THE 57 MOST POWERFUL PHOTOS IN UNITED STATES HISTORY

BATTLEFIELD CASUALTIES AT GETTYSBURG. (1863)

July 1863, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, USA — Dead soldiers lie on the battlefield at Gettysburg, where 23,000 Union troops and 25,000 Confederate troops were killed during the Civil War.  July 1863.
LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG (1863)

A crowd forms for President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address in Gettysburg, Pa., on Nov. 19, 1863. For Lincoln, the power of the men’s sacrifice lay in the “cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion”: preserving the union and enabling “a new birth of freedom” encompassing all men.
180,000 BISON SKULLS (1870)

Bison were hunted almost to extinction in the 19th century and were reduced to a few hundred by the mid-1880s. They were hunted for their skins, with the rest of the animal left behind to decay on the ground. Here we see a poacher standing on a pile of an estimate 100,000 Bison skulls
FIRST IN FLIGHT (1903)

The first flight of the Wright Flyer I on December 17, 1903, Orville piloting, Wilbur running at wingtip.
SAN FRANCISCO EARTHQUAKE (1906)

The 1906 San Francisco earthquake struck the coast of Northern California at 5:12 a.m. on Wednesday, April 18. Devastating fires broke out in the city that lasted for several days. As a result, about 3,000 people died and over 80% of San Francisco was destroyed.
LUNCH ATOP A SKYSCRAPER (1932)

The photograph depicts eleven men eating lunch, seated on a girder with their feet dangling 840 feet above the New York City streets. The men have no safety harness, which was linked to the Great Depression, when people were willing to take any job regardless of safety issues. The photo was taken on September 20, 1932 on the 69th floor of the RCA Building at Rockefeller Center during the last months of construction.
MIGRANT MOTHER (1936)

In March of 1936, during the height of the Great Depression, photographer Dorothea Lange came across a camp of 2,500 destitute campers and snapped this photo that later became known as Migrant Mother, which “has achieved near mythical status, symbolizing, if not defining, an entire era in United States history.” Roy Stryker called Migrant Mother the “ultimate” photo of the Depression Era.
HINDENBURG DISASTER (1937)

This photo, taken during the initial explosion of the Hindenburg, shows the 804-foot German zeppelin just before subsequent explosions sent the ship crashing to the ground at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in Lakehurst, N.J., May 6, 1937. The roaring flames silhouette two men, at right atop the mooring mast, dangerously close to the blasts. “Oh, the humanity!” The scene stimulated NBC radio broadcaster Herbert Morrison to give a memorable and highly emotion account of the disaster
“THE LUCKIEST MAN ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH” (1939)

On July 4, 1939 a frail Lou Gehrig stepped in front of a packed crowd at Yankee Stadium. The Manhattan-native knew he was sick, but he was unaware that his illness (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS) would soon claim his life.
INTO THE JAWS OF DEATH (1944)

U.S. Army’s 1st Infantry Division soldiers disembarking from a LCVP (Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel)  at Omaha Beach during the Normandy Landings of D-Day.
RAISING THE FLAG (1945)

Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima” is a historic photograph taken on 23 February 1945 by Joe Rosenthal. It depicts five Marines and a U.S. Navy corpsman raising the flag of the United States atop Mount Suribachi. The photograph was extremely popular, being reprinted in thousands of publications. Later, it became the only photograph to win the Pulitzer Prize for Photography in the same year as its publication, and ultimately came to be regarded as one of the most significant and recognizable images of the war, and possibly the most reproduced photograph of all time.
THE KISS (1945)

A jubilant American sailor clutching a white-uniformed nurse in a back-bending, passionate kiss as he vents his joy while thousands jam Times Square to celebrate the long awaited-victory over Japan on August 14, 1945.
THE ARREST OF ROSA PARKS (1955)

On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks refused to obey bus driver James F. Blake’s order to give up her seat in the colored section to a white passenger, after the white section was filled. When Parks refused to give up her seat, a police officer arrested her.
THE DESEGREGATION OF LITTLE ROCK (1957)

Elizabeth Eckford (pictured) is one of the Little Rock Nine, a group of African-American students who, in 1957, were the first black students ever to attend classes at Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. A dramatic snapshot by Johnny Jenkins showed the young girl being followed and threatened by an angry white mob and was the unanimous selection for a 1958 Pulitzer Prize.
CHILDREN’S CRUSADE (1963)

The Birmingham Children’s Crusade was a march by hundreds of school students in Birmingham, Alabama, May 2–5, 1963, during the American Civil Rights Movement’s Birmingham campaign. The marches were stopped by the head of police “Bull Connor” who brought fire hoses to ward off the children and set police dogs after the children. This event prompted President John F. Kennedy to publicly fully support racial equality, and led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

A 17-year-old Civil Rights demonstrator is attacked by a police dog in Birmingham, Ala., on May 3, 1963. This image led the front page of the next day’s New York Times.
“I HAVE A DREAM” (1963)

Martin Luther King Jr. waving to the crowd after delivering his “I Have a Dream” speech on August 28, 1963, in which he calls for an end to racism in the United States. Delivered to over 250,000 civil rights supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington, the speech was a defining moment of theAmerican Civil Rights Movement.
THE ASSASSINATION OF JOHN F. KENNEDY (1963)

President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy smile at the crowds lining their motorcade route in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. Minutes later the President was assassinated as his car passed through Dealey Plaza.

