1. These images, captured in 1946, are the earliest photographs of Earth taken from space.

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This achievement was made possible by launching a V-2 missile equipped with a 35mm motion picture camera into space. The camera was encased in steel, allowing it to survive the missile's return to Earth.

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2. Taken in 1910 at the Mount Wilson Observatory in California, this photo is one of the first-ever images of Halley's Comet. This rare event allowed for a photograph, as the comet only returns every 75-80 years, and during its last appearance in 1835, it could only be sketched.

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For context, here's a photo of Halley's Comet from its last appearance in 1986.

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Halley's Comet won't make its next appearance until 2061.
3. Captured by Robert Cornelius in 1839, this self-portrait is regarded as the first-ever selfie. It's also the first portrait of an individual. However, it's not the first photo featuring a person; that honor goes to French photographer Louis Daguerre, who in 1838 took a photo of the Boulevard du Temple in Paris, inadvertently capturing a blurry image of a man getting his shoes polished below.

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The lengthy exposure times required for early photography made it challenging to capture people. Daguerre's photo took seven minutes to develop, but the man getting his shoes polished remained still enough to be recorded in the shot.
4. This photograph, taken in 1852, features Conrad Heyer, a Revolutionary War veteran who was 103 years old at the time. Not only is he one of the earliest-born individuals ever photographed, but he is also among the few Revolutionary War veterans captured in a photograph.

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5. During Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency, some Civil War veterans were still alive. In 1938, Roosevelt met with them at a ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. During the event, he gave a speech to dedicate the Eternal Light Peace Memorial. The ceremony was also filmed and shown in movie theaters as newsreels.

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6. In 1939, Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first US president to appear on television. He delivered a speech to open the 1939 World’s Fair in New York, which was broadcasted (a screenshot of the moment can be seen below). This wasn't the last time FDR appeared on TV.

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7. Here's a color photo of John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon shaking hands before their first debate — which also marked the first-ever televised presidential debate — in September 1960.


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8. Here's a behind-the-scenes color photograph of Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, and William Frawley filming the famous "California, Here We Come!" car scene in 1955.

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This is how the scene appeared to us viewers watching at home:

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9. This 1900 Coca-Cola advertisement features Hilda Clark, a light opera and dance hall singer, who became the brand's first celebrity endorser.

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10. No photos of the Titanic's Grand Staircase exist (at least, not before it sank). The images we have of the Grand Staircase actually come from the Titanic's sister ship, the Olympic, which had an identical staircase. The two ships were constructed side-by-side and were nearly identical.

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11. This is a photo showing Titanic survivors in lifeboats being rescued by the Carpathia.

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12. Here’s a photo of the real-life Christopher Robin (yes, his name is Christopher Robin) and Winnie-the-Pooh (who got his name from a bear Christopher saw at the London Zoo). A. A. Milne, the author of Winnie-the-Pooh, was inspired by his son to create the beloved character.

According to Christopher, it was actually his mother who helped create the Winnie-the-Pooh world. He recalled, 'It was my mother who used to come and play in the nursery with me and tell him about the things I thought and did. It was she who provided most of the material for my father's books.'
13. Contrary to what it may seem, this is not a photo of Betty White in the 1940s. In fact, Betty is dressed in '40s fashion for a promotional shoot to announce her hosting of the 75th Annual Tournament of Roses Parade in 1964. As part of the promo, she donned various outfits from different eras in which the parade had taken place.

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...such as the 1890s and the 1920s:


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14. Similar to how we host '90s, '80s, or '00s nostalgia parties today, in the '50s, people threw parties themed around the 1920s. Below are a couple of photographs from a '50s party featuring period-appropriate costumes, with the woman on the left performing the "Charleston."


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15. This photo shows how they recorded music for Mickey Mouse cartoons in the past:

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16. During World War II, Walt Disney Studios contributed to the war effort by creating propaganda for the homefront. This included producing artwork for posters, films, and animated shorts. Below are posters for two of the shorts: Der Fuehrer's Face (where Donald Duck has a nightmare about being a Nazi soldier in Germany) and Education for Death: The Making of the Nazi (which parodies Hitler and Nazi ideology, while telling the story of a German boy and his family forced to follow orders):


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17. NBC's Meet the Press has hosted numerous politicians and world leaders over its 77-year history, but not many know that Fidel Castro was among them. In 1959, Castro appeared on the show during a visit to the U.S., just a few months after he came to power in the Cuban Revolution. In this appearance, he insisted that he was not a communist. Below is a screenshot from that interview:

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18. Here’s an image of Castro from his 1959 U.S. visit, where he is seen laying a wreath at the Lincoln Memorial:

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19. The iconic Hollywood sign, originally constructed in 1923, was designed to promote the Hollywoodland real estate development in the hills beneath it. The sign was intended to stand for just 18 months, but it became an enduring symbol of Los Angeles. During the Golden Age of Hollywood, the sign actually read 'Hollywoodland,' with the 'land' portion removed in 1949, as shown in the image below.

