock festival sell LSD for just one dollar. Yesterday Today/Twitter
On Feb. 4, 1912, Austrian inventor Franz Reichelt plummeted to his death from the Eiffel Tower. He launched himself from the tower hoping to show off his new low-altitude parachute, which failed. Public Domain
Arctic explorer Peter Freuchen stands next to his third wife, Dagmar Freuchen-Gale, in 1947. The fearless Freuchen is wearing a polar bear coat made from a bear he killed himself. Irving Penn/The Irving Penn Foundation
Joseph Goebbels, Nazi minister of propaganda, glares up at the camera. He just learned that the photographer, Alfred Eisenstaedt, was Jewish. Alfred Eisenstaedt
"Stagecoach Mary", a six-foot-tall woman who was born into slavery, was said to have a temper "like a grizzly bear." In the late 1800s, she became the first Black postwoman in the United States. Public Domain
Mark Twain in Nikola Tesla's lab circa 1894. The writer and the inventor were friends — Tesla had read Twain's books, and Twain was fascinated with technology. Public Domain
Theatrice Bailey, the brother of the owner of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, scrapes blood from the balcony following Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination.Henry Groskinsky/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
This rare and compelling photo from the American frontier shows John "Grizzly" Adams with a bear in 1856. Adams captured, trained, and frequently wrestled with grizzly bears. During one bout, a grizzly struck him in the head, dislodging his scalp and leaving him with permanent head trauma. Public Domain
Bonnie and Clyde goof around with a rifle. The outlaws left a camera with a number of photos like this at a crime scene, feeding the appetite of newspaper readers following their crime spree. FBI
New Yorkers pause in Times Square to watch the last episode of Seinfeld. The popular "show about nothing" ran for nine seasons and ended in 1998. Reddit
A group of beaming Soviet snipers during World War II. The Soviet Union trained about 2,000 women as snipers. One of them, Lyudmila Pavlichenko, killed 300 people single-handedly. Yesterday Today/Facebook
Inventor Chester E. MacDuffee stands next to one of the first atmospheric diving suits, circa 1911. The suit weighed 550 pounds. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The last photo ever taken of eccentric inventor Nikola Tesla, on January 1, 1943. Although he produced a number of impressive inventions during his life, Tesla died penniless and alone.PBS
A very bored Prince Charles stands between his grandmother, the Queen Mother, and his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, at the latter's 1953 coronation. Prince of Wales
When gay rights activist David Kirby revealed his homosexuality to his family, they cast him out. But Kirby's family returned to his side as he lay dying of AIDs, as captured in this poignant photo from 1990. Therese Frare
During World War II, a Polish unit adopted a bear named Wojtek into their unit. Wojtek drank beer, smoked cigarettes, and even had his own rank and serial number. Imperial War Museum
Colonel Sanders, best known today as the mascot character for Kentucky Fried Chicken, was based on KFC's real-life founder, Harland David Sanders. Sanders started serving fried chicken at his Kentucky gas station in the 1930s. KFC
Is this a death photo of President Abraham Lincoln? Some historians think so, believing it was taken the night of his assassination at Ford's Theater in April 1865. Others are skeptical. Discovery
In 1981, boxer Muhammad Ali heard about a man threatening to commit suicide near his home. Ali jumped in his car and sped to the scene, where he coaxed the distressed man back indoors. Los Angeles Public Library
On August 6, 1945, hell rained from the heavens in Nagasaki, Japan. In the waning days of World War II, the United States dropped a nuclear bomb on the Japanese city, killing at least 70,000 people in the blink of an eye. This photo shows the devastation around the Urakami Cathedral in the city. Bernard Hoffman/The LIFE Picture Collection
In December 1983, American actor Mr. T visited the White House to play Santa Claus. But, to his frustration, no one would sit on his lap. That is, until First Lady Nancy Reagan settled in, and gave him a smooch on the forehead for good measure. White House Photo
In a moment that captures the rage of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, a young Irish teenager screams at two fully armed British troops on August 14, 1989. Reddit
This crumbled car, smashed against the side of a Paris tunnel, carried Princess Diana to her death. On August 31, 1997, the beloved "people's princess" died in a catastrophic car crash while being pursued by paparazzi. Jake Guez/Getty Images
The guillotine seems like a relic from a past era. But the French continued using this execution method long after the French Revolution. This photo depicts the last public execution in France using the guillotine, which saw serial killer Eugen Weidmann put to death on June 17, 1939. The French used the guillotine until 1977. Roger-Viollet/The Image Works
