Photographs possess a remarkable ability to capture the present moment and allow future generations to glimpse into the past. It is a privilege to have access to countless real moments frozen in time since the inception of photography. We should never take this for granted, which is why we are showcasing a collection of historical images from the Instagram account ‘The History House.’ Explore the list below and remember to upvote the pictures that resonate with you the most.
1. Bessie Coleman, the First Black Aviatrix, faced discrimination in the US and moved to France to earn her flight certificate in 1922. Image credits: thehistoryhouse
2. A young French girl proudly showing off her cat in 1959. Image credits: thehistoryhouse
3. Two girls gleefully riding sheep in Cornwall, England, in 1969. Image credits: thehistoryhouse
We had the pleasure of speaking with Margot Note, an expert archival consultant and founder of Margot Note Consulting LLC, who emphasizes the significance of photography in recording history accurately and immediately. Margot highlighted that photographs offer a direct representation of historical moments, providing authenticity and emotional connection that other methods may lack.
4. A photograph of a King Island Inuit woman and child taken between 1915 and 1925 in King Island, Alaska. Image credits: thehistoryhouse
5. Australian soldier Private George “Dick” Whittington receiving aid from Papuan orderly Raphael Oimbari near Buna on 25 December 1942. Image credits: thehistoryhouse
6. Residents of Chicago’s Southside dressed in their Sunday best in 1941. Image credits: thehistoryhouse
Margot suggests that the invention of photography has democratized the documentation of history, enabling a broader spectrum of individuals to document their lives and surroundings.
7. Freddie Mercury boarding a bullet train during the Hot Space Japan Tour in Nishinomiya, Japan, on October 25, 1982. Image credits: thehistoryhouse
8. The coffin of the Unknown Warrior before his internment in Westminster Abbey, commemorating British and Commonwealth troops killed during WW1 with no known grave on November 11, 1920. Image credits: thehistoryhouse
9. Finnish soldiers in NBC (Nuclear, Biological & Chemical) gear during an exercise in 1961. Image credits: thehistoryhouse
While photography has its limitations, including selectivity and the photographer’s perspective, Margot believes its immediacy and ability to capture fleeting moments make it a powerful tool for recording history.
10. Actor Christian Bale in his bedroom at home in Bournemouth, Dorset, United Kingdom, in 1987. Image credits: thehistoryhouse
11. Davide Chislagi, the Italian inventor, [complete caption not provided].
Exploring His Version of the ‘Monowheel’, 1933
Image credits: thehistoryhouse
Among the historical photographs that Margot deems significant to humanity are:
– “Migrant Mother” by Dorothea Lange, portraying the impact of the Great Depression
– “Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima” by Joe, symbolizing resilience during World War II
– “Earthrise” by William Anders, revealing Earth from space and inspiring environmental awareness
A Young Soldier of the Austro-Hungarian Army on the Bridge of Sighs inside the Marmolada Glacier, 1917
Image credits: thehistoryhouse
French Soldier with a Wild Eagle Owl in the Trenches, 1916
Image credits: thehistoryhouse
A Soldier of the US 535th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion with a Dog in Belgium, January 1945
Image credits: thehistoryhouse
Margot’s personal favorite historical photo is the first selfie by Robert Cornelius in 1839, capturing a moment of self-reflection in the early days of photography. She finds it a testament to the timeless human instinct to document life and essence.
Bar Patrons outside “The Squirrel” in Stockholm, Sweden, 1895
Image credits: thehistoryhouse
A Milkman continues his duties after a German bombing raid in London, 1940
Image credits: thehistoryhouse
A Dog stealing a postman’s glove in Minneapolis, 1950
Image credits: thehistoryhouse
In a previous interview, Arnie Bernstein and Jaclyn Richie stressed the importance of remembering the Holocaust and the lessons it holds. Richie also highlighted the significance of the Civil Rights Movement in advocating for equality and justice.
Abraham Lincoln, Candidate for U.S. President, 1860
Image credits: thehistoryhouse
Soldiers manning anti-aircraft guns during an air raid at Shornemead Fort, Kent, England, 1940
Image credits: thehistoryhouse
Young John F. Kennedy Jr. waiting for his father, President John F. Kennedy, in October 1963
Image credits: thehistoryhouse
Richie emphasized the lessons from the Holocaust and the Civil Rights Movement, promoting compassion, vigilance, and courage.
