44 Fascinating Historical Photos

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3 days ago

It's honestly so cool to see these parents marching in a pride parade in 1974...but it also makes me sad that it's been 50 years and queer people are still facing so much prejudice.
TIL that Theodore Roosevelt's first wife and mother died on the same day, which was just days after the birth of his eldest child (the indomitable Alice, who, if you have not read about...you should). He wrote this in his journal shortly afterward, and it's genuinely heartbreaking.
In contrast, this letter from Teddy Roosevelt after he was called a drunk is kind of hilarious. Someone remind me what the medicinal purposes of brandy are?
These 1939 predictions about what fashion would look like in 2000 are also funny to see now. TBH, you probably could buy a version of those shoes in 2000, though I don't know how comfortable they'd be.
This photo of American soldiers playing video games at Saddam Hussein's former palace in 2003 — while troops were still looking for Hussein — is genuinely wild.
It's also kind of mind-blowing to see what a first-class room looked like on the Titanic. Honestly? I expected nicer.
This ad for a journey on the Titanic – back to the UK from NYC — is eerie to look at now. Obviously, it's a journey the ship would never complete.
And this letter from survivor Charlotte Collyer is super, super sad.
I bet you never learned about this in school — in 1964, Martin Luther King, Jr. received the following letter, along with a tape of his alleged sexual activity. It reads like blackmail from a prior supporter, but King believed it was from the FBI — and it was eventually revealed that it was. The full text of the letter, except for one redacted name, was released in 2014, and you can read it below.
Why was the FBI so concerned about King, you ask? Because they were worried he would endorse communism. Right-wing groups thus put up billboards like this during the Selma march as propaganda meant to make him lose supporters.
This is the gun used to kill Abraham Lincoln. In case you forgot, Lincoln was watching a performance of the comedy Our American Cousin at Ford's Theater with his wife, an officer, and the officer's fiancé. You may not know, however, that the plan was to wipe out the vice president, Andrew Johnson, and the secretary of state, William Henry Seward, as well. Seward actually had his throat slashed, but survived.
It's kind of wild that this copy of the Magna Carta from 1305 still exists.
But not as mind-blowing as these 1800-year-old Roman leather sandals.
This news headline from 1933 did NOT age well.
Neither did this 1939 newspaper caption.
Or this 1914 article. To refresh your memory, the archduke's assassination is largely regarded as the event that jump-started WWI.
Oh, and here's a photo of good ol' Franz and his wife just moments before they were assassinated.
Ever wonder when the first-ever selfie was? It's way further back than I thought — Robert Cornelius took one in 1839.
This leaflet for Black American soldiers during the Korean War is wildly fascinating to read — and made great points, tbh.
This handbook from WWI, translating important wartime phrases like "Run for your life!" or "we are losing," feels...bleak to me.
TIL about the first cat who went into space. Her name was Félicette, and she was a French stray who was flown in the rocket Veronique in 1964. She made it back safely and to this day is the only cat to have gone to space.
Another fun fact? In Sweden, cars used to drive on the left side of the road. But in 1967, they switched to the right — leading to absolute chaos, as you can see below.
New York to Paris is a common flight now, but back in the early 1900s, it was unheard of — until Charles Lindbergh made the (solo!) journey in 1927. His airplane looked just a *bit* different than the ones we use today.
Speaking of Charles Lindbergh, his son was kidnapped and later found dead in 1932, and the case is fascinating to read about. The kidnapper exchanged multiple notes with the Lindberghs and their liaison, John Condon, who even apparently met with the kidnapper in a graveyard. Here's one of the notes.
And speaking of planes, check out this flight price from 1946. Of course, this would be $241.38 in today's dollars.
Here's what British passports used to look like, in case you wanted to pop over to another country in 1858.
During WWII, British people all had to carry these National Registration Identity Cards at all times — even children. If they were separated during bombing or for any other reason, this could assist with reunification. It would also assist with rationing food.
And here's what a WWII ration book looked like.
Modern psych wards are a far cry from what were called "lunatic asylums" back in the day. People could be admitted for a ton of different reasons, many of them completely unrelated to psychological conditions — you can read some of them, from the late 1800s, below.
Here's what the NYC subway looked like in 1961 — honestly, it doesn't look as different as I would've expected!
And here's what it looked like in 1987.
This is what a Japanese tram looked like after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima — next to a restored version.
And here's a larger-scale photo of the bomb's destruction in Hiroshima.
Here's Colonel Paul Tibbets, who flew Enola Gay, which dropped the bomb.
WW2 doesn't seem all that long ago when you look at graffiti left by soldiers.
Speaking of WWII, check out these propaganda posters reminding Americans of their allies in the war...which feels ironic, considering how the US would feel about Russia and China very shortly afterward.
This letter sent home from a soldier in Vietnam just made me really, really sad.
I definitely do not remember learning about the Mormon War from 1857 in school. Basically, then-President James Buchanan sent troops to quell rebellion in Utah, where tensions were already high between Mormons and both Protestants and the government. The Mormons took up arms and fought back in their own way...which, namely, involved killing around 120 people traveling via wagons to move out west. They attacked the migrants, then offered them safe passage out, only to execute everyone over the age of seven and blame it on the nearby Native Americans. This was called the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Militia Leader John D. Lee was eventually excommunicated and executed for his actions — here you can see him sitting on his coffin just before being killed.
I'm always fascinated by old beauty trends, and it turns out that there were some wildly dangerous beauty trends back in the day. For example, people used to use products with arsenic in them.
There were also makeup and hair products that contained radium and other radioactive elements.
Old-school medicine also used to be pretty darn dangerous. For example, heroin was used as a cough suppressant.
And people could be prescribed cocaine.
Speaking of medicine and health, X-rays have been around a lot longer than I realized — since 1896. Here's what it looked like to get one back in 1914.
And finally, this sign is a fascinating reminder of just how far we've come. Back in the day, people had to be instructed how to use electricity — and assured it was safe.