On Nov. 14, 1960, six-year-old Ruby Bridges went to her first day of school — tailed by a federal agent. Bridges, the first African-American child to desegregate the all-white William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans, was met by a screaming mob. U.S. Department of Justice
A small crowd poses in front of a California sequoia tree named "Mark Twain" in 1892. The U.S. Army cut down the 1,300-year-old, 331-foot-tall tree the previous year. Library of Congress
In 1863, a slave named Gordon ran away from his Mississippi plantation and found refuge among the Union Army. Photos of the shocking scars on his back quickly circulated throughout the country and became a rallying cry against slavery. Library of Congress
Blonde bombshell Marilyn Monroe beams in a series of pictures taken in June 1962 by George Barris. But Monroe's movie star smile hid a deep agony, and she died of an overdose on Aug. 4, 1962. George Barris
Jubilant crowds pack Times Square in New York City following the end of World War II. Bettmann/Getty Images
Martin Luther King Jr. spent his life advocating for the rights of Black Americans. But in his downtime, he was also a talented pool player. Here he is making a trick shot in 1966. AP Photo
The enormous heads of Easter Island have long fascinated historians and archeologists. But there's more there than meets the eye — since 1914, archeologists have investigated the "torsos" of these incredible statues. UCLA
Two artillery soldiers, William E. Thomas and Joseph Jackson, prepare "easter eggs" on March 10, 1945, during the last weeks of World War II. The ammunition reads: "Easter Eggs For Hitler" and "Happy Easter Adolph."Department of Defense/National Archives
This photo allegedly shows a 28-foot-crocodile shot in Australia. Some claim, however, that the size of the crocodile is due to the forced perspective of the camera. Hart Collection
These skeletons, apparently wrapped in an eternal embrace, were discovered in northern Iran in 1972. Although their relationship to each other remains a mystery, archeologists suspect they died during a violent invasion in 800 B.C.
The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
The shaky-looking interior of an airplane, circa 1924, complete with lightweight wicker seats and curtains on the windows. Reddit
Renowned sharpshooter Annie Oakley takes aim in a hand mirror in 1899. She could easily land a bullseye on targets behind her back. Public Domain
Unharnessed workers scale the heights of New York City's Woolworth building in 1926. Ovadia & Sons/Tumblr
On April 5, 1976, a Black lawyer named Ted Landsmark unknowingly wandered through an anti-busing protest in Boston. The mob, livid at the thought of desegregation, pounced on him. In a Pulitzer-prize winning photo titled "The Soiling Of Old Glory" one man even tries to impale Landsmark with an American flag. Stanley Forman/The Boston Herald American
Although histories of World War II tend to focus on Europe, the war raging in the Pacific Theater was just as devastating. Here, a group of emaciated Australians drink tea after their release from a Japanese camp in September 1945. Pictoral Press
In 1925, people in Nome, Alaska started rapidly catching diphtheria. Dog teams brought the lifesaving antitoxin to Nome, including one led by the now-famous Siberian Husky named Balto. This photo, however, shows musher Leonhard Seppala with his sled team led by Togo (far left), who ran farther than any other sled dog during the serum run for Nome.Carrie McLain Museum/AlaskaStock
In 1961, a 19-year-old East Germany border guard named Conrad Schumann suddenly bolted — and leapt into the West. His flight, captured on camera, became known as the "Leap Into Freedom." Sadly, Schumann struggled with his newfound fame and died by suicide in 1998.Library of Congress
In 1963, a young Bill Clinton shook the hand of President John F. Kennedy.Arnold Sachs/Getty Images
Belgian coal miners are crammed into elevators following their shift, c. 1920.Reddit
Daryl Davis, left, has spent decades befriending members of the Ku Klux Klan — and convincing them to leave the organization. Daryl Davis
This is the last-known photograph taken of Edgar Allan Poe, taken in September 1849, mere weeks before he died under mysterious circumstances in a manner befitting his fiction. Swann Auction Galleries/Public Domain
A young boy eagerly takes a hammer and chisel to the Berlin Wall, which fell on Nov. 9, 1989. The wall had divided East and West Germany for 28 years. Pool CHUTE DU MUR BERLIN/Getty Images
In 1918, 18,000 soldiers in Des Moines, Iowa, formed a "human Statue of Liberty" to sell war bonds during World War I. Public Domain
A poignant wartime goodbye captured on film. The soldier pictured is setting off from the 34th Street bus terminal in New York City on Dec. 7. 1941 to fight in World War II after his leave was terminated following the attack on Pearl Harbor. A fellow soldier helpfully holds his girlfriend so they can have one last kiss. Bettmann/Getty Images
Two girls deliver ice in Manhattan in September 1918. In the United States, women had never before worked jobs like these until World War I caused a shortage of men. Corbis/Getty Images