A French Soldier with Facial Prosthetics, 1918
Image credits: thehistoryhouse
George Armstrong Custer in West Point Cadet Uniform, 1859
Image credits: thehistoryhouse
Pablo Picasso wearing a hat and holding a revolver and holster
By Gary Cooper, Cannes, France, 1958
Image credits: thehistoryhouse#25 “The Father Of Basketball”, James Naismith, 1927
Image credits: thehistoryhouse#26 Albert Einstein Sailing On The Saranac Lake, In The Adirondack Park, New York, 1936
Image credits: thehistoryhouse#27 The MLB All-Star Game In San Diego, 1992
Image credits: thehistoryhouse#28 A British Soldier With His 8-Month Old Daughter As He Arrives At The Docks From Overseas, 1945
Image credits: thehistoryhouse#29 Union Blue And Confederate Gray Veterans Reunite At Gettysburg In The Year 1913 — Standing By “The Bloody Angle” Where Pickett’s Charge Took Place 50 Years Earlier And Over 3,000 Soldiers On Both Sides Lost Their Lives — Now They Clasp Hands Over The Stone Wall As Brothers
Image credits: thehistoryhouse#30 Manfred Von Richthofen In Conversation With Hauptmann Rudolf Kleine And Oberleutnant Martin Gerlich Of Kamfgeschwader 3. Two Albatros D.V. Are Parked In The Background – Richthofen & Kurt Wolf – Gontrode, East Flanders, In The First Week Of July, 1917
Image credits: thehistoryhouse#31 Exactly 60 Years Ago (April 12th, 1961) Mankind Reached The Stars As Yuri Gagarin Became The First Human To Travel To Space
Image credits: thehistoryhouse#32 Maud Wagner – The First Known Female Tattoo Artist In The United States. 1907
Image credits: thehistoryhouse#33 Workers Assemble President Abraham Lincoln’s Statue At The Lincoln Memorial In Washington, D.C., 1920. Originally Designed To Be 10 Feet Tall, The Likeness Was 19 Feet High When Completed, So That The Cavernous Chamber Would Not Dwarf The Statue
Image credits: thehistoryhouse#34 A Babushka Keeps The Ears Of Her Grandson Warm As He Takes An Oath Of Enlistment For The Russian Army. Volgograd, 1994. Photo Taken By Nikolai Ignatiev
Image credits: thehistoryhouse#35 Long Beach, California, In The Year 1910
Image credits: thehistoryhouse#36 Two Men At Newsstand On Corner Of Montgomery And Market Streets, Monday Morning After Japanese Attack On Pearl Harbor, San Francisco, California, USA, 8th, 1941
Image credits: thehistoryhouse#37 Private First Class Margerum, Of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Walks The Road Through A Forest In The Bastogne Area, Returning From The Front Lines, 1944
Image credits: thehistoryhouse#38 Yeoman Warders Outside The Gates Of The Tower Of London, 1898
Cisco’s iconic Cliff House was captured shortly before it was destroyed by fire in 1907.
Image credits: thehistoryhouse
#49 Walter Smith was charged with breaking and entering, stealing property and clothing valued at 21 kgs. He was sentenced to 6 months of hard labor in Australia in 1924.
Image credits: thehistoryhouse
#50 A student protester defiantly gives the V for Victory sign in front of Chinese soldiers of the PLA at Tiananmen Square on June 1, 1989. Photo taken by Peter Charlesworth.
Image credits: thehistoryhouse
#51 “Flat spare tires are numerous around Washington these days due to the youthful football players who have found an easier way to inflate the pigskin than using their lungs” – Washington, DC, 1924.
Image credits: thehistoryhouse
#52 Bow of a Soviet nuclear icebreaker in the 1970s.
Image credits: thehistoryhouse
#53 Salvador Dalì and his wife Gala captured in a photo booth around the 1930s.
Image credits: thehistoryhouse
#54 Finnish sappers use a captured Soviet ROKS-2 flamethrower during a training exercise in Karelia in 1943.
Image credits: thehistoryhouse
#55 The invasion begins on June 8th, 1944.
Image credits: thehistoryhouse
#56 Cover shoot for Pink Floyd’s album, ‘Wish You Were Here’, at Warner Brothers Film Studios in 1975. Shot by Aubrey Powell.
Image credits: thehistoryhouse
#57 Russian soldiers during the siege on Stalingrad in 1942-3.
Image credits: thehistoryhouse
#58 German soldier posing for a photograph with his grandfather wearing his old Bavarian uniform in 1913.
Image credits: thehistoryhouse
#59 Tourists pose on Glacier Point above the Yosemite Valley in 1887.
Image credits: thehistoryhouse
#60 French WWI refugees driven away by the German forces, resting at Lyon train station in Paris in 1918.
Image credits: thehistoryhouse
#61 Addie Card, a 12-year-old spinner in North Pownal Cotton Mill, photographed in August 1910.
Image credits: thehistoryhouse
#62 American WWI veterans at a reunion in 1978.
Image credits: thehistoryhouse
#63 Swedish girl sitting by a rune stone fragment in Lissma in 1935.
Image credits: thehistoryhouse
#64 Arnold Schwarzenegger enjoying a cigar and a beer during the filming of Red Heat in 1988.
Image credits: thehistoryhouse
#65 Lt. “Dick” Winters during training at Camp Mackall in 1943.
Image credits: thehistoryhouse
#66 Charleston in ruins in the year 1865.
Image credits: thehistoryhouse
#67 U.S. Army medical soldiers administering a
Image credits: thehistoryhouse#77 German soldiers taunt the recent Allied defeat in France by donning captured British and French helmets in 1940. Image credits: thehistoryhouse#78 Fidel Castro explores the Great Wall of China in 1995. Image credits: thehistoryhouse#79 Henri Huet captures the poignant moment of an American soldier being lifted to an evacuation chopper during the Vietnam War in 1966. Image credits: thehistoryhouse#80 American soldiers enjoy a makeshift sidewalk cafe in Fallen La Haye Du Puits, France on July 15, 1944, as they toast to camaraderie. Photo depicts Robert Mccurty, Sgt. Harold Smith, and Sgt. Richard Bennett.
