History and photography have always been good buddies, and many images have been ingrained into our minds as posters for various important past events.
But as people continue to dig through archives, more and more interesting shots are emerging from the days gone by. And the Instagram account 'Historic Pictures' is trying to get a hold of as many as possible.
Sharing moments from different eras, it has accumulated 676K followers, so let's see what has resonated with them and take a look at the account's most popular uploads.
Also, don't miss the chat we had with Laura Di Stefano, who has a Ph.D. in medieval history and runs the blog The Historian Traveller — you'll find it in between the photos.
More info: Instagram
#1
Her dad told her, "If you marry that man you will never set foot in this house again." Mary soon learned that most people felt the same way. The first years of their marriage living in Birmingham were hell-- no one would speak to them, they couldn’t find anywhere to live because no one would rent to a black man, and they had no money. But they didn't give up. Gradually life became easier. Mary got teaching jobs, ending up as a deputy head teacher. Jake worked in a factory and then got a job at the Post Office. Slowly they made friends, but it was difficult. Mary used to tell people, "before I invite you to my home.... my husband is black." Some would never talk to her again. Last year they celebrated their 70th anniversary and they are still very much in love, and never regretted what they did.
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528points
It wasn't that long ago when Instagram became an educational tool. It's still far from being the main one, but the platform is certainly on the radar.
"History is often taught through books, archival sources, and archaeological evidence," Dr. Laura Di Stefano told Bored Panda.
"However, most of the time, while accurate, these sources frequently provide a unilateral view of facts, focusing mostly on specific events and 'famous' figures from certain periods."
#2
August 8, 1982. A line drive foul ball hits a four year old boy in the head at Fenway. Jim Rice, realizing in a flash that it would take EMTs too long to arrive and cut through the crowd, sprang from the dugout and scooped up the boy. He laid the boy gently on the dugout floor, where the Red Sox medical team began to treat him. When the boy arrived at the hospital 30 minutes later, doctors said, without a doubt that Jim's prompt actions saved the boy's life. Jim returned to the game in a blood-stained uniform. A real badge of courage. After visiting the boy in the hospital, and realizing the family was of modest means, he stopped by the business office and instructed that the bill be sent to him.
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476points
To give us an example, Dr. Di Stefano named Charlemagne (or Charles the Great), whom we have all been taught about in school.
"A simple research online and we would know almost everything about him, from the simplest concepts we learned as children when we first studied history, to the most complex research conducted by historians for academic purposes."
"What we don't know, at least not to a great extent, is the lives of common people who lived during his era. What did they do? Did they have love stories? Did they aspire to see the world as they knew it? Did they struggle for independence from their parents or despise their lives?" Dr. Di Stefano wondered.
#3
“When she applied to run in the Boston Marathon in 1966 they rejected her saying: “Women are not physiologically able to run a marathon, and we can’t take the liability.” Then exactly 50 years ago today, on the day of the marathon, Bobbi Gibb hid in the bushes and waited for the race to begin. When about half of the runners had gone past she jumped in. She wore her brother’s Bermuda shorts, a pair of boy’s sneakers, a bathing suit, and a sweatshirt. As she took off into the swarm of runners, Gibb started to feel overheated, but she didn’t remove her hoodie. “I knew if they saw me, they were going to try to stop me,” she said. “I even thought I might be arrested.” It didn’t take long for male runners in Gibb’s vicinity to realize that she was not another man. Gibb expected them to shoulder her off the road, or call out to the police. Instead, the other runners told her that if anyone tried to interfere with her race, they would put a stop to it. Finally feeling secure and assured, Gibb took off her sweatshirt. As soon as it became clear that there was a woman running in the marathon, the crowd erupted—not with anger or righteousness, but with pure joy, she recalled. Men cheered. Women cried. By the time she reached Wellesley College, the news of her run had spread, and the female students were waiting for her, jumping and screaming. The governor of Massachusetts met her at the finish line and shook her hand. The first woman to ever run the marathon had finished in the top third.”
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396points
#4
This is known as one of medicine’s most incredible moments. In 1922, at the University of Toronto, scientists went to a hospital ward with children who were comatose and dying from diabetic keto-acidosis. Imagine a room full of parents sitting at the bedside waiting for the inevitable death of their child. The scientists went from bed to bed and injected the children with the new purified extract - insulin. As they began to inject the last comatose child, the first child injected began to awaken. One by one, all of the children awoke from their diabetic comas. A room of death and gloom, became a place of joy and hope. They had also given the patent to the university of Toronto for just one dollar, so no company would be able to monopolize insulin production Thank You Dr. Banting and Dr. Best! Follow @historic for more! Photo Credits- Library and Archives Canada.
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385points
The case would be different if we had more resources available to us from that time.
"If it was possible to have a picture of that frame of the Middle Ages, we would probably be able to catch some of these untold stories, which, in the end, are history too," Dr. Di Stefano said.
