Time Travel Through 42 Rare Historical Photos You Won’t Believe Exist
History isn’t just black-and-white textbooks and dates to memorize. Sometimes, it’s a smile caught mid-century, a motorcycle ride through rubble, or a moment that slipped past the headlines but held a thousand quiet stories. At Grumpy Sharks, we’re all about rediscovering these blink-and-you’ll-miss-it treasures.
This curated list of 42 of the most fascinating, jaw-dropping, and outright bizarre historical photos from the Instagram account years_in_photos. They will make you pause and wonder: How have I never seen this before? These images feel like time travel—unfiltered, unposed, and unbelievably real.
So buckle up. We’re heading into forgotten corners of the past that prove reality is sometimes stranger (and more beautiful) than fiction.
#1. The contestants of the World’s Most Beautiful Legs competition in 1951
Source: years_in_photos
#2. Timothy Treadwell ‘The Grizzly Man’ who thought he could live with bears. Known for his crazy antics. Timothy spent 13 summers camping in Alaska until his eventual demise. Photo taken in the late 90s
Source: years_in_photos
#3. On Feb 8, 1943, 17yo partisan Lepa Radić was hanged by the Germans in Bosnia. Offered her life for names of other fighters, she replied: “I am not a traitor of my people. Those you’re asking about will reveal themselves when they succeed in wiping out all you evildoers, to the last man.”
Source: years_in_photos
#4. Workers Eating Lunch Atop Beam [1925]
New York: The new telephone company skyscraper at Vesey Street and the North River under construction. Photo shows the iron workers perched on a girder twenty stories in the air and enjoying their lunch. Unconcerned about the twenty story drop below.
Source: years_in_photos
#5. A lamb approaches a Navajo baby in a traditional baby carrier, Wind Rock Navajo Reservation, Arizona, circa 1930. (Photo by H. Armstrong Roberts)
Source: years_in_photos
We’ve all seen the same handful of historical images recycled over and over. But rare photos—ones taken offstage, out of frame, or far from the spotlight—feel like secrets. They feel human.
A candid moment of soldiers dancing in the mud. A grandmother in 1910 beaming next to her brand-new washing machine. These images strip away the drama and show history’s softer, weirder, more personal side. They aren’t just history lessons—they’re windows into lives lived fully, even in the margins.
#6. A mother and her 10 daughters, Boston, 1952
Source: years_in_photos
#7. Bedouin Mother, Saudi Arabia 1948
Source: years_in_photos
#8. Marie Curie. 1930
Maria Salomea Skłodowska-Curie (Polish: [ˈmarja salɔˈmɛa skwɔˈdɔfska kʲiˈri]; née Skłodowska; 7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934), known simply as Marie Curie was a Polish and naturalised-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person to win a Nobel Prize twice, and the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two scientific fields.
Her husband, Pierre Curie, was a co-winner of her first Nobel Prize, making them the first married couple to win the Nobel Prize and launching the Curie family legacy of five Nobel Prizes. She was, in 1906, the first woman to become a professor at the University of Paris.
Source: years_in_photos
#9. University of Madras student ties his hair to nail to prevent sleeping at night while preparing for exams, 1905
Source: years_in_photos
#10. Photo restoration of Old West outlaw Billy the Kid, 1880 – Billy the Kid (born November 23, 1859?, New York, New York, U.S.
died July 14, 1881, Fort Sumner, New Mexico) was an American outlaw who was one of the most notorious gunfighters of the American West. Although he claimed to have killed 21 men, the actual number is likely less than 10. At about age 21, Billy the Kid was gunned down by Sheriff Pat Garrett.
Born on New York City’s East Side, Billy as a child migrated with his parents to Kansas; his father died there, and the mother and her two boys moved to Colorado, where she remarried. The family moved to New Mexico, and, in his early teens, Billy fell into a career of thievery and lawlessness, wandering throughout the Southwest and northern Mexico, often with gangs.
In December 1880 he was captured by Garrett and stood trial for murder in Mesilla, New Mexico, in April 1881; he was found guilty and was sentenced to hang. He escaped jail on April 28, however, killing two deputies, and remained at large until tracked down and ambushed by Garrett, who shot him dead on the evening of July 14 at the ranch home of Pete Maxwell. Billy the Kid’s grave is in Fort Sumner, New Mexico.
Source: years_in_photos
#11. Coal Miner with his daughter. He has just gotten home from his job as a conveyor belt operator in a non-union mine. West Virginia, 1970s.
Source: years_in_photos
According to Dr. Elizabeth Edwards, a photographic historian and anthropologist, “vernacular photos”—those taken by ordinary people—are crucial to how we understand the past. They offer nuance, intimacy, and texture that institutional archives often miss.
These rare finds matter because they fill the gaps. They reframe what we thought we knew. And they give voice to the forgotten, the overlooked, and the beautifully mundane.
