Picturing iconic situations and a window into the events that have changed the course of our nation. A picture is worth a thousand words – these pictures have shocked, inspired, and moved us as a country.
From a picture taken in 1863 where dead soldiers lie on the battlefield at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and more than 50,000 Union and Confederate troops were killed, injured, or captured during the Civil War to the Space Shuttle Challenger that explodes shortly after lifting off from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 1986, all these photos will amaze you.
Check them out for more information and start to see our world through photos!
Beijing, 1989 — People’s Liberation Army
Following a crackdown that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of student demonstrators in Beijing, a lone Chinese man steps right in front of the People’s Liberation Army tanks.
Photo: Charlie Cole
April 1906 — Destruction after the San Francisco earthquake
In this 1906 photo, the severe damage of an earthquake in San Francisco is shown throughout the city. The earthquake spurred a devastating firestorm that claimed the lives of about 3,000 people and destroyed about 80% of San Francisco.
Public Domain / Via AP
Nov. 19, 1863 — Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address
In this 1863 picture, crowds gather around President Abraham Lincoln in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, as he prepares to deliver his famous Gettysburg Address.
Matthew Brady & Company / Keya Morgan Collection, LincolnImages
1870 — Bison skulls used as fertilizer
In the 19th century, American bison were hunted to near extinction. Entrepreneurs and hunters killed the animals for their prized skins and left their bodies behind to decay. In this picture, a poacher is seen standing on a pile of around 100,000 bison skulls.
Public Domain
Dec. 17, 1903 — Flight at Kitty Hawk
In this 1903 picture taken in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville Wright is seen manning the controls on the lower wing, piloting the Wright Flyer on the first powered flight ever. In the moments before the plane was airborne, his brother, Wilbur Wright, on the ground, guided and steadied the plane as it accelerated along the starting rail at left.
John T. Daniels / AP
March 1936 — “Migrant Mother”
In March 1936, during the height of the Great Depression, photographer Dorothea Lange came across a camp of 2,500 destitute campers and snapped this photo. Known as “Migrant Mother,” the photo came to define America’s Great Depression era.
Dorothea Lange / Public Domain
May 6, 1937 — Hindenburg disaster
In this 1937 photo, the passenger-carrying airship Hindenburg is seen at the moment of exploding midair in Lakehurst, New Jersey. The disaster claimed the lives of 36 and marked the end of the era of passenger-carrying airships.
Sam Shere / Getty Images
June 6, 1944 — Allies invade Normandy
Taken on the morning of June 6, 1944, a military vehicle called an LCVP disembarks troops of Company E, 16th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division (the Big Red One) onto Omaha Beach in Normandy, France. This remarkable act of heroism sought to liberate France from Hitler’s grasp and end World War II in Europe. During the initial landing, two-thirds of Company E became casualties.
Public Domain / Via en.wikipedia.org
Feb. 23, 1945 — Raising the American flag on Iwo Jima
Taken on the island of Iwo Jima, Japan, U.S. Marines and a United States Navy hospital corpsman, raise a U.S. flag atop Mount Suribachi. These men fought alongside more than 70,000 Marines, sailors, and airmen on Iwo Jima, a tiny eight-square-mile speck of volcanic rock and sand midway between Guam and Tokyo, during the closing months of World War II. Three of the Marines depicted in this picture were killed in the following days.
Joe Rosenthal / AP
August 1945 — The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
In these photos taken from U.S. military aircraft, atomic mushroom clouds are seen rising over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as the atom bombs leveled everything to the ground. The picture on the left is of Hiroshima, bombed on Aug. 6, 1945, while the picture on the right shows the Nagasaki bombing on Aug. 9, 1945. The bombs killed nearly 160,000 people in Hiroshima and another 75,000 in Nagasaki.
Public Domain
1945 — V-J Day in Times Square
An American sailor passionately kisses a nurse as thousands jam into Times Square to celebrate the long-awaited victory over Japan in World War II.
Alfred Eisenstaedt/The LIFE Picture Collection / Getty Images
1955 — Rosa Parks mugshot
In this 1955 picture, Rosa Parks is seen in her Montgomery county mugshot after being arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a public bus to a white passenger. The actions of Rosa Parks and the subsequent Montgomery Bus Boycott became important symbols of the Civil Rights Movement during the mid-20th century.
Universal History Archive / Getty Images
1957 — Little Rock Nine
In this 1957 picture, Elizabeth Eckford of what became known as “The Little Rock Nine” is seen being followed and threatened by an angry white mob on her way to class, as one of the first African-American students to ever attend classes at Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Bettmann / Getty Images
Aug. 28, 1963 — Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech
U.S. civil rights leader Martin Luther King waves to supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial moments after delivering his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech on Aug. 28, 1963, during the March on Washington.
Afp / AFP / Getty Images
Nov. 22, 1963 — Assassination of President John F. Kennedy
President John F. Kennedy slumps down in the backseat of his presidential limousine in Dallas after being fatally shot by a sniper. First lady Jacqueline Kennedy leans over the president as Secret Service agent Clint Hill pushes her back to her seat. “She’s going to go flying off the back of the car,” Hill thought as he tried to secure the first lady.
James W. Ike Altgens / AP
Nov. 22, 1963 — Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn in as president of the United States
Lyndon B. Johnson takes the oath of office as president of the United States, shortly after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas. Jackie Kennedy stands to Johnson’s left as he is sworn in.
National Archives / Getty Images
Nov. 25, 1963 — Burial of John F. Kennedy
In this picture taken on Nov. 25, 1963, 3-year-old John F. Kennedy Jr. salutes his father’s casket in Washington, three days after the president was assassinated.
AP Photo
May 25, 1965 — Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston
Heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali stands over fallen challenger Sonny Liston, shortly after dropping Liston with a short hard right to the jaw. The bout lasted only one minute into the first round.
John Rooney / AP
Oct. 26, 1967 — “Flower Power”
Antiwar demonstrators tried “flower power” on MPs blocking the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, on Oct. 26, 1967.
The Washington Post / Getty Images
April 4, 1968 — Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
Ralph Abernathy, Jesse Jackson, and others stand on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel and point in the direction of gunshots that killed American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis.
Joseph Louw / The LIFE Images Collection / Getty
Dec. 24, 1968 — “Earthrise”
Taken by Apollo 8 crew member Bill Anders while in orbit around the moon, this picture shows Earth rising above the lunar horizon.
NASA / Bill Anders
July 20, 1969 — Astronaut Neil Armstrong
Taken moments after Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon during the Apollo 11 flight, the astronaut is seen on verge of tears by what he had just experienced: He was the first human being to ever set foot on the lunar surface.
NASA / Project Apollo Archive
Dec. 8, 1980 — John Lennon’s murder in New York City
On Dec. 8, 1980, John Lennon was murdered by Mark David Chapman outside of his Upper West Side home. He was 40 years old. In Central Park, scores of people gathered to mourn the death of the music and cultural legend.
Luiz Alberto/Keystone / Getty Images
March 30, 1981 — Assassination attempt on President Reagan
Secret Service agent Timothy J. McCarthy, Washington police officer Thomas K. Delahanty, and presidential press secretary James Brady lie wounded on the street after shots were fired at President Reagan on March 30, 1981. McCarthy threw himself into the line of fire after gunman John Hinckley Jr. had fired six shots from a crowd.
Ron Edmonds / AP
Jan. 28, 1986 — Space Shuttle Challenger disaster
The Space Shuttle Challenger explodes shortly after lifting off from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 1986. All seven crew members died in the explosion, which was blamed on faulty O-rings in the shuttle’s booster rockets.
Bruce Weaver / AP