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Hindenburg disaster, 1937 -

After its transatlantic flight, German passenger airship LZ 129 Hindenburg was attempting to dock with its mooring post at Lakehurst, New Jersey, on May 6, 1937 when it exploded in a ball of flame, killing 36 people. Newsreel footage and photographs of the disaster shattered public confidence in this mode of transport, spelling the end of the airship era.

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Kennedy assassination, 1963 -

This blurred image captured the split second after the fatal second shot hit President John F. Kennedy as his motorcade entered Dealey Plaza on November 22, 1963. The Polaroid photo was taken by Mary Moorman, a bystander and witness to the shooting.

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Lyndon Johnson taking the presidential oath, 1963 -

In Dallas on November 22, 1963, just a few hours after the assassination of President Kennedy, Vice President Lyndon Johnson took the oath of office as 36th president of the United States aboard Air Force One at Dallas Love Field. The solemn ceremony was captured by news photographers. Among those present was Lady Bird Johnson and Jacqueline Kennedy.

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'Twist and Shout,' 1963 -

British photographer Fiona Adams' classic shot of the Beatles was used as the cover image for the band's 'Twist and Shout' EP. Adams recalls using the rubble of a bombed-out cellar in London as a backdrop for a photo session commissioned by Boyfriend magazine. She captured this joyful image on April 18, 1963 when the band was still little known.

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Black Power salute, 1968 -

The 1968 Summer Olympic Games in Mexico witnessed two black American athletes, gold medalist Tommie Smith and bronze medalist John Carlos, raise their fists in a gesture against racial discrimination but widely seen as a "Black Power salute." The pair were subsequently vilified, threatened, and, in some circles, celebrated. With them on the podium is Australian sprinter Peter Norman, the silver medalist in the 200-meter run.

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'Lunchtime atop a skyscraper,' 1932 -

Taken on September 20, 1932 very likely by Charles C. Ebbets during the construction of the RCA Building (part of the Rockefeller Center) in New York City, 'Lunchtime atop a skyscraper' features 11 construction workers sitting on a steel beam 260 m (850 ft) above the ground during a lunch break. Decades later the New York Post described the image as "the most famous picture of a lunch break in New York history," and attempted to identify the men in the picture.

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Richard Nixon and Elvis Presley, 1970 -

One of the most requested photographs in the entire US National Archives is an image of Elvis Presley, though not performing. Instead, it's a photograph of the singer's December 21, 1970 meeting with President Richard Nixon at the White House. Presley had asked for a badge from the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs and to be named a "Federal Agent at Large," and had traveled to Washington, D.C. to follow up on his request. He was eventually issued with an honorary credential.

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Ali floors Liston, 1965 -

The infamous May 25, 1965 heavyweight bout between Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston is one of the most controversial in boxing history. It ended with the champion standing over Liston and taunting him to get up during their title fight, a scene captured by several sports photographers. Ali knocked his opponent out in one minute in the first round during their bout at the Central Maine Youth Center in Lewiston, Maine. Claims that the fight was fixed have endured to this day.

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View from the window at Le Gras, 1827 -

French inventor Nicéphore Niépce is credited with producing the oldest surviving camera photograph, which depicts a view from his window in Saint-Loup-de-Varennes taken in 1827 and captured after an exposure time of around eight hours. Niépce is generally acknowledged as the first inventor of a process for making permanent photographs.

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Boulevard du Temple, Paris, 1839 -

Look closely at this photograph taken by Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre—one of the great pioneers of the medium. Boulevard du Temple should be busy with carriages, horses, and pedestrians. And it is. But nothing that moves quickly has been captured on the plate due to the very long exposure required to render the picture. But down in the bottom left of the frame is a man having his boot polished, and standing still while doing so. As a result, this famous Paris street scene is the first known photograph that depicts a human being.

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Aerial view of Paris, 1853 -

French photographer Gaspard-Félix Tournachon, better known as Nadar, was the first person to take aerial photographs. In 1853, while in a tethered balloon, he shot a series of Paris views at an altitude of 520 m (1,706 ft).

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Men of Battery D of the 5th US Artillery, 1862 -

The American Civil War is considered the first major conflict to be extensively photographed. Intrepid photographers capturing the carnage included Mathew Brady, Alexander Gardner, and Timothy O'Sullivan, the latter who took this image of Union artillery at Fredericksburg in December 1862. He took this picture just as the heavy guns went into action, and had to hurry his equipment wagon out of the line of fire.

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Meeting of the rails, 1869 -

American photographer Andrew Russell captured a historic moment on May 10, 1869 with his picture of the linking of the eastward and westward rail lines, which marked a key development in American expansion. Soon afterwards, western-bound travelers were no longer obliged to make the long and dangerous journey by four-wheel wagon.

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First flight of Wright brothers' aircraft, 1903 -

The Wright Flyer was the first manned heavier-than-air powered and controlled aircraft in the world. Its maiden flight was captured in this historic image taken on December 17, 1903 at Kitty Hawk in North Carolina. Orville Wright piloted the airplane, while his brother Wilber served as an observer. The picture was taken by US government agency photographer John T. Daniels.

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Child spinner, 1908 -

Pictured here in 1908 is child laborer Sadie Pfeifer. She was photographed by Lewis Hine working next to heavy machinery in a South Carolina cotton mill. Hine had been hired by the National Child Labor Committee to document the illegal employment of children. His work represents one of the first instances of photography helping to enact social change.