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20. The Hollywood Bowl, shown in the image below, initially opened in 1922 without its signature dome shell. The first shell would not be added until 1926, four years after the venue’s debut.

Also, the name 'Hollywood Bowl' is not related to its iconic shell shape. It’s named after the bowl-shaped hillside it’s nestled in.
21. This photo might make you dizzy if you're afraid of heights. It shows a construction worker walking on a wooden catwalk being built to support the cables for the Golden Gate Bridge, taken in 1935.

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22. Here’s a glimpse of Times Square from around 1908.

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23. This photo shows the head of the Statue of Liberty displayed at Champ de Mars park in Paris during the 1878 Exposition Universelle. It was placed there as part of the fundraising efforts for the statue’s construction.

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24. This photo from 1887 captures Champ de Mars, with the early stages of the Eiffel Tower’s construction visible. Though hard to distinguish, two of the steel struts of the tower are part of the scene.

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25. Recognize this house? It’s the Dibble House, famously seen in the background of Grant Wood’s iconic painting, American Gothic. This is how the house looked in 2005.

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However, since the painting, the house in Iowa has been restored to its 1930s look. You can even visit and take a tour of the property.

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Salvador Dalí and Walt Disney may seem like an unexpected pair of friends, but they shared a deep mutual admiration and found many similarities in each other. Here is a picture of them together when Walt visited Dalí in Spain in 1957.

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This 1964 photo shows Martin Luther King Jr. with his children, Yolanda and Martin Luther III, enjoying a ride on the Ford Magic Skyway attraction, which was designed by Disney for the New York World's Fair.

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The famous "It's A Small World" attraction was initially built by Disney for the 1964 New York World's Fair. Here's what the exterior of the ride looked like during that time.


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The Victorian era feels so distant from us now, making it nearly impossible to connect with people from that time. However, in the 1970s, there were still a few individuals from the Victorian age alive. The image below shows Frances "Effy" Jones, who was in her 90s at the time and had been a teenager in the 1890s. She participated in a BBC interview in 1970, sharing her memories of life in Victorian England.

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Here’s a photo of Albert Einstein and his wife, Elsa, attending the premiere of Charlie Chaplin’s film *City Lights* at the Los Angeles Theater.

By the way, the theater is still standing and has appeared in many films and music videos.
Here’s a still from *The Queen's Messenger*, the first-ever TV drama that aired in 1928. This was the same year Mickey Mouse made his debut. The production was a collaboration between General Electric and a station in Schenectady, New York, marking a historic experiment in television.

And yes, television sets were already a thing in the 1920s, though they were incredibly rare and had very small screens.
Here’s a snapshot from the 1920s of passengers enjoying a movie on a plane — yes, people have been watching films during flights for over a century!

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Marilyn Monroe and Queen Elizabeth were both born in 1926. This iconic photo captures them meeting in 1956, while Marilyn was in the UK filming *The Prince and the Showgirl*.

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If you were on TikTok last year, you may have come across a video where younger people were surprised to learn that commercial supersonic planes were once in use. This photo shows Queen Elizabeth aboard a chartered Concorde in 1977, returning to London after her Silver Jubilee tour of Canada and the West Indies.

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The desire for Gucci bags dates back decades. Here are two images from a 1956 issue of *Vogue*, featuring models showcasing Gucci purses.


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The story behind the design of this *Alice in Wonderland* poster is quite intriguing. Walt Disney was initially dissatisfied with the movie and refused to release it again during his lifetime. However, after his death in 1971, the film gained a huge cult following among college students who would rent 16-mm copies and host viewing parties. This resurgence led to a re-release in 1974, complete with a more psychedelic design and the inclusion of Jefferson Airplane's 'White Rabbit' in the promotional radio ads.

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This photograph shows Steve Jobs at the inaugural *Apple event* in January 1984, where he introduced the groundbreaking first Macintosh computer.

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Here we have a photo of Oprah Winfrey hosting her very first talk show, *AM Chicago*, in 1984.

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Here’s a snapshot of Judy Garland's daughters, Liza Minnelli and Lorna Luft, as they watch the very first television broadcast of *The Wizard of Oz* in 1956.

Image courtesy of Bettmann / Bettmann Archive / Getty Images.
