35 Colorized Historical Photos and the Stories Behind Them (36 Photos)

Today, it's hard to imagine a time when you couldn't just whip out a smartphone, snap a quick photo, and edit it to your heart's content. Once upon a time, all photographs were strictly black and white. And while monochrome shots possess their own timeless charm, there is something truly magical about seeing the past brought to life in full color. Fortunately, thanks to modern technology, digital artists around the world are restoring and colorizing historical photographs to give us a fresh glimpse into history.







A woman posts a letter in a red pillar box amidst bomb-damaged buildings during World War II. London, UK, 1940.





A Navajo man photographed in 1904, dressed as Nayenezgani, a hero from Navajo mythology who, alongside his brother Tobadzischini, rid the world of the Anaye (mythological monsters).



A Japanese couple taking a "selfie," 1920.



Louis Armstrong plays the trumpet for his wife, Lucille, in front of the Great Sphinx of Giza, Egypt, 1961.



Robin Williams performing as a mime in Central Park, New York, in 1974, before he became famous.

Photographer Daniel Sorine captured two mimes performing in New York's Central Park. Decades later, in 2013, while reviewing his old negatives and photos, Sorine realized that one of those young performers was none other than future Oscar-winning actor Robin Williams.



A Royal Navy stoker nicknamed "Popeye," a 21-year veteran, on board HMS Rodney, September 1940.



Two photos of Soviet soldier Evgeny Kobytev, taken four years apart. The photo on the left was taken in June 1941, when he went off to war at age 30. The photo on the right shows him upon his return in 1945.

Read more here: Before and After War: The Haunting Transformation of a Soldier's Face



The original *Star Wars* cast in 1977. Left to right: Harrison Ford (Han Solo), David Prowse (Darth Vader), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), Kenny Baker (R2-D2), and Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker).



Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Ralph Abernathy ride on the first desegregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama, December 1956.



19-year-old Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II) in 1945, serving as an ambulance driver in the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) during World War II.



Apsaroke (Crow) Native Americans on horseback near tipis in a snowy Montana forest, 1908.



A young Italian boy hands flowers to an American soldier after his tank came to a stop on the outskirts of Rome, June 1944.



A Navajo man dressed as Tonenili, the Navajo rain god, 1904.



Hawaiian surfer Charles Kauha carrying an *alaia*—a traditional wooden surfboard used in Hawaii prior to the 20th century. Taken at Waikiki Beach, 1898.



An iconic Spanish Civil War photograph captured by Juan Guzmán on July 21, 1936, during the military uprising in Barcelona, depicting 17-year-old Marina Ginestà posing with a Mauser M1916 rifle.



Chief John Smith, also known as White Wolf, believed to be the oldest Native American in history. According to some accounts, he lived to be 137 years old. Photo taken around 1920.



The streamliner *Mercury* train, 1936. The *Mercury* passenger trains operated between major cities in the American Midwest from 1936 until 1959.



French painter Claude Monet in his garden at Giverny, France, 1899.



Jewish families in Amsterdam forced to leave their homes in May/June 1943 to be deported to concentration camps.



Dutch Resistance fighters celebrating the liberation of Breda, Netherlands, by the Polish 1st Armoured Division on October 29, 1944.



Charlotte and Marjorie Collyer, who survived the sinking of the *Titanic* in April 1912. Charlotte's husband and Marjorie's father, Harvey Collyer, perished in the disaster. Photo taken June 1912.



An 81-year-old Nikola Tesla, 1937.



British socialite and suffragette Lady Norman on her Autoped motor scooter in 1916. The Autoped was manufactured by the Autoped Company in Long Island City, New York, from 1915 to 1922.



Leon Trotsky, Frida Kahlo, and Natalia Sedova in Mexico, 1937.



A British veteran of the Napoleonic Wars posing with his wife in the 1860s.



Women delivering ice from a delivery truck on September 16, 1918. Traditionally a male-dominated job, women stepped into these roles during World War I.



A young boy sitting in the rubble following a bombing raid on London during World War II. January 1945.



The Hindenburg disaster, May 6, 1937. The German airship caught fire while attempting to dock at Naval Air Station Lakehurst and was completely destroyed.



Dorothea Lange's iconic photograph "Migrant Mother," depicting 32-year-old Florence Owens Thompson at a pea-pickers' camp in Nipomo, California, where crops had been ruined by frost.



A young French boy running down the street with a baguette, photographed by French photographer Willy Ronis, 1952.



The interior of a commercial airliner in 1936, operated by Imperial Airways—Britain's first commercial airline.



Norwegian artist Wilhelm Otto Peters working on his painting *Looking for Worms* in Nesseby, Finnmark, 1884.



Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States, at age 56 on February 5, 1865—taken just a month before his second inauguration and two months before his assassination.



A streetcar conductor refusing entry to passengers without face masks during the Spanish Flu pandemic. Seattle, Washington, 1918.



The Montparnasse derailment in Paris, France, October 22, 1895. The train overshot the buffer stop, crashed through the station wall, and plummeted to the street below. Miraculously, there was only one fatality—a newsstand vendor killed by falling masonry.