Cecil Stoughton‘s iconic photograph as Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn in as U.S. President aboard Air Force One, Love Field, Dallas. Jackie (right), still in her blood-soaked clothes (not visible in picture), looks on.

Jack Ruby prepares to shoot and kill Oswald, who, escorted by police detectives Jim Leavelle (tan suit) and L.C. Graves, is being transferred from the City Jail to the Dallas County jail.

In this Monday, Nov. 25, 1963 file photo, 3-year-old John F. Kennedy Jr. salutes his father’s casket in Washington, three days after the president was assassinated in Dallas. Widow Jacqueline Kennedy, center, and daughter Caroline Kennedy are accompanied by the late president’s brothers Sen. Edward Kennedy, left, and Attorney General Robert Kennedy.
ALI VS LISTON (1965)

On May 25, 1965, Muhammad Ali defeated Sonny Liston in the first round of a heavyweight bout that produced one of the strangest finishes in boxing history as well as one of sports’ most iconic images.
WAR IS HELL (1965)

AP photojournalist Horst Faas took this iconic photo on June 18, 1965, during the Vietnam War with 173rd Airborne Brigade Battalion member Larry Wayne Chaffin on defense duty at Phouc Vinh airstrip in South Vietnam. The headband message “War is Hell” typified an acerbic attitude of many young American soldiers who were likely drafted and sent to the remote southeastern Asia jungles to engage in deadly and terrifying combat.’
FLOWER POWER (1967)

Taken on October 21, 1967 during a march to the Pentagon, the iconic photo shows a young, long-haired Vietnam protestor in a turtleneck sweater, placing carnations into the barrel of a rifle of a National Guardsman.
THE ASSASSINATION OF MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. (1968)

Civil rights leader Andrew Young (L) and others standing on balcony of Lorraine motel pointing in direction of assailant after assassination of civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who is lying at their feet.
1968 OLYMPICS BLACK POWER SALUTE

American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos raise their fists and give the Black Power Salute at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City.  The move was a symbolic protest against racism in the United States.  Smith, the gold medal winner, and Carlos, the bronze medal winner, were subsequently suspended from their team for their actions.
EARTHRISE (1968)

When the Apoll 8 spacecraft came out from behind the Moon for its fourth pass across the front, the crew witnessed “Earthrise” for the first time in human history.
THE ASSASSINATION OF ROBERT F. KENNEDY (1968)

Boris Yaro’s photograph of Robert F. Kennedy lying wounded on the floor immediately after the shooting. Kneeling beside him is 17-year-old Juan Romero, who was shaking Kennedy’s hand when Sirhan Sirhan fired the shots.
NEIL ARMSTRONG WITH TEARS IN HIS EYES (1969)

A photo of Neil Armstrong taken only moments after he returned from first walking on the moon. A teary-eyed Armstrong looks at the camera, rendered speechless by what he has just experienced. It’s a beautiful portrait taken by Buzz Aldrin after they returned to the Lunar Excursion Module, and beautifully captures the emotions he later put into words when he said, “It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth. I didn’t feel like a giant. I felt very, very small.”

KENT STATE SHOOTING (1971)

John Filo’s Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of Mary Ann Vecchio, a 14-year-old runaway kneeling over the body of Jeffrey Miller minutes after he was shot by the Ohio National Guard on May 4, 1971.
BURST OF JOY (1973)

After spending more than five years in a North Vietnamese camp, Lt. Col. Robert L. Stirm is reunited with his family at Travis AFB, March 13, 1973. Burst of Joy is a Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph by Associated Press photographer Slava “Sal” Veder. The photograph came to symbolize the end of United States involvement in the Vietnam War, and the prevailing sentiment that military personnel and their families could begin a process of healing after enduring the horrors of war.
THE SOILING OF OLD GLORY (1976)

The Soiling of Old Glory is a Pulitzer Prize–winning photograph taken for the Boston Herald American in 1976 by Stanley Forman. The photograph depicts a white teenager, Joseph Rakes, trying to assault black lawyer and civil-rights activist Ted Landsmark with a flagpole bearing the American flag. It was taken in Boston on April 5, 1976, during one in a series of protests against court-ordered desegregation busing. It ran on the front page of the Herald American the next day, and also appeared in several newspapers across the country.
MIRACLE ON ICE (1980)

The United States national team, made up of amateur and collegiate players and led by coach Herb Brooks, defeated the Soviet Union national team at the 1980 Winter Olympics, which had won the gold medal in six of the seven previous Olympic games. In 1999, Sports Illustrated named the “Miracle on Ice” the Top Sports Moment of the 20th Century.
VIETNAM MEMORIAL (1982)

