50 Iconic and Rare Historical Photographs

We at HistoryColored have decided to curate 50 interesting, rare and iconic photos from history. There are many reasons why a photograph may be featured on this list. Some of the reasons include: it was the first time something was ever captured on camera, it shows a famous figure from history, the image depicts an important historical event, it is a “rare” photo that does not get shared as much as it should, or it is an “iconic” historical photo. It may not fall under any of these categories but can still be featured in this list for a different reason.

These photographs are in no particular order. They have been curated and added to the list over a long period of time, so no decision was taken on how they should be ordered. Be sure to take the time to check out every historical photograph featured on this list!

As well as this list, be sure to check out the other photos featured on HistoryColored!

1. The First Photograph Ever Taken, 1826 or 1827

The first photograph in history, the view from a window at Le Gras in 1826 or 1827.
The oldest surviving photograph to exist. It was taken by pioneer photographer, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce. The scene depicts a view from a window in Nicéphore Niépce’s estate known as Le Gras in Saint-Loup-de-Varennes, Bourgogne, France in 1826 or 1827. Credit: Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain

2. General William Tecumseh Sherman, circa 1865

Side profile photograph of General William Tecumseh Sherman in his Union Army military uniform in c. 1865
Side profile of Union Army Major General, and the Commanding General of the US Army, William Tecumseh Sherman, in his Union Army military uniform in circa 1865. Credit: Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain

3. Dali Atomicus, 1948

Salvador Dali suspended in mid air along with other objects within the iconic photograph Dali Atomicus taken in 1948
The photographic artwork by Philippe Halsman called “Dali Atomicus” showing three cats water, an easel, a chair, and Salvador Dalí all frozen in mid-air, 1948. This was the 28th attempt at taking this photograph. Credit: Library of Congress // Public Domain

4. The Solvay Conference on Quantum Mechanics, 1927

Key attendees of the 1927 Solvay conference photographed sitting down and in suits. The names are Auguste Piccard, Émile Henriot, Paul Ehrenfest, Édouard Herzen, Théophile de Donder, Erwin Schrödinger, Jules-Émile Verschaffelt, Wolfgang Pauli, Werner Heisenberg, Ralph Howard Fowler, Léon Brillouin,
Peter Debye, Martin Knudsen, William Lawrence Bragg, Hendrik Anthony Kramers, Paul Dirac, Arthur Compton, Louis de Broglie, Max Born, Niels Bohr,
Irving Langmuir, Max Planck, Marie Skłodowska Curie, Hendrik Lorentz, Albert Einstein, Paul Langevin, Charles Eugène Guye, Charles Thomson Rees Wilson, Owen Willans Richardson
The 1927 Solvay Conference on Quantum Mechanics at the Institut International de Physique Solvay in Brussels, Belgium. This image features many of the greatest scientists in modern history. Some of those that you may recognize are: Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, Max Planck, Niels Bohr, and Auguste Piccard. See the full list of names here. Credit: Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain

5. King George V & Tsar Nicholas II Together, 1913

Nicholas II of Russia photographed alongside similar looking and cousin King George V of the United Kingdom, while wearing military uniform.
First cousins and royals Tsar Nicholas II of Russia (left) & King George V of the United Kingdom (right) photographed together wearing military uniforms in Berlin, Germany, 1913. Credit: Library of Congress // Public Domain

6. The Manhattan Bridge Under Construction, 1909

Photographs of the Manhattan Bridge under construction. You can see the layout of the bridge but there is still a lot to build. March 23 1909.
The construction of the Manhattan Bridge on the East River in New York City. This photograph was taken on March 23, 1909. The bridge finished construction in 1909 and first opened up on the 31st of December 1909. Credit: Library of Congress // Public Domain

7. Soviet Prisoner of War, 1940

An injured Prisoner of War from the Soviet Union with a bandage around his bloody head, with clothing wrapped around his body. He looks cold as he is near the Arctic Circle where temperatures can get to -43 degrees Celsius
An injured Soviet Prisoner of War (POW) dressed in new clothes near the Arctic Circle in Rovaniemi, Finland, during the Winter War on the 6th of January 1940. Credit: Military Museum of Finland // CC BY 4.0

8. Dr. Wernher von Braun with 5 F-1 Engines

Aerospace engineer Wernher von Braun standing next to five F-1 rocket engines in 1969.
Dr. Wernher von Braun, an aerospace engineer that was a leading figure in Nazi German rocket technology, and then United States rocket technology, photographed standing in front of five F-1 rocket engines in circa 1969. Credit: Wikimedia Commons // Public Domains

I Invited My Colleague to Secretly Introduce Her to My Single Grandson – My Heart Stopped as They Saw Each Other

Elsie just wants Josh, her grandson, to meet someone with whom he can consider settling down. When a young new teacher enrolls at her kindergarten, she thinks that she has hit the jackpot. But when Josh meets Allison, Elsie learns that they already have a connection.

I’m a meddling grandmother. Not in a bad way — I just want my grandson Josh to move along with his life. He’s 27 and spends most of his time at work or gaming.

During weekends, he stays at home, working on something around the house, or gaming.

“You need to get out more, Josh,” I said. “I want you to live your life to the fullest! Don’t you want to meet someone?”

“I get it, Gran,” he would say, pausing his game. “But I’m just not interested in that at the moment. Work is taking up all my time and energy, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing.”

“You’re not getting any younger,” I said, handing him chips to snack on.

“It’s because you’re surrounded by kids all day, so you just want great-grandchildren,” he laughed.

Josh wasn’t wrong. I was a kindergarten teacher, and I loved every moment of it. But I was done with the life of raising children away from their homes. Now, at 70, I wanted a quiet life of knitting and baking — a soft life, as Josh put it.

