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.
Read More: The Triumph And Tragedy Of The 20th Century: 46 Of The Most Important Images
#1 Earthrise, The Moon, 24 December 1968
Image credits: NASA/Bill Anders
#2 Leap Into Freedom, Berlin, Germany, 15 August 1961
Image credits: Peter Leibing
#3 Buzz Aldrin On The Moon, Sea Of Tranquility, The Moon, 20 July 1969
Image credits: NASA/Neil A. Armstrong
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#4 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 credits: Philippe Kahn
#5 A Sea Of Steps, Wells Cathedral, England, United Kingdom, 1903
Image credits: Frederick H. Evans
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#6 First Color Photos Autochrome Lumiere Auguste Louis, Hot Air Balloons, Paris, France,1914
Image credits: Lumiere Auguste Louis
#7 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 credits: Will Counts
#8 Passport Photo Anne Frank, Amsterdam, Netherlands, May 1939
Image credits: Photo Collection Anne Frank House
#9 Raising The Flag On Iwo Jima, Iwo Jima, Japan, 23 February 1945
Image credits: Joe Rosenthal
#10 First Colour Image From Viking Lander 1 Of Mars, Chryse Planitia, Mars, 21 July 1976
Image credits: NASA/Viking 1
#11 A Little Spinner In The Mollohan Mills, South Carolina, United States, 1908
Image credits: Lewis W. Hine
#12 Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt And Josef Stalin, Yalta Conference, Crimea, February 1945
Image credits: U. S. Signal Corps
#13 The Steerage, Aboard The SS Kaiser Wilhelm II, Possibly Anchored At Plymouth, England, United Kingdom, 1907
Image credits: Alfred Stieglitz
#14 The Pastry Cook, Cologne, Germany, 1928
Image credits: August Sander
#15 Lyndon B. Johnson Taking The Oath Of Office, Dallas, Texas, United States, November 1963
Image credits: Cecil W. Stoughton
#16 Migrant Mother, Nipomo, California, United States, 1936
Image credits: Dorothea Lange
#17 Sir Winston Churchill, Ottawa, Canada, 1941
Image credits: Yousuf Karsh
#18 The Flatiron, New York City, United States, 1904
Image credits: Edward Steichen
#19 Breaker Boys, Pittston, Pennsylvania, United States, 1911
Image credits: Lewis Hine
#20 American Gothic, Washington, D.C., United States, 1942
Image credits: Gordon Parks
#21 The Vanishing Race, Nevada, Arizona, United States, 1904
Image credits: Smithsonian Institution
#22 Girl With A Mirror, New York City, United States, 1912
Image credits: Clarence H. White
#23 Woman Of Tehuantepec, Tehuantepec, Mexico, 1929
Image credits: Tina Modotti
#24 Guerrillero Heroico – Che Guevara, Havana, Cuba, 5 March 1960
Image credits: Alberto Korda
#25 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 credits: Oliver F. Atkins
#26 First Flight, 120 Feet In 12 Seconds, 10:35 A.m., Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, North Carolina, United States, 1903
Image credits: John T. Daniels
#27 Fire Caused By An Earthquake, 18 April, San Francisco, California, United States, 1906
Image credits: Arnold Genthe
#28 Monolith, The Face Of Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, California, 1927
Image credits: Ansel Adams
#29 The Tetons And The Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, United States, 1942
Image credits: Ansel Adams
#30 Kissing The War Goodbye, New York City, United States, 14 August 1945
Image credits: Victor Jorgensen
#31 Albert Einstein Sticks His Tongue, New York City, United States, 1951
Image credits: Arthur Sasse
#32 Chinese Chairman Mao Zedong Swimming In The Yangtze River In Wuhan, China, 1966
Image credits: Hou Bo
#33 The Pond Moonlight, Mamaroneck, New York, United States, 1904
Image credits: Edward Steichen
#34 Taking Hold Of The Camera At The South Pole, Antarctica, 14th December, 1911
Image credits: National Library of Australia Commons
#35 Babe Ruth Bows Out, New York City, United States, 13 June 1948
Image credits: Nathaniel Fein
#36 An Oasis In The Badlands, South Dakota, United States, 1905
Image credits: Museum of Photographic Arts Collections
#37 Cousin “Bichonnade” In Flight, Paris, France, 1905
Image credits: Jacques-Henri Lartigue
#38 Blind Woman, New York City, United States, 1916
Image credits: Paul Strand
#39 Charles Lindbergh Arrived At Croydon Field, Surrey, England, 29 May 1927
Image credits: Pacific and Atlantic photos inc.
#40 Jacques-Henri Lartigue, Grand Prix Of The Automobile Club Of France, Course At Dieppe, Dieppe, France, 1912
Image credits: Jacques-Henri Lartigue
#41 Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, New York City, United States, 1913
Image credits: Adolph de Meyer
#42 German Trenches Near Reims, France, 1917
Image credits: Julien Bryan
#43 Nasa, Explorer VI Satellite, 17000 Miles Above Mexico, 14 August 1959
Image credits: NASA, Explorer VI satellite
#44 Abstraction, Porch Shadows, Salisbury, Connecticut, United States, 1916
Image credits: Paul Strand
#45 Armco Steel, Weston Middletown, Ohio, United States, 1922
Image credits: Edward Weston
#46 Elvis Meets Nixon, Washington, D.C., United States, 21 December 1970
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Image credits: Oliver F. Atkins
