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50 Astounding Moments Of History Shared In This Dedicated Online Group (New Pics)
HistoryAPR 15, 2025

50 Astounding Moments Of History Shared In This Dedicated Online Group (New Pics)

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If time travel ever becomes a real thing and not just a plot device for fiction, many of us would probably go back to our favorite era. In 2013, The Economist and YouGov asked Americans which decade from the 20th century they would most want to time travel to, and the 1950s came in first.
The members of the "Historical Capsule" subreddit also like to travel back in time but through the medium of photographs. Whether it's history as recent as the 2000s or moments from the beginning of the 20th century, see things like Niagara Falls without water or how Tokyo looked before all the skyscrapers right here!
More info: Reddit

#1 21-Year-Old Bernie Sanders Protesting Segregation And Getting Arrested In Chicago. August 1963

Protest scene with chained individuals and police during a historical civil rights demonstration.
196points

#2 "The Woman With The Handbag" - A 38-Year-Old Woman, Danuta Danielsson, Hits A Marching Neo-N*zi With A Handbag In Växjö, Sweden. April 13, 1985

A woman hitting a man with a purse in a historical protest; cobblestone street and surrounding onlookers add context.
187points

#3 Mongolian Girl Has A Laugh With Her Camel. The Little Girl’s Name Is Butedmaa And She Was Just 5 When This Picture Was Taken In 2003 By Photographer Han Chengli

A child in a traditional outfit laughing next to a seated camel in a vast open field, evoking historical charm.
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183points

r/HistoricalCapsule is the place you go when you feel like looking at some fascinating moments from the past. The subreddit currently has almost 400k members who are all about celebrating the beauty of the past, as it says in the group's bio, one snapshot at a time.

It's a fairly recently established community, created in January of 2024. Still, as subreddits with historical photographs go, it's one of the best. They're not just about aesthetics and cool-looking photos. The stories behind the photographs matter just as much, if not more. So, let's explore some of the moments from this list, shall we?

#4 A Woman Named Corrie Ten Boom Showing The Secret Hiding Place Her Family Constructed In Her Attic Bedroom To Shelter Jewish People And Resistance Members In Haarlem, Holland During Wwii

Elderly woman in blue dress points to a concealed wall opening, illustrating a fascinating historical moment.
155points

#5 Fifteen-Year-Old Johnny Gray Confronts One Of The Two White Boys Who Tried To Force Him And His Sister, Mary, From The Sidewalk As They Walked To School In Little Rock, Arkansas On September 16, 1958

Two boys in a historical photo, one pointing and talking to another outside a brick building, capturing a past moment.
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154points

#6 Royal Portuguese Reading Room, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. It Opened To The Public In 1883

Ornate historical library interior with towering bookshelves, rich wood detailing, and intricate ironwork.
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154points

The Democratic Party may have said "No" to Bernie Sanders as a presidential nominee, but the Internet often has nothing but praise for his work, choice of style, and lifelong activism. The photograph that we have in this list is from the 1963 Chicago civil rights protest, where Sanders was arrested for protesting racial segregation.

Sanders was only 21 at the time, but he stood for the same progressive values he stands for today. Documentary maker Gordon Quinn filmed the 1963 protests and even turned them into a film in 2017, titled '63 Boycott. 

"One hundred and sixty-nine people had been arrested in the summer of '63, and four people were charged, and one of them was Bernard Sanders," Quinn said in 2016. "For a lot of people, Bernie is a tough sell. Not for us. He's saying all the things we believe in."

#7 A Man And His Dog In A Photo Booth, 1943

Vintage photos of a dog with human-like poses; one cuddling with a man, the other wearing glasses and a pipe. Historical charm.
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153points

#8 Jimmy Carter At His Naval Graduation With His Future Wife Rosalynn And His Mother On June 5, 1946. He Died At The Age Of 100

Young man in military uniform getting help from women, capturing a moment in historical fashion.
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151points

#9 “Auntie Mary And Her 'Friend', Ruth, 1910.”

