78 Fascinating Historical Photos That You Probably Haven’t Seen In History Books

Pictures illuminate the shadows of history, revealing the forgotten people and places that otherwise may have faded into oblivion. They help us make sense of the past and, in turn, allow us to understand the present.

So we at Bored Panda decided it would be a nice idea to explore the subreddit ‘Rare Historical Photos‘ — it has 40,000 members constantly digging through the archives and sharing their best finds. Prepare to be transported through time!

#1 Renowned Photographer Walter Chandoha Created One Of His Most Famous Photographs Of His Daughter Paula And A Small Kitten Smiling At The Camera At The Same Time, 1955

Image credits: ua-stena

#2 A Seaman’s Request For An Extraordinary Leave Of Absence, 1967. Reason: “My Wife Is Planning To Get Pregnant This Weekend And I Would Like To Be Present.”

Image credits: ua-stena

#1 Renowned Photographer Walter Chandoha Created One Of His Most Famous Photographs Of His Daughter Paula And A Small Kitten Smiling At The Camera At The Same Time, 1955

#2 A Seaman’s Request For An Extraordinary Leave Of Absence, 1967. Reason: “My Wife Is Planning To Get Pregnant This Weekend And I Would Like To Be Present.”

#3 Shy Young Woman Smiling For The Camera 143 Years Ago

#4 A Baby Lamb Snuggles Up To A Sleeping Boy, 1940

#5 Girls Sent Home From Mckinley High School For Wearing Slacks And Blue Jeans, Chicago, 1946

#6 Ojibwe Woman, Ponemah, Minnesota, Photograph Taken By Roland W. Reed C.1908

#7 A Police Officer Playing Duck Duck Goose With Children In New York, 1970

#8 A GI Shares His Rations With Two Italian Children, 1944

#9 A Former Prisoner Points Out The Most Brutal Guard. Germany. 1945

#10 New York, 1958. Dancers In A Nightclub Play Chess. Smartphones Haven’t Been Invented Yet

#11 A Dog Says Goodbye To His Fallen US Soldier Friend. Afghan War, 2004

#12 A Young Woman Photographed In The 1910s

#13 The Oldest Indian, John Smith, Managed To Live In Three Centuries At Once, Being Born In The 18th Century, Living Throughout The 19th Century And Dying In The 20th Century. It Is Alleged That He Lived For About 137 Years

#14 A Lady From High Society. Ottoman Empire, 1900s

#15 Abraham Lincoln In 1861 And 1865. A Noticeable Four-Year Contrast Against The Backdrop Of War

#16 With Her Husband At War, Mom Works On The Car, 1944

#17 Queue For The Premiere Of The Star Wars Film. Vancouver, 1977

#18 This Is What The Empire State Building Looked Like Against The Background Of Other Buildings, 1941

#19 The Ship “Queen Elizabeth” Arrives At The Port Of New York. On Board Are Soldiers Returning From World War II, 1945

#20 Portrait Of A Family. Georgia, USA, Circa 1900

#21 Five-Year-Old Albert Einstein, 1884

#22 Early Use Of A Selfie Stick In The 1940s

#23 Man With Down’s Syndrome, 1890s

#24 Young Couple Standing At A Speed Limit Sign. Oklahoma, 1920s

#25 Vancouver’s First Official Lifeguard, Joe Fortes, 1905. Fortes, Who Was Born In Trinidad And Tobago, Was Credited With Saving Dozens Of Lives And Was Known As “Old Black Joe”

#26 A Cowboy, 1890s

#27 An Old Fisherman Photographed In Bergen, Norway In 1902 By Anders Beer Wilse

#28 Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau Carries The Country’s Future Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Under His Arm. Ottawa, 1973

#29 Goodyear Illuminated Tires, 1961

#30 Republican Party Supporters And Democratic Party Supporters Fight With Snowballs In Front Of The Capitol. January, 1921, Washington, USA

#31 A Youthful Marine, Da Nang, Vietnam, August 3, 1965

#32 Pictured Is Paul Overby, One Of Two Drivers Trapped In The Cab Of The Truck. He Is Pulled By A Rope In The Pit River Bridge Over Lake Shasta Near Redding, California, May 3, 1953. Both Overby And His Partner Hank Baum Were Rescued Before The Car Plunged And Caught Fire

#33 American Soldier Returning Home From The Great War, Ca 1918-19

#34 A Typical American Family In 1950s, Detroit, Michigan

#35 A Fashionable Young Woman Exiting A NYC Streetcar In 1912

#36 Cab Drivers In Madison Square Garden, New York, 1900

#37 People Sit On A Curb Amid Confetti And Papers After Celebrating The End Of World War II In New York City On August 14, 1945

#38 Photo Of Marilyn Monroe First Wedding, She Was 16 Years Old, 1942

#39 A Lady Walks Around Renting Out Books As A “Walking Library.”