#12. A striking image of a young mountain girl standing outside her family’s cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains. This photograph offers a rare glimpse into rural life in Appalachia, a region that was largely isolated by the rest of the country during this period. Circa 1912
Source: years_in_photos
#13. Dawn Wells and Kurt Russell on the set of Gilligan’s Island,1965
Source: years_in_photos
#14. Two Kashmiri guards along with American photographer James Ricalton at the Imperial Delhi Durbar in British India, 1903
Source: years_in_photos
#15. Lieutenant Colonel Robert L. Stirm being reunited with his family after 5½ years of being a POW in Vietnam [1973]
Source: years_in_photos
#16. A Great Depression Christmas dinner at the home of Earl Pauley near Smithfield, Iowa, 1936. The meal included potatoes, cabbage, and pie.
Source: years_in_photos
Nostalgia isn’t just an emotion—it’s a psychological resource. Dr. Constantine Sedikides from the University of Southampton describes it as a “repository of meaning.” Looking at old photos—especially ones that feel personal—can boost mood, enhance self-continuity, and even reduce feelings of loneliness.
In other words, that goosebump moment you feel when seeing a candid 1930s street scene? It’s your brain grounding itself.
#17. Friends posed for a photo on vacation in 1972 and recreated it 50 years later
Source: years_in_photos
#18. A California teacher teaching the physics of surfing, 1970
Source: years_in_photos
#19. Private Richie smells a letter sent by his girlfriend from Oklahoma, soaked with the scent of her perfume, Vietnam, 1966.
Source: years_in_photos
#20. SoCal surfers in the 1960’s
Source: years_in_photos
#21. On August 8, 1982, a line drive foul ball hit a 4 year old boy in the head at Fenway Park. Jim Rice, realizing in a flash that it would take EMTs too long to arrive and cut through the crowd, scooped up the boy and got him to the dugout where the Red Sox medical team gave him life-saving first aid.
Source: years_in_photos
#22. Girls just want to have fun, 1920s
Source: years_in_photos
#23. Virginia Mayo (c. 1940s – 50s)
Source: years_in_photos
#24. John F. Kennedy campaigning in the hills of West Virginia, 1960
Source: years_in_photos
#25. A man with his dog , 1920s
Source: years_in_photos
All of the images featured in this article were sourced from the excellent Instagram account @years_in_photos, a growing archive of rare and captivating snapshots from the past.
This account curates obscure historical moments—from quiet family portraits to iconic events seen from new angles—and brings them to light for a new generation of viewers. With carefully written captions and a deep respect for context, it’s a must-follow for history lovers and visual storytellers alike.
What’s amazing is how often these photos come from personal collections—scanned and shared by users whose grandparents lived the scenes we now marvel at. It’s crowdsourced memory. And it’s powerful.
#26. Mother and daughter taking a walk in New York City, 1970
Source: years_in_photos
#27. Negotiations between the zoo director and escaped chimpanzee. Belgrade, 1988
Source: years_in_photos
#28. Cleaning Women Washing A Crucifix, 1938
Source: years_in_photos
#29. A Patient Undergoing Treatment For Mental Illness, Germany 1890
Source: years_in_photos
#30. Marilyn Monroe in line for a hot dog, New York, 1957
Source: years_in_photos
Grumpy Sharks consulted Dr. John Tagg, professor of visual culture and the author of The Burden of Representation. He argues that photography isn’t just a reflection of history—it shapes it. What we choose to preserve, frame, and circulate tells us as much about the present as it does the past.
So when we celebrate these rare photos, we’re not just remembering. We’re participating in an evolving narrative.
#31. Children smile out a window as donated Christmas presents are delivered to their home. Detroit, Michigan, 1932.
Source: years_in_photos
#32. A girl tries to get a reaction from a royal guard. Stockholm, Sweden, 1970s.
Source: years_in_photos
#33. A couple making free love in a tent, Isle of Wight Festival, 1969.
Source: years_in_photos
#34. The original Distracted Boyfriend (1958)
Source: years_in_photos
#35. Dorothea Lange Portrait of Mother and Child during The Great Depression, 1939
Source: years_in_photos
The next time you see a dusty photo in a thrift store, a family album, or a random Reddit post—don’t scroll past. There might be a story in that background blur, in the smudge on the lens, in the way someone’s leaning just slightly out of frame.
Because history isn’t only in museums. Sometimes, it’s hiding in plain sight.
#36. Tina Tuner hanging off The Eiffel Tower, 1989.
Source: years_in_photos
#37. Jane Fonda and Anthony Perkins, behind the scenes and promos for Tall Story, 1960
Source: years_in_photos
#38. Milk delivery by dog cart, probably ca. 1910
Source: years_in_photos
#39. A mother and daughter goofing around for the camera, early 1900s
Source: years_in_photos
#40. Man cutting crying child’s hair with garden shears (United Kingdom c1920)
Source: years_in_photos
#41. No Dog Biscuits Today. London, 1939
Source: years_in_photos
#42. Tooth extraction taking place in a liquor store in 1872. An assistant is holding the person’s head in place with a towel while the “dentist” uses pliers to remove the tooth.
Source: years_in_photos
Looking at these historical photos, it’s clear that the past was far more than just names and dates in a book—it was a wild ride. Some of these moments feel like scenes from a movie, while others make you appreciate the small comforts of modern life (like not having to tie your hair to a nail to stay awake).
Which of these historical gems fascinated you the most? Have you ever come across an old photo that completely changed how you saw history? Share your thoughts in the comments!