Two women in vintage clothing pose closely, embodying historical charm.
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149points

Another political figure on this list is John F. Kennedy. His friendship with Lem Billings has been a topic of speculation, with people on social media (especially TikTok), suggesting they might have been more than friends. 

However, historians believe that even if there were romantic feelings, they were one-sided. While Billings might've been infatuated with the future president when both were young boys, JFK never reciprocated. Upon receiving a suggestive note from Billings, he replied: "Please don't write to me on toilet paper any more. I'm not that kind of boy."

#10 Michelle Obama At 6 Years Old In Chicago. 1970

Young child stands smiling by a vintage car in front of a house, embodying a historical moment from the 1970s.
134points

#11 An Arab Man Cries For Israeli President Yitzhak Rabin After His Assassination On November 4, 1995. Rabin Was Seen By Many As The Last Hope Of A Lasting Peace Between Israel And The Palestinians

Man sitting by photo display, wearing traditional attire, reflecting historically on past events.
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131points

#12 A Rare Example Where An Engineer Thought About The Mechanic. (1950s)

Man starting a vintage bus engine in a forest setting, showcasing historical automotive design.
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131points

You can visit one place from this list even today. That's the Royal Portuguese Reading Room in Rio de Janeiro. Some call it "The coolest library on Earth," as its aura of 19th-century architectural grace is truly something awe-inspiring. The library boasts over 350k volumes, including authentic manuscripts and scrolls. Historians, literature fanatics and academics would probably never leave after setting foot there!

#13 African American Woman Poses With Her Handmade Flour Sack Dresses In The 1930s

Woman showcasing vintage dresses in a wooden room, holding hangers with a smile, embodying historical fashion.
129points

#14 The Last Picture Taken Of Late U.S. President Jimmy Carter In His Final Public Appearance, A Tribute Service For His Deceased Wife Rosalynn. Atlanta, Ga, November 28th, 2023

Elderly man in a wheelchair, wearing a suit and floral lei, under the sun, representing a historical moment.
126points

#15 An Inuit Girl Descending Into Her Home, An Ice Igloo, In Arviat, Nunavut (Northern Canada), 1949

Young woman in traditional attire descending icy staircase, evoking a historical capsule of past life styles.
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125points

We've got some pups in this list too: the picture of a Disney animator using live Dalmatians to properly animate the dogs for the movie 101 Dalmatians. Interestingly, the animators used actors as stand-ins for the human characters, too. Actress Helene Stanley was the live model for Anita Radcliffe in 101 Dalmatians and was also the model for Princess Aurora in Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella.

#16 High School Teacher Sandy Brockman Wearing A Bold Print Hippie-Style Dress , In Denver, Colorado. 1969

Teacher in 1960s classroom pointing at U.S. map, wearing a patterned dress, engaging with students in a historical lesson.
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116points

#17 In 1990, Muhammad Ali Flew To Iraq To Help Free 15 American Hostages. Without The U.S. Government's Permission, The Heavyweight Champ Directly Negotiated With Saddam Hussein And Convinced Him To Let The Americans Come Home Safely

Two men in suits greet each other closely, creating a historical moment captured in the past.
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115points

#18 Mom With Her Psychedelic Baby Pram, London, 1967

Woman with a vibrant, psychedelic stroller in a vintage street scene, representing historical changes in style.
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115points

One of the history enthusiasts on r/HistoricalCapsule shared a photograph of Corrie ten Boom next to the hideout in the wall of her home where her family hid and saved Jewish people during WWII in Haarlem, Holland. The Corrie ten Boom house today is a museum where visitors can see the wall and house for themselves. Ten Boom also released a memoir called The Hiding Place in 1971.

#19 Mother Helping Her Son Through A Tough Level In Super Mario Land On Gameboy From 1989

Group of children gathered around a woman playing a handheld game, capturing a moment from the past.
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112points

#20 Webcam Was Invented In 1991 By Researchers To Check If The Coffee Pot In Another Room Is Empty Or Not

Six black and white images showing an early internet coffee pot monitor from the "Historical Capsule" collection.
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107points
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