Some of the fiercest women warriors in the world were Japanese samurai. Called Onna-Bugeisha, they fought with a lightweight sword called a naginata. Pinterest
Lion tamer and animal trainer Jack Bonavita poses with his lions. An esteemed circus performer in turn-of-the-century New York, Bonavita was eventually killed by one of his animals in 1917 — though it wasn't a lion, but instead a polar bear. The Circus Blog
This remarkable 1899 photo is the first picture ever taken underwater. Louis Boutan/Public Domain/via Wikimedia Commons
Jacob C. Miller was shot in the face during the Civil War. Incredibly, he survived, but bore an open wound for the rest of his life. Public Domain
Selfies are ubiquitous today, but they've been popular for decades. Here, a 23-year-old Frank Sinatra snaps a bathroom selfie in 1938.Sinatra Family Archive
At a Ku Klux Klan rally in Gainesville, Georgia in 1992, a toddler in KKK robes broke away from the crowd. Enchanted by the police shields, he went to touch one — and seemingly didn't even notice the Black state trooper holding it. Todd Robertson/Southern Poverty Law Center
Pictured here is the preserved body of a member of the Franklin Expedition, a doomed 1845 mission to find the Northwest Passage. Instead, its crew got trapped in the Arctic and perished en masse.Brian Spenceley
Civil rights activist — and later congressman — John Lewis holds his head during an attack on "Bloody Sunday," March 7, 1965. Lewis and others had just crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, when state troopers attacked their peaceful protest. AP Photo
In April 1993, approximately 1 million people descended on Washington D.C. to participate in the the 1993 March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi-Equal Rights and Liberation. Among them were this young man,
Michael Szymansky, and his supportive mother. University of Southern California
Johnny Cash settles in to perform during his famous Folsom Prison concert on Jan. 13, 1968. AP Photo
Armed with a fish-eye lens and a curiosity about Eastern culture, George Harrison set off for India in 1966. Here, the Beatle takes a selfie in front of the Taj Mahal. George Harrison
In 1948, a retired professor named George McLaurin became the first Black student to be admitted to the University of Oklahoma. But because the school was segregated, McLaurin was kept strictly away from his white classmates. Library of Congress
Before his presidency began, John F. Kennedy was just an underdog candidate hoping to somehow win. Here, he campaigns in West Virginia in 1960. Reddit
A worker gazes over the first cables of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California, c. 1935. Golden Gate Bridge and Highway District
This stunning photo demands a second look — and an explanation. Although it looks elegant and even perhaps romantic, the so-called "Kiss of Life" photo actually depicts a life-saving rescue in 1967. Rocco Morabito/Jacksonville Journal
A well-dressed group walks down the streets of Harlem, New York, in the 1970s. Pinterest
In a startling juxtaposition, a number of Ku Klux Klan members engage in some lighthearted fun at a local carnival in Cañon City, Colorado, 1926. The Royal Gorge Regional Museum and History Center
In a picture that encapsulates the 1990s, drag queen RuPaul holds a crying Frances Bean, whose father, Kurt Cobain, stands smiling on the right while backstage at the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards. Jeff Kravitz/Filmmagic
As the Hindenburg descended in a ball of flames, a radio announcer perfectly captured the moment by crying, "Oh, the humanity!" This 1937 disaster ended the era of zeppelin travel for good. Murray Becker/Public Domain/via Wikimedia Commons
This mummy is more than 2,000 years old. Called Lady Dai, she's a remarkably well-preserved mummy from China who still has blood in her veins. Public Domain
In 1943, a Yugoslavian teenager named Lepa Radić was condemned to hang for her sabotage efforts against the Nazis. She was offered a pardon if she revealed the names of her compatriots, but Radić refused to the very end, saying: “I am not a traitor of my people. Those whom you are asking about will reveal themselves when they have succeeded in wiping out all you evildoers, to the last man.”Public Domain
The Beatles' John Lennon searches for a guitar pick he lost inside his instrument in India, 1968. Pinterest
While under threat both from the FBI and the Nation of Islam in 1964, Civil Rights icon Malcolm X peers out the window of his home while holding a gun.Ebony Collection
The so-called "Lion Man" — whose real name was Stephan Bibrowski — was a popular sideshow attraction in the early 20th century.Brooklyn Public Library
Jazz great Louis Armstrong plays the trumpet as his wife (and the Sphinx) watch and listen in Egypt in 1961. AP Photo
77 Historical Photos That Reveal The Triumph And Tragedy Of Humanity’s Past
Human history has always been filled with awe-inspiring heights of kindness and bravery as well as heartbreaking lows of violence and depravity. But it's only in the last 175 years that the invention of the camera has finally allowed us to catalogue all of it. What we're left with is a wealth of historical photos that capture humanity at its best as well as its worst.
