Rare and vintage historic photos that show what life actually was like
A picture might be worth a thousand words, but some photos in history could write an entire book. These photos don’t just take a snapshot of a certain time, but they will leave you questioning everything you thought you knew. Some of these photos are especially incredible, shocking, or chilling that you need to see them to believe it.
Check out these mind-blowing photos from history and reevaluate everything you knew before. If these won’t change how you view the past, we don’t know what will.
Crew Members Flee The Hindenburg Airship
This rare and shocking photo was taken on May 6, 1937, and it documents one of the most infamous disasters of the 20th century. The Hindenburg airship was filled with hydrogen and suddenly caught fire when trying to land.
You can see crewmen and passengers fleeing the site, but sadly, 36 people died.
The Family Of A Prisoner Of War Greets Him For The First Time In Five Years
The looks of pure joy on everyone’s face in this family is remarkable. This famous photograph is from 1973 and shows Lt. Col Robert Stirm’s family running to greet him after he was released as a prisoner of war from Vietnam.
Stirm was held captive in Vietnam for more than five years before “Operation Homecoming” brought him back stateside.
1960s Flight Attendants Show Off Their Uniforms
Being a flight attendant in the 1960s was all about making sure the mostly-male passengers were happy, but it also came with a lot of strict rules. You were expected to be young, single, and a certain height and weight.
Some airlines even required flight attendants to retire once they reached their 32nd birthday!
MLK And His Son Inspect A Burned Cross On Their Front Lawn
Revered Martin Luther King Jr. had seen worse in his fight for civil rights than a burned cross like this, but it’s still surprising. The grace that he uses to casually remove the scorched cross in April 1960 proves how powerful a peaceful protest could be.
It’s even harder to watch his young son look on though.
Captain A.L. Kahn Captures The “Great Manta”
It took three long hours and dozens of crew members but finally, on August 26, 1933, Captain A.L. Kahn captured the largest manta ray fish ever seen before.
This photo was actually taken after a taxidermist preserved the Great Manta. Before being gutted and stuffed, this manta ray weighed more than 5,000 pounds.
A House Being Blown To Pieces From A Nuclear Test
Unless you lived through it, most people in America tend to forget that we did nuclear testing on our own soil. You can still even visit the “Survival City” site in Nevada where scientists and the government looked to test the effects and results of a nuclear bomb.
This photo just proves how much the government knew, and still dropped two atomic bombs on Japan.
Two Inmates Play Chess Through The Bars
Life in prison in the 1970s wasn’t exactly easy, but you didn’t see the overcrowding, strict rules, and obvious extortion that you see in the American prison system today.
You’d be hard pressed to go to a prison today and see two inmates playing chess patiently. The guards would be way too worried.
The New York Knickerbocker Baseball Team In 1858
This is the first ever photo of two baseball teams together. The tradition began on one sunny afternoon in 1858 in the little town of Hoboken, New Jersey. Here, the New York Knickerbockers faced the Brooklyn Excelsiors.
At the time this photo was taken, America’s pastime had very different rules and regulations and would take a few decades to grow into the game we recognize today.
Nineteen-Year-Old Robert Wadlow Shows Off His Legs
This unique image doesn’t just capture a very tall man, but the tallest man in history. Robert Wadlow lived from 1918-1940 and stood at the staggering height of 8 feet 11.1 inches.
Wadlow was only 19 in this photo and makes the other man look minuscule, despite being average sized.
A Woman Wears A Respirator During A Los Angeles Smog Alert
Los Angeles and the San Joaquin Valley is notorious for its smog. In 1970, the Clean Air Act was passed in America and Los Angeles needed it the most. It was the most polluted city in America.
This woman chose to drive around in a deregulated respirator rather than suffer the effects of smog, or put the convertible top up on her car.
An Airline Stewardess Examines A Showgirl’s Skirt
The airline stewardess on the left must have know the 1960s would bring about a change in uniform. Here, in 1959, she stops to examine a woman showing off the possible new uniforms for the Swedish airline.
It doesn’t look like she’s too pleased about her new scand-lous Scandinavian uniform.
Ruby Bridges Gets An Armed Guard To Escort Her Into School
On November 14, 1960, little Ruby Bridges became the first African-American to attend a white elementary school. The official call from the federal government to desegregate schools left many districts rioting.
Speaking later on in life about Ruby, the U.S. marshal escorting her said, “She showed a lot of courage. She never cried. She didn’t whimper. She just marched along like a little soldier.”
WWII Soldiers Use Their Gas Masks To Peel Onions
Some days of war are more eventful than others, but that doesn’t mean your gear and time should go unused. These Allied soldiers from World War Two made it clear that there was more than one good use for peeling onions.
I’ve never been in wa,r but I’ve shamelessly worn ski goggles while chopping onions, so I get it.
