What makes old, historical photos so interesting is that they offer us a window into our past, into someone else’s life. They even take us into what seems to be another world wrapped in intrigue, wonder and, sometimes, unknown.
But more than what they show us, there’s an even deeper fascination as to what the stories behind each photo. Take for instance these 19 images from history that only require one quick look to captivate you. And once you know their stories, you will be compelled to look again.
1. Taj Mahal
via Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium
This is the earliest known photo of the Taj Mahal, c. 1850-1860.
2. Cadets
via reddit/u/AUEngineer90
“A possible image of Confederate cadets in Morgan County, AL.”
3. Preparing to fly
via Shutterstock
In 1910, President Theodore Roosevelt became the first president to fly.
4. Stud-muffin
via Capital Pictures
A young John Wayne.
5. Campbell’s soup
via flickr / Iconista
Andy Warhol buys Campbell’s soup at Gristede’s market on Second Avenue in 1964.
6. The Andromeda Galaxy
via Wikipedia / Frazzydee | Isaac Roberts
This was taken in 1888 and is known to be the first ever photo of the galaxy.
7. Wile E. Coyote
via goodreads
The original rules Chuck Jones had for his creations: Roadrunner and Coyote.
8. Passage
via Getty Images / Hulton Archive
A rope bridge in India, 1870.
9. Pals
via imgur / AbrohamLiftin
Arnold Schwarzenegger and then President George Bush go for a sled ride, 1991.
10. Peanuts
via DOuG pRATt
The original voice cast of Peanuts.
11. Adele Ross
via Getty Images / Hulton Archive
Adele Ross Clothing 1966, anti-miniskirt signs.
12. Clinton
via Getty Images / stringer
Four year-old Bill Clinton, 1950.
13. Work space
via Getty Images / Ralph Morse
Albert Einstein’s desk just as he left it, a few hours after his death in New Jersey, April, 1955.
14. Hiroshima
via dankalia
Hiroshima, 1945 – a child left blind from the atomic bomb
15. No smoking
via Getty Images / Zola
A German boy tries to sell his father’s Iron Cross for cigarettes. Berlin, 1945
16. Hostage
via Corbis Images
Indianapolis, 1977 – Richard O. Hall is held hostage by Tony Kiritsis with a sawed-off shotgun during a live broadcast. The gun was rigged so that if Kiritsis was killed or if Hall tried to escape he would be shot.
17. Wheelie
via Dull Tool Dim Bulb
Photo of the oldest known documented wheelie, 1936.
18. Helen Hulick
via LA Times
“In 1938, Helen Hulick was a kindergarten teacher who witnessed a robbery. When testifying in court she showed up in pants and was ordered by the judge to return in a dress. When she showed up at a later date again in pants the judge sentenced her with contempt and five days in prison.”
19. King of rock and roll
via Press Images
Elvis Presley waits for his bacon and eggs while a woman is forced to stand and wait due to segregation. Chattanooga, Tenneesee, 1965
H/t Diply