109 Interesting Historical Photos You Wouldn’t Find In History Textbooks

The aesthetic of vintage photographs is undeniably charming. Certain imperfections and the warm, grainy, soft look evoke nostalgia and take us back in time when moments were captured on film. They make one really appreciate the craftsmanship needed to create such images as well since materials were scarce and retouching was minimal, which meant that the photo had to be taken in as few takes as possible.

To further kindle our love for vintage photography and history, we compiled a list of old pictures, collected by the Untold Tales Of The Past Instagram account. Scroll down to find them and make sure to upvote the ones that you wish you could’ve spotted in your textbook in school.

While you’re at it, don’t forget to check out a conversation with award-winning analog film and darkroom educator and owner of Little Vintage Photography, Rachel Brewster, and award-winning photographer and owner of Belle Privé, Emma Finch, who kindly agreed to share a few tips with those who want to achieve a vintage photo look in the modern age.

#1 The Athlete Who Lost $10.000 To Help A Struggling Competitor

Jacqueline Nyetipei Kiplimo did something that stunned the world during the 2010 Zheng-Kai Marathon when she witnessed a disabled competitor struggling to drink water who was a double amputee. Instead of seeing her moment to run ahead of this struggling athlete, she ran along side of him from the 6.2 mile mark to the 23 mile mark (10km mark to the 38km mark), helping him drink water at all of the watering stations. The aide that she so compassionately provided her fellow competitor slowed her run time down and caused her to lose her first place position and place 2nd in the race — costing her the win and the $10,000 cash prize. Jacqueline Nyetipei Kiplimo showed the world that day that to her, being compassionate and helping one another was more important than winning a race that she had been preparing for her entire life.

#1 The Athlete Who Lost $10.000 To Help A Struggling Competitor

#2 Charles Thompson Being Welcomed By His New Classmates, Just 4 Months Earlier The Supreme Court Rules That Racial Segregation Was Unconstitutional

#3 A Young Inuit Girl Carrying Her Pet Husky On Her Back. 1920’s

#4 Vietnam Veterans Protesting The Vietnam War, “We Won’t Fight Another Rich Man’s War”. 1970

#5 Two Boys Teaching Each Other Parts Of Their Culture

#6 Orgone Accumulator, A Device Sold In The 1950s To Allow A Person Sitting Inside To Attract Orgone, A Massless ‘Healing Energy’

#7 Louis Armstrong, An American Trumpeter And One Of The Most Influential Artists In Jazz History, Drawing A Trumpet And Autographing The Side Of A Young Man’s Head In Nice, France, 1961

#8 Anatoly Golimbievsky, A Heavily Decorated Soviet Veteran Who Lost Both Legs In The Second World War, Acknowledges The Salute Of Four Young Sailors From The Nakhimov Navy School On V-Day In Leningrad In 1989

#9 A Better Walk In The Park, 1937

#10 Nudity Is God’s Creation, 1979

#11 Kiss In Central Park, C. 1974

#12 A Little French Girl Gives An American Soldier A Kiss On Valentine’s Day, 1945

#13 An Anti KKK Group Called ‘The Invisible Jungle, Knights Of The Tiger’s Eye,’ A New Secret Order

#14 Nurse Showing Newspaper Headline About Polio Vaccine To A Man On Chest Respirator Due To Polio, 1955

#15 London, 1939

#16 Police Officer Unaware Of The Imminent Danger, 1959

#17 A Milkman Makes His Way Through The Rubble Following A German Bombing Raid In London, 1940

#18 The Statue Of Liberty ? Towering Over Paris Just Before Being Disassembled And Shipped To New York

#19 As Soviets Approach Berlin, The Citizens Of The City Did Their Best To Take Care Of Zoo Animals, 1945

#20 A Boy Sitting On A Sea Mine Eating An Ice-Cream In Kent, United Kingdom, 1945

#21 This 1958 Photo Shows A Prisoner Being Used To Test Safety Nets Before They Were Mass-Produced For The Public

#22 Alfred Hitchcock Serving Tea To Leo The Lion, Mascotte Of MGM ,1958

#23 How The Donut Size Changed Throughout The Years

#24 Soldiers Of The 6th Waffen SS “Nord” Mountain Infantry Division Bandaging A Wounded Dog’s Paw

#25 Bruce Lee Doing Two Finger One Arm Push UPS, Ca. 1970s

#26 Woman Operating A Camera Underwater, 1940s

#27 Watching The Signing Of Treaty Of Versailles, 1919

#28 In London, The Double-Decker Buses Underwent A Tilt Test To Prove They Would Not Tip Over

#29 A Game Of Unicycle Basketball In Harlem, C. 1960s

#30 Samuel Reshevsky, Age 8, Playing Against Several Chess Masters At Once In France

#31 Night Fishing, 1948

#32 A Zookeeper Watering Some Emperor Pinguïns To Keep Them Cool On A Hot Summer Day, 1957