Joseph Ambrose, an 86-year-old World War I veteran, attends the dedication day parade for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in 1982, holding the flag that covered the casket of his son, who was killed in the Korean War.
SPACE SHUTTLE CHALLENGER DISASTER (1986)

The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster occurred on January 28, 1986, when the NASA Space Shuttle orbiter Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, leading to the deaths of its seven crew members
MICHAEL JORDAN’S FREE THROW DUNK (1988)

Entering the final attempt of the 1988 Slam Dunk Contest, Michael Jordan needed a 48 points (out of 50) to tie Dominique Wilkins and a 49 to win. Everything was on the line, so he broke out what would become one of the signature moments in sports history in front of the home crowd. Jordan’s dunk from the free-throw line earned him a perfect score and allowed him to successfully defend his title.
“NO ONE IS BORN RACIST” (1992)

A white child touches the shield of a black Georgia State Trooper during a KKK protest in Atlanta.
CHRISTMAS TIME AT THE WORLD TRADE CENTER (1995)

BLACK TEEN PROTECTS A KKK MEMBER (1996)

In 1996, a black teenager protected a white man from an angry mob who thought he supported the racist Ku Klux Klan
ELIAN GONZALEZ (2000)

Elian Gonzalez is held in a closet by Donato Dalrymple, one of the two men who rescued the boy from the ocean, right, as government officials search the home of Lazaro Gonzalez for the young boy, in the early morning, in this April 22, 2000 file photo, in Miami.
SEPTEMBER 11, 2001

United States President George W. Bush on the morning of September 11, 2001 at Emma E. Booker elementary school when he first learned of the second plane crashing into the World Trade Center, and where he made his first public comments about the September 11 attacks.

 

Mychal Judge was a Franciscan friar and Catholic priest who served as a chaplain to the New York City Fire Department. It was while serving in that capacity that he was killed, becoming the first certified fatality of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The Falling Man is a photograph taken by Associated Press photographer Richard Drew of a man falling from the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 9:41:15 a.m. during the September 11 attacks in New York City. The subject of the image, whose identity remains uncertain, was one of the people trapped on the upper floors of the skyscraper who either fell searching for safety or jumped to escape the fire and smoke.

VETERAN’S DAY (2004)

Pearl Harbor survivor Houston James of Dallas is overcome with emotion as he embraces former Marine SSgt Mark Graunke, Jr. of Flower Mound, Texas during the Dallas Veterans Day Commemoration at Dallas City Hall. SSgt Graunke, Jr., who was a member of a Marine ordnance-disposal team, lost a hand, leg, and eye while defusing a bomb in Iraq in July of 2003.
SUNSET ON MARS (2005)

On May 19, 2005, NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Spirit captured this stunning view as the Sun sank below the rim of Gusev crater on Mars.
A SOLDIER’S CHILD (2007)

Heather Golczynski and her 8-year-old son Christian hold tightly to the memory of Marine Staff Sgt. Marc Golczynski. On March 27, just a few weeks before Marc Golczynski was to return home from his second tour in Iraq — one he volunteered for — he was shot on patrol and killed by enemy fire in al-Aanbar province. During a moment at the burial, Christian stepped forward to receive the flag for his father. The expression of grief on his young face was captured in a photo and became a powerful symbol for soldiers, their families and anyone who sees it. When asked about his dad by ABC News’ Chris Cuomo, Christian said, “He was a hero. He helped our country.”
REUNITED (2007)

Major Terri Gurrola and her daughter Gaby reunite after her seven month deployment.
FIRST INAUGURATION OF BARACK OBAMA (2008)

The first inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States took place on Tuesday, January 20, 2009. The inauguration, which set a record attendance for any event held in Washington, D.C., marked the commencement of the first four-year term of Barack Obama as President and Joe Biden as Vice President. Based on the combined attendance numbers, television viewership, and Internet traffic, it was among the most-observed events ever by the global audience.
BIN LADEN IS DEAD (2011)

His perfectly distilled picture showed the firefighters of Ladder Company 4 — which lost seven men on 9/11 — perched together on their aerial ladder, watching a news bulletin in Times Square declaring that Osama bin Laden was dead. Though their backs were to the camera, the men’s body language spoke eloquently.
THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY (2011)

Robert Peraza, who lost his son Robert David Peraza, pauses at his son’s name at the North Pool of the 9/11 Memorial during tenth anniversary ceremonies at the site of the World Trade Center in New York, Sept. 11, 2011.
HANDSHAKE (2011)

President Barack Obama shakes the prostetic hand of US Army Sgt. First Class Leroy Arthur Petry, from Santa Fe, N.M., before awarding him the Medal of Honor during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, July 12, 2011. Petry is the ninth service member to have been named a recipient of the Medal of Honor for actions in Afghanistan and Iraq. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
MAN’S BEST FRIEND (2012)

As twisters ravaged the the Midwest and the South in early 2012, Greg Cook was reunited with his dog Coco outside his destroyed home in Limestone County, Ala.
THE PRIDE HOUSE (2015)

On June 27th the White House was lit up in rainbow colors in commemoration of the Supreme Court’s ruling to legalize same-sex marriage.