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Adolf Hitler in a crowd, 1914 -

On August 2, 1914, German photographer Heinrich Hoffmann inadvertently captured a young Adolf Hitler among a huge crowd gathered in Munich's Odeonsplatz during a rally in support of war against Russia. The photo went on to become a favorite Nazi propaganda picture, appearing with captions such as "Adolf Hitler: A man of the People," and reproduced on numerous occasions in newspapers, political flyers, biographies, and school books.

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Warsaw Ghetto boy, 1943 -

In one of the most famous photographs of the Holocaust, a young Jewish boy holds his hands over his head as a group of civilians are held at gunpoint by German SS troops after being forced out of a bunker where they were sheltering during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in German-occupied Poland. Taken sometime between April 19 and May 16, 1943, the image clearly shows SS corporal Josef Blösche pointing his machine gun at the youngster. In 1967, Blösche was arrested and later convicted of numerous war crimes and sentenced to death; he was executed on July 29, 1969.

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Nagasaki, 1945 -

While the atomic bomb that exploded over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 was also photographed, the picture recording the blast of the second bomb, dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, is the only one to show the full scale of the mushroom cloud from the air, towering 6,000 km (20,000 ft) above the city. The deadly aftermath was captured by Lieutenant Charles Levy with his personal camera while aboard the B-29 observation aircraft The Great Artiste.

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'Migrant Mother,' 1936 -

American photographer Dorothea Lange was working for the Resettlement Administration (later the Farm Security Administration) when she captured this iconic image of a woman and her two children during the Great Depression.

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Albert Einstein birthday portrait, 1951 -

On March 14, 1951 (the day of his 72nd birthday), Albert Einstein was caught by the paparazzi as he left work at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. Irritated by the gathered press corps, the world-famous theoretical physicist stuck his tongue out rather than gift them with a smile.

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Che Guevara portrait, 1960 -

Known as Guerrillero Heroico, Alberto Korda's portrait of Che Guevara is one of the most recognized in the world. He took it on March 5, 1960, in Havana, Cuba. A cropped version of the image has since been circulated around the world, finding its way on flags, posters, wall murals, and mosaics, and reproduced countless times in books, magazine, and newspapers.

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'Earthrise,' 1968 -

Not every great image is taken by a professional photographer. On December 24, 1968, astronaut  William Anders captured a photograph of the Earth and a portion of the Moon's surface that became known as 'Earthrise.' This now legendary picture took 90 seconds to make, with command module pilot Jim Lovell commenting: "The vast loneliness is awe-inspiring, and it makes you realize just what you have back there on Earth."

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Man on the Moon, 1969 -

Similarly, the most iconic photograph to emerge from the Apollo space program is that taken by Neil Armstrong of Buzz Aldrin walking on the lunar surface shortly after Armstrong had become the first human being to set foot on the Moon, on July 20, 1969. Armstrong is seen in the visor reflection, along with Earth, the lunar module Eagle, and the American flag.

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"Hand of God," 1986 -

Argentina player Diego Maradona outjumps England goalkeeper Peter Shilton to score with his "hand of God" goal as England defenders Kenny Sansom (top), Gary Stevens (center), and Terry Fenwick look on during the 1986 FIFA World Cup quarter final at the Azteca Stadium on June 22 in Mexico City. The notorious incident was captured live on television and by numerous photographers.

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Tiananmen Square, 1989 -

Tank Man is the nickname given to the unidentified Chinese demonstrator who stood down a column of tanks leaving Tiananmen Square in Beijing on June 5, 1989 shortly after the Chinese government's violent crackdown on  pro-democracy protesters. The best-known image of this incident was taken by Jeff Widener of the Associated Press. Published here is a television still from CNN, there is no reliable information about the identity or fate of the man, or that of the tank crew.

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'Pillars of Creation,' 1995 -

Published here in its original cropped format, the outstanding photograph known as the 'Pillars of Creation' taken by the Hubble Space Telescope on April 1, 1995 is so named because it shows huge plumes of dust and gas in the Eagle Nebular creating new stars—the first time such an event had been recorded. Image: NASA

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Oklahoma City bombing, 1995 -

Nothing but rubble remains of the front side of the destroyed Federal Building in the Oklahoma City bombing aftermath. On April 19, 1995, a fuel-and-fertilizer truck bomb exploded in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, killing 168 people. Timothy McVeigh, convicted on first-degree murder charges for the worst terror attack on US soil at that time, was executed on June 11, 2001.

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Sealed with a kiss, 1981 -

The photograph of Charles, Prince of Wales kissing his wife, Princess Diana, on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in London after their wedding on July 29, 1981 was recorded live on television and captured by hundreds of photographers. The story behind the iconic kiss is that Charles forgot to kiss Diana at the altar, so the couple made up for the miss later on the balcony. This moment initiated a new royal wedding tradition that continues today.

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'The Situation Room,' 2011 -

White House photographer Pete Souza caught the reaction of President Barack Obama and his national security team inside the White House Situation Room on May 1, 2011 the moment Osama bin Laden was shot and killed during a raid by US Navy Seals on the al-Qaeda leader's compound in Pakistan. 

Sources: (Rare Historical Photos) (New York Post)(History) (National Geographic) (Time) (Marie Claire) 

See also: Life in the White House

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