"Indeed, pictures offer exactly this. The possibility to uncover a glimpse of society that is not explored. A window into common people’s lives that is often shadowed by famous historical figures. Pictures can add new perspectives and open new discussions about known events of the past and the people who were part of it."
#5
Simone Segouin, mostly known by her codename, Nicole Minet, was only 18-years-old when the Germans invaded. Her first act of rebellion was to steal a bicycle from a German military administration, and to slice the tires of all of the other bikes and motorcycles so they couldn't pursue her. She found a pocket of the Resistance and joined the fight, using the stolen bike to deliver messages between Resistance groups. She was an extremely fast learner and quickly became an expert at tactics and explosives. She led teams of Resistance fighters to capture German troops, set traps, and sabotage German equipment. As the war dragged on, her deeds escalated to derailing German trains, blocking roads, blowing up bridges and helping to create a German-free path to help the Allied forces retake France from the inside. She was never caught. Segouin was present at the liberation of Chartres on August 23, 1944, and then the liberation of Paris two days later. She was promoted to lieutenant and awarded several medals, including the Croix de Guerre. After the war, she studied medicine and became a pediatric nurse. She is still going strong, and this October (2021) she will turn 96.
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379points
#6
This is such a powerful photo. It was taken in April, 1945, by Major Clarence Benjamin and shows a train of Jewish prisoners that had been intercepted by Allied Forces. This is the moment they learned that the train would not be heading to a Concentration Camp and they had been liberated.
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348points
#7
In 1968, several months after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had been assassinated, Mister (Fred) Rogers quietly did something at that time that was quite unthinkable - he not only hired a black man to take on a regular role in his children’s television program, “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” - and asked him to play a police officer. He would also regularly invite Officer Clemmons to cool his feet in the same pool - together. Years later, in 1993, Officer Clemmons would make his last appearance on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. In a touching moment, Mister Rogers once again invited Officer Clemmons, to join him at a pool in the front yard. Two friends, one white, one black, soaked their feet together and discussed the importance of friendship and being kind to one another. As they said their goodbyes, Officer Clemmons emotionally thanked Mister Rogers and said, “I like being a human being right here and now.” A great reminder that wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for kindness.
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341points
#8
Famed photographer Sebastião Ribeiro Salgado and his wife Lélia started a project to plant two million trees and now, 20 years later, the seeds have grown into a lush forest in the Minas Gerais region of Brazil.
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331points
#10
In 1988, Israel Kamakawiwo'ole called the recording studio at 3am and said he had to record a song right away. 15 minutes later, Israel arrived at the studio. The studio owner, Milan Bertosa said, "And in walks the largest human being I had seen in my life." A security guard gave the 500 pounds man a large steel chair to sit on. Milan said, "Then I put up some microphones, do a quick sound check, roll tape, and the first thing he does is 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow.' He played and sang, one take, and it was over."
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311points
#11
On February 8th, 1943, Nazis hung 17-year-old Lepa Radić for being a Yugoslavian Partisan during World War II. When they asked her the names of her companions, she replied: “You will know them when they come to avenge me.”
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298points
#12
In 1912, Jim Thorpe, an American Indian, had his running shoes stolen on the morning of his Olympic track and field events. He found this mismatched pair of shoes in the garbage and ran in them to win two Olympic gold medals that day.
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290points
#13
The couple on the Woodstock album cover is still together 50 years later.
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289points
#14
"For a small amount of perspective at this moment, imagine you were born in 1900. When you are 14, World War I starts, and ends on your 18th birthday with 22 million people killed. Later in the year, a Spanish Flu epidemic hits the planet and runs until you are 20. Fifty million people die from it in those two years. Yes, 50 million. When you're 29, the Great Depression begins. Unemployment hits 25%, global GDP drops 27%. That runs until you are 33. The country nearly collapses along with the world economy. When you turn 39, World War II starts. You aren’t even over the hill yet. When you're 41, the United States is fully pulled into WWII. Between your 39th and 45th birthday, 75 million people perish in the war and the Holocaust kills six million. At 52, the Korean War starts and five million perish. At 64 the Vietnam War begins, and it doesn’t end for many years. Four million people die in that conflict. Approaching your 62nd birthday you have the Cuban Missile Crisis, a tipping point in the Cold War. Life on our planet, as we know it, could well have ended. Great leaders prevented that from happening. As you turn 75, the Vietnam War finally ends. Think of everyone on the planet born in 1900. How do you survive all of that? A kid in 1985 didn’t think their 85 year old grandparent understood how hard school was. Yet those grandparents (and now great grandparents) survived through everything listed above. Perspective is an amazing art. Let’s try and keep things in perspective. Let’s be smart, help each other out, and we will get through all of this. In the history of the world, there has never been a storm that lasted. This too, shall pass." Photo by Lewis Hine
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281points
#15
A member of the 369th Infantry Regiment (aka "Harlem Hellfighters") holds a puppy that he saved during World War I (1918)
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281points
#20
A father comforts his son, David Kirby, on his deathbed in Ohio, 1989. Widely considered the photo that changed the face of AIDS.
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249points