#33 A Navigation Hotline In The Netherlands, 1963. Long, Long Before Google Maps

#34 Soviet Soldiers Crouched In A Trench As A Russian T-34 Tank Passes Over Them During The Battle Of Kursk, 1943

#35 David Henseley, Young Child Crippled By Polio With Both Legs In Braces, Soliciting Funds In Public Fundraising Driver For A New Polio Hospital, 1948

#36 A Nun Keeping Her Young Charges Cool, Madonna House Day Nursery, New York City, Summer 1941

#37 A Boy Selling Lemonade With A Portable Lemonade Dispenser. Berlin, 1931

#38 Eiffeltower Under Construction For The 1889 World Fair In Paris, France

#39 A Couple Stops Dr. Martin Luther King For A Photo On A Beach, 1956

#40 Salvador Dali Reading A Biography About Himself, 1955

#41 A 9000 HP Spiral Turbine Being Built In Germany For A Power Plant In Norway, 1928

#42 Colonel Sanders From KFC Eating A Pie At Harry’s Cafe De Wheels In Sydney, 1972

#43 Marilyn Monroe Performing In Korea For Thousands Of American Soldiers, 1954

#44 A Mom Washing Her Children On A Hot Day In Paris, 1937

#45 An Ostrich Carriage Being Stopped By The Police For Crossing The Speed Limit, Los Angeles, 1930

#46 Picture Of Male Lovers From 1850 – 1950 When Being Gay Was Illegal

#47 German Fraternity Mirror Selfie, 1912

#48 The Elephant Seal Goliath With A Zoo Keeper, 1936

#49 Christmas During The Croatian War In 1992, Vukovar

#50 Russia Be Like… Moscow, 1963

#51 An Italian Woman Curiously Inspecting The Kilt Of A Scottish Soldier In The Colosseum Of Rome, 1944

#52 A Man Wearing External Pacemaker. It Is Battery Operated, 1960

#53 Together, An Armless Man (Charles Tripp) And A Legless Man (Eli Bowen) Can Ride A Tandem. 1890s

#54 Girls Dressed As Witches Going Water Skiing In Florida, C. 1950s

#55 The Finish Of The First Tour De France, 1903

#56 Man Using An Aircraft Detection Radar Device , C. 1920s

#57 John Lennon Snorts Coke In The 1960s. From The Movie A Hard Days Night

#58 “Wait For Me Daddy”

#59 Stonehenge Reconstruction, Circa 1919

#60 British Soldiers Learning To Handle Mines And Booby-Trap Devices ‘Blind’ As Part Of Training For Night Missions At The 10 Corps Mine School. December 1943

#61 Power House Mechanic Working On Steam Pump. Photo By Lewis Hine 1920

#62 Photo Showing Two Berlin German Policemen On Patrol. Beside Them Is A Snowman. In The Distance, The Brandenburg Gate Stands, 1961

#63 A Chest X-Ray In Progress At Dr. Maxime Menard’s Radiology Department At The Cochin Hospital. Menard Would Later Lose His Finger To Side Effects From Operating The X-Ray Machine. 1914

#64 Margaret Bourke-White, A Photographer, Climbing The Chrysler Building For The Perfect Photo, Circa 1930

#65 The Sagrada Família In Barcelona, 1905. It Is Magnificent That After More Than A 100 Years Of Constructions, The Structure Has Yet To Be Finished

#66 Australian Soldiers Of The 4th Division Field Artillery Brigade On Duckboard Track In The Château Wood

#67 British Policeman Wearing Either A Mk4 Or Mk5 Gas Mask

#68 The World’s Fattest Woman And “Major Mite”, One Of The World’s Shortest People. 1922

#69 Healing A Back Problem With A Bear. Romania, 1946

#70 The Future Is Now! Traffic Jams Are No More With The Flying Car. The Convair Model 118 Unfortunately Never Made It Into Mass Production, 1947

#71 A Sky Trooper From The 1st Cavalry Division Keeps Track Of The Time He Has Left On His “Short Time” Helmet, While Participating In Operation Pershing, Near Bong Son During The Vietnam War, 1968

#72 A Peanut Vendor Wearing A Suit Made Of Peanuts, 1890

#73 The “Follyphone”, A Fake Musical Instrument Designed By Lewis Sydney As A Parody Of New Musical Instruments Being Devised At The Time

#74 A Man Balances Himself On A Wooden Rod On The Edge Of A New York Skyscraper, 1939

#75 Michael Jordan Posing In Front Of The Eiffel Tower In Paris, 1985

#76 A Blind American ?? First World War Veteran On The Streets Selling The Bonus Expeditionary Force Papers

#77 A Young Boy Riding A Tortoise While Tempting It With Some Food, 1945

#78 Hong Kong In 1960, Captured By Fan Ho

#79 The Consequences Of Landing On The Wrong Aircraft Carrier, 1952

#80 Repair Workers Fixing The Damage To The North Side Of The Empire State Building After The B25 Crash In 1945