The 20th century was a tumultuous, revolutionary era, and for the first time in human history, its story was captured not just in words, but on film. These 46 images have become historical artefacts in their own right, after searing themselves into our collective memory. They transport us from the corridors of power where Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin redrew the world map, to the dusty fields of California where a migrant mother’s face became the symbol of a national struggle. In these frames, we witness humanity’s greatest triumphs, like the first tentative flight at Kitty Hawk and the giant leap onto the moon, alongside its deepest shames; from the grim faces of child laborers to the ugly jeers of a hateful mob. Each picture is a pivotal moment, a turning point that shaped the world we inhabit today.
#1 Leap Into Freedom, Berlin, Germany, 15 August 1961
Image source: Peter Leibing
#2 Earthrise, The Moon, 24 December 1968
Image source: NASA/Bill Anders
#3 Buzz Aldrin On The Moon, Sea Of Tranquility, The Moon, 20 July 1969
Image source: NASA/Neil A. Armstrong
#4 The Steerage, Aboard The SS Kaiser Wilhelm II, Possibly Anchored At Plymouth, England, United Kingdom, 1907
Image source: Alfred Stieglitz
#5 Student Elizabeth Eckford Is Jeered By Student Hazel Bryan As She Attempts To Enter Little Rock Central High School, Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, 1957
Image source: Will Counts
#6 Passport Photo Anne Frank, Amsterdam, Netherlands, May 1939
Image source: Photo Collection Anne Frank House
#7 Sir Winston Churchill, Ottawa, Canada, 1941
Image source: Yousuf Karsh
#8 Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt And Josef Stalin, Yalta Conference, Crimea, February 1945
Image source: U. S. Signal Corps
#9 First Cell-Phone Picture – Taken By The Inventor Of The First Camera Phone, After His Daughter Sophie’s Birth With The First Camera Phone Solution, Protomms, Santa Cruz, California, United States, June 11th, 1997
Image source: Philippe Kahn
#10 A Sea Of Steps, Wells Cathedral, England, United Kingdom, 1903
Image source: Frederick H. Evans
#11 A Little Spinner In The Mollohan Mills, South Carolina, United States, 1908
Image source: Lewis W. Hine
#12 Raising The Flag On Iwo Jima, Iwo Jima, Japan, 23 February 1945
Image source: Joe Rosenthal
#13 Lyndon B. Johnson Taking The Oath Of Office, Dallas, Texas, United States, November 1963
Image source: Cecil W. Stoughton
#14 The Pastry Cook, Cologne, Germany, 1928
Image source: August Sander
#15 Migrant Mother, Nipomo, California, United States, 1936
Image source: Dorothea Lange
#16 Kissing The War Goodbye, New York City, United States, 14 August 1945
Image source: Victor Jorgensen
#17 Girl With A Mirror, New York City, United States, 1912
Image source: Clarence H. White
#18 American Gothic, Washington, D.C., United States, 1942
Image source: Gordon Parks
#19 Guerrillero Heroico – Che Guevara, Havana, Cuba, 5 March 1960
Image source: Alberto Korda
#20 Chinese Chairman Mao Zedong Swimming In The Yangtze River In Wuhan, China, 1966
Image source: Hou Bo
#21 President Richard Nixon Using Chopsticks During A Chinese Banquet With Premier Chou En-Lai Of The People’s Republic Of China, Beijing, China, 26 February 1972
Image source: Oliver F. Atkins
#22 Breaker Boys, Pittston, Pennsylvania, United States, 1911
Image source: Lewis Hine
#23 Albert Einstein Sticks His Tongue, New York City, United States, 1951
Image source: Arthur Sasse
#24 First Colour Image From Viking Lander 1 Of Mars, Chryse Planitia, Mars, 21 July 1976
Image source: NASA/Viking 1
#25 The Vanishing Race, Nevada, Arizona, United States, 1904
Image source: Smithsonian Institution
#26 Fire Caused By An Earthquake, 18 April, San Francisco, California, United States, 1906
Image source: Arnold Genthe
#27 First Color Photos Autochrome Lumiere Auguste Louis, Hot Air Balloons, Paris, France,1914
Image source: Lumiere Auguste Louis
#28 Woman Of Tehuantepec, Tehuantepec, Mexico, 1929
Image source: Tina Modotti
#29 First Flight, 120 Feet In 12 Seconds, 10:35 A.m., Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, North Carolina, United States, 1903
Image source: John T. Daniels
#30 The Flatiron, New York City, United States, 1904
Image source: Edward Steichen
#31 Taking Hold Of The Camera At The South Pole, Antarctica, 14th December, 1911
Image source: National Library of Australia Commons
#32 Babe Ruth Bows Out, New York City, United States, 13 June 1948
Image source: Nathaniel Fein
#33 Jacques-Henri Lartigue, Grand Prix Of The Automobile Club Of France, Course At Dieppe, Dieppe, France, 1912
Image source: Jacques-Henri Lartigue
#34 Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, New York City, United States, 1913
Image source: Adolph de Meyer
#35 Blind Woman, New York City, United States, 1916
Image source: Paul Strand
#36 Monolith, The Face Of Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, California, 1927
Image source: Ansel Adams
#37 The Pond Moonlight, Mamaroneck, New York, United States, 1904
Image source: Edward Steichen
#38 Cousin “Bichonnade” In Flight, Paris, France, 1905
Image source: Jacques-Henri Lartigue
#39 German Trenches Near Reims, France, 1917
Image source: Julien Bryan
#40 Nasa, Explorer VI Satellite, 17000 Miles Above Mexico, 14 August 1959
Image source: NASA, Explorer VI satellite
#41 Abstraction, Porch Shadows, Salisbury, Connecticut, United States, 1916
Image source: Paul Strand
#42 Armco Steel, Weston Middletown, Ohio, United States, 1922
Image source: Edward Weston
#43 Charles Lindbergh Arrived At Croydon Field, Surrey, England, 29 May 1927
Image source: Pacific and Atlantic photos inc.
#44 The Tetons And The Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, United States, 1942
Image source: Ansel Adams
#45 Elvis Meets Nixon, Washington, D.C., United States, 21 December 1970
Image source: Oliver F. Atkins
#46 An Oasis In The Badlands, South Dakota, United States, 1905
Image source: Museum of Photographic Arts Collections
Follow Us