From life-saving heroics and bold stands for civil rights to the horrors of the Holocaust and slavery, the history pictures above capture the extremes of the human experience in ways that never would have been possible before the dawn of photography.
But while historical photos like these are indeed worth at least a thousand words each, the stories behind them only add more dimension to these powerful moments from humankind's recent past. Discover both the stories and the images in the gallery above.
Historical Photos That Capture The Power Of Love And Hope
Among the historical photos above, the ones that capture pure generosity, kindness, and affection certainly stand out. Sometimes the scene is as simple as two lovers sharing a goodbye kiss during wartime. But other times, the story is more complex.
Take, for example, the famous "Kiss of Life" photo from 1967, which depicts two electrical linemen in a midair embrace.
Rocco Morabito/Jacksonville JournalThe heart-stopping "Kiss of Life" photo that won the 1968 Pulitzer Prize.
At first glance, it looks passionate. But the photo actually depicts the aftermath of a catastrophic electrical shock, and the attempt of one lineman to save the life of the other. Thankfully, he succeeded, all while a newsman from the Jacksonville Journal took photos from the ground below.
Then there are historical photos in which people express heroism and love in different, sometimes more complicated ways. In one such photo above, a family that had previously exiled their gay son gathers around his bedside as he dies of AIDs.
And when it comes to romantic love, sometimes two people are lucky enough to have a story for the ages. Bonnie and Clyde, for one, may have met a gory end, but not before their story of both young love and daring lawlessness captivated millions of Americans. And in one inimitable photo above, both their youthful passion and their outlaw spirit are on full display as they pose playfully while Bonnie points a rifle at Clyde.
Pictures From History That Depict Terror, Death, And Disaster
But the power of photography lies not only in its ability to depict love, hope, and triumph. Indeed, some of the most powerful historical photos ever captured show the depths of loss, anger, fear, and death.
In one striking photo above, taken during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, an Irish teenager screams at two armed British soldiers.
Captured halfway across the world and a century before, another photo above reveals the wounds suffered by a Black slave named Gordon in the years before the Civil War.
And then there are photos of disasters. The collection above includes both precise moments of crisis, such as the 1937 crash of the Hindenburg in New Jersey, as well as echoes of long-ago agony, like the frozen bodies of the doomed Franklin Expedition to the Arctic in 1845.
New York Daily News Archive/Getty ImagesThe Hindenburg floating over Manhattan, just before its fatal crash in New Jersey.
And, perhaps above all, historical pictures that capture death itself will always stand apart. Photos in the gallery above reveal, for example, the brave final moments of 17-year-old Lepa Radić, who spent her last seconds on Earth standing up to the Nazis. Then there's the brutal scene at Memphis' Lorraine Motel, where the owner's brother, Theatrice Bailey, scrapes up the blood left behind after Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination in April 1968.
But whether the historical photographs above depict love or pain, salvation or disaster, they capture unforgettable moments in time that will continue to define humankind for better and worse.
After looking through these 77 historical photos, see some of the weirdest history pictures ever captured. Then, see rare historical photos that'll leave you in awe.