I’m leaving my position at the school at the end of the year. And maybe it’s just maternal instinct, but I wanted to know that Josh would be okay and not so alone.

A few months ago, we welcomed a new teacher at the kindergarten, Allison.

She was a few years younger than Josh, and I loved having her around during the day. So, of course, I thought about setting her up with him.

But I knew my grandson — Josh would never agree to an arranged date. He probably wouldn’t even show up.

The next best thing was to invite Allison over for dinner, where Josh would be forced to meet her.

“Alli,” I said to her one day during school. “Would you like to come over for dinner?”

“Yes! Of course, I would, Mrs. Barnard,” she said. “Since moving here, I’ve really missed family dinners. This will be great.”

I arranged for Allison to come over for dinner on a Friday evening. She went on and on about coming early to help with the cooking or bringing things over.

“Please just let me help, Mrs. Barnard,” she pleaded, as she helped me put the toys away one afternoon.

“You can bring dessert,” I told her. “And call me Elsie.”

I loved her.

And I knew that she would complement Josh well.

But nothing on earth could have prepared me for the connection between Josh and Allison.

That evening, as I was setting the table, Josh walked in.

“What’s this about?” he asked, nodding to the table.

“We’re having a new teacher over for dinner, okay?” I said, putting the cutlery in place.

“Sure, do you need me to help you?” he asked.

Allison arrived, her presence a breath of fresh air, carrying a cake with her.

She hugged me at the door and made herself at home — while Josh was still in his bedroom.

And then, the entire evening was turned upside down.

“Allison?” Josh’s voice came from the doorway, a mix of disbelief and an inexplicable hint of recognition.

“Josh?” Allison answered, her eyes wide. “Mrs. Barnard, this is your grandson? Josh?”

Confusion wrapped the room like a thick fog.

“Wait, you two know each other?” I asked, my heart racing at the possibilities of their connection.

“Yeah, Gran,” Josh said, sitting down.

“How?” I pressed on. We were past the niceties; I needed to know more.

“Allison is my sister,” he declared, each word resonating with the weight of a thousand unspoken stories.

The room fell silent.

“Explain, please,” I told Josh.

Josh isn’t my biological grandson. In fact, I had spent years of my life wanting a child, but I struggled with personal relationships. So, when I was 48, I took the plunge and went to an orphanage.

That’s where I met Josh. He was 5 years old and was a survivor of an accident in which his parents had died.

“Elsie,” Mandy, the social worker, said. “He’s a great kid! He’s curious, charming, and polite as ever. He just needs a chance to get out of here and live.”

When I met him, he was a scared little boy who had lost the most important people to him.

“What about the rest of his family?” I asked. “Wouldn’t they come looking?”

“There isn’t anyone else,” Mandy said. “We’ve searched. Which is why he had to be separated from his sister, too. She was adopted three weeks ago.”

“And the family didn’t want to take Josh?” I asked.

“Sadly, no,” Mandy admitted. “They just wanted the youngest child we had, so that they could have as much of her childhood as possible.”

In the end, despite my asking for more information about Josh’s sister, there was just no way such confidential information could be given out.

I adopted Josh as his grandmother because I was already going gray, and I didn’t want anyone to ask him why his mother was so old.

Eventually, on his 15th birthday, I told him the truth about the adoption — but nothing about his sister because I just didn’t have the information.

So, Josh has known the truth — or as much of the truth as possible.

“Tell me,” I pressed on.

“Gran, after you told me the truth about me being adopted, I felt settled. I mean, you had chosen me, after all. But I just felt that there was more to the story, you know?”

I nodded. I didn’t want to interrupt him. But I would choose this boy every single time.

“So, a few months ago, I went back to the orphanage, and I was told about a sister — Allison. And they were able to give me information because we were biological siblings.”

“And then, Josh found me on Facebook,” Allison chimed in. “We’ve been talking for a while. Although, he didn’t tell me the truth at first.”

“Well, I didn’t know if you knew the truth or not,” Josh retorted. “I couldn’t just say that I found your details in an old file at an orphanage.”

“I didn’t think that our first meeting would happen here, in your home,” Allison said.

“I think we need some dinner,” I said, waking up to get the food.

As we sat down at the table, I silently observed Josh and Allison’s reunion. I had absolutely no idea that there was a possibility that they could have known each other, let alone be siblings.

Josh ate quietly, processing his thoughts while he chewed. Allison’s eyes were glazed over — I wondered what she was thinking, and whether she was okay.

“Gran, why did you invite Allison over?” Josh asked, pouring more wine.

“Because I wanted to play matchmaker,” I said honestly.

Allison started giggling, and soon the room echoed with laughter.

The sense of awkwardness that had initially overwhelmed me transformed into a profound joy — I had hoped to bring love into Josh’s life, never imagining it would come in the form of a sister’s bond long severed by fate.

But their roles in each other’s lives were restored.

Later, when Allison took it upon herself to do the dishes, Josh and I stood outside.

“I can’t believe this,” Josh whispered, his voice cracking with emotion as he turned to me.

“I’m as surprised as you are,” I said, looking at the night sky.

“You’ve given me so much,” he said. “And now, you’ve unknowingly brought Allison back. We’ve been talking, but neither of us had the courage to actually meet.”

The rest of the night unfolded with stories of childhood memories lost and found, of heartaches and hope, and the unshakeable bond of family.

As I lay in bed that night, the house quiet once more, I couldn’t help but feel that their meeting was predestined by some other force.

At least now, Allison will be in Josh’s life, in some capacity or another.

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