40+ Famous Historic Events Then and Now

These fascinating past and present photos of famous events give us a clear, wonderful picture of human progress. Enjoy!

The first World Series in Pittsburgh in 1903

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Wikipedia

The 2014 World Series final which was slightly more organised.

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EPA/Justin Lane

The first ever Rockefeller Christmas tree in 1931

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History Porn

Rockefeller Christmas tree in 2013

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Rockefeller Center

The first International match at Wimbledon in 1883.

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History Porn

The Wimbledon Championships in 2014

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The first Glastonbury festival in 1970 attracting 1,500 people who paid £1 each for a ticket and free milk.

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Getty Images

The Glastonbury festival in 2014 attracting 135,000 people who paid £225 for a ticket and beer instead of milk.

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RCA

The first official gay pride march in London surrounded by police for their protection.

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History Porn

2014 LGBT London pride parade flanked by supporters.

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Valerie Benguiat / Digital Journal

The first photo ever taken from space, in which a camera was strapped onto a V2 rocket fired straight up in 1946.

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History Porn

The Aurora Australis taken from the International Space Station in 2013.

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NASA

The first official Paralympic Games held in Rome in 1960, in which 400 athletes from 23 countries participated.

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History Porn

2012 Paralympic Games in London, in which 4,300 athletes from 164 nations participated.

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John Godley

The first climber, Sir Edmund Hillary, reached the summit of Mt Everest in 1953.

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History Porn

With far better equipment today, a traffic jam like this one in 2013 becomes a common problem on Everest.

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Utmost Adventure Trekking/Al Jazeera

Aerial view of the 1930 World Cup final in Montevideo, Uruguay, with only 13 teams participating because of the difficulty of getting to South America at the time.

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AP Archive

2014 World Cup in Brazil with 209 countries eligible to enter

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braziltheguide

 

The first photograph of the moon, taken in 1839.

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History Porn

The first photograph of Earth taken from the moon in 1969.

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NASA

Photo of both the Earth and moon from China’s Chang’e 5-TI satellite in 2014.

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China National Space Administration

Three men participating in the marathon at the first modern Olympics in 1896, in which only 16 nations were allowed to compete.

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History Porn

2012 marathon in London, in which 206 nations participated.

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David Levene/Guardian

The first neon sign installed on the Las Vegas strip in 1941.

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History Porn

Las Vegas strip today.

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EPA/Justin Lane

The first modern Olympic Games held in Athens in 1896

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History Porn

2012 Olympics held in London

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Nicholas Moon

New York’s first subway in 1904, which was the first choice of transportation of New York’s upper class to escape the busy streets

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History Porn

New York’s subway today

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EPA/Justin Lane

Western Berliners looking on as work begins on the Berlin wall in 1961.

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History Porn

United Berliners celebrated the anniversary of the fall of the wall and marked it’s former path with illuminated balloons this year.

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Pawel Kopczynski/Reuters

Bill Murray as the first guest on The David Letterman Show in 1983.

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CBS

In 2014, Bill Murray shared on the same stage again with David Letterman, along with Lady Gaga.

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CBS

Boston Marathon organizers attempt to stop Kathrine Switzer from running the race in 1967.

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History Porn

Boston Marathon in 2014

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Brian Snyder/Reuters

The Wright brothers’s successful flight in 1903, with their plane flying for 59 seconds over 852 feet.

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History Porn

The Philae probe had traveled 4 billion miles and landed on a comet in 2014

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ESA

A French soldier fitted with a prosthetic mask in 1918.

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History Porn

In 2011, the first full face transplant was successfully accomplished on Dallas Wiens who lost all of his face in an accident.

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Paul Beaty/AP

Otto Lilienthal made the first glider flight in 1894.

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History Porn

Annie Edson Taylor became the first person ever to survive a trip over Niagara Falls in a barrel in 1901.

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History Porn

Felix Baumgartner took a plunge from the stratosphere, 24 miles above Earth, in 2012.

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