#40 Drexel Institute Girls’ Rifle Team. Philadelphia, USA

#41 Crossing Over The Thames. Photo By René Groebli, 1949

#42 Service At The Track Restaurant In Los Angeles, 1950s. Food Was Delivered Via Conveyor Belt Directly To Cars

#43 Passengers Onboard The Staten Island Ferry. New York, USA. 1895

#44 Airmail Pilot, William “Wild Bill” Hopson Of The U.S. Mail Service In Omaha, Nebraska, 1926

#45 Downtown Boston, 1910

#46 A Gentleman Tips His Hat To A Group Of Ladies, 1920s

#47 A Photo Before Going Off To War Of Three Friends – 1943

#48 A Victorian Home Being Moved Via Horse Power. San Francisco, California, USA. 1908

#49 A Mexican Baker, 1880-90s

#50 A Family Of A Migratory Fruit Worker From Tennessee Camped In A Field Near The Packinghouse At Winter Haven, Florida, 1937

#51 John D. Rockefeller Gifting A 5-Cent Coin To A Child, 1929

#52 The Last Photo Of Nikola Tesla. 1942

#53 Pope John Paul II Talks With The Turkish Terrorist Who Shot Him (Wounded In The Arm And Stomach), Mehmet Ali Agca, 1983

#54 Jackie Kennedy At Her Husband’s Funeral, 1963

#55 Times Square, NYC, Dec. 27, 1947

#56 Christmas In Marion, Indiana, USA, 1958

#57 Soviet Basketball Player Arvydas Sabonis At The World Cup Final In Spain, 1986

#58 A Rare Photo Of North Korean Leader Kim Il Sung, Showing A Tumor On His Neck. Photographers Were Prohibited From Photographing The Right Side Of His Face. Late 1980s

#59 Abraham Lincoln With His Son, Thomas “Tad” Lincoln, The Fourth And Youngest Son Of The 16th President Of The United And His Wife Mary Todd Lincoln. Thomas Died At The Age Of 18

#60 Driver Of Combine Threshing Oats, 1940

#61 Workers Stand Atop Ladders Working On The Frame Of The Uss Macon Airship. May 1932. Goodyear Airdock, USA. It Launched In April 1933 And Crashed In 1935

#62 New York At Night, 1933

#63 Farmers In Front Of The Post Office On Saturday Afternoon. Linwood, July, 1940

#64 Future Leader Of The Cuban Revolution Fidel Castro In Central Park In New York, USA, 1955

#65 Evicted Sharecropper Family In Temporary Camp. Butler County, Missouri, 1939

#66 People Gathered In Front Of Stores In A Small Town. Eureka Springs, Arkansas, 1880

#67 Little Leonardo Dicaprio And His Parents George And Irmelin, 1976

#68 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, 1972

#69 Variant Of The Uniform For Flight Attendants On Scandinavian Airlines, Copenhagen, 1960s

#70 Flatiron Building, New York, 1902

#71 A Unique Photo From 1938 – A House Made Of Redwood. Well, Who Could Build Such A Miracle? Of Course, He Was A Genius Or A Giant!

#72 Powerful Baseball Player Weighing 204 Kg. Citizen Team Player. City Of Emporium, Pennsylvania, 1910s

#73 Migrant Farm Worker With His Wife And Ten Children, 1936

#74 Orson Welles As Macbeth, 1947

#75 Polygamous Prisoners In Utah’s Sugar House Prison, 1889

#76 Robert F. Kennedy Playing Football, December 1967

#77 Fans At A Stadium In Chicago Await A Hockey Game. USA, 1930s

#78 Russia’s First President, Yeltsin, Leaves The Kremlin And Hands It Over To Putin. Russian Federation, December 31, 1999