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20 Rarely-Seen Historic Moments In Photographs

History is often described as a living entity, comprised of moments that have been etched in time and have come to define the story of humanity. Yet, countless rare and seldom-seen moments often go unnoticed or forgotten within this grand narrative.

In this post, you'll see 20 remarkable historical images that shed light on these rarely-seen events. Each photograph serves as a portal to bygone eras, from the haunting remains of an ancient Roman city to the heart-pounding dogfight above St Paul's Cathedral during the Battle of Britain, and from the chilling mugshot and fingerprints of Benito Mussolini to the joyous chaos of a snowball fight in France in 1896.

Related: Step Back in Time With These Rare Historical Photographs

1. Iran, 1979 - Thousands of Iranian women take to the streets to protest the prospect of mandatory hijab.

Rare Historical Photos, Iranian women

2. 650 American officers and enlisted men pay tribute to the more than 8 million horses, mules, and donkeys who died in World War I service

Rare Historical Photos, American officers

3. Shavarsh Karapetyan, an Armenian fin swimmer (ten-time world record holder), who rescued 20 drowning passengers from a sinking trolleybus that fell off a bridge into Yerevan Lake

Rare Historical Photos, Shavarsh Karapetyan

4. A shepherd and his children from the village of Knalk, Azerbaijan, 1970s

Rare Historical Photos, shepherd

5. During a patrol, a Polish border guard and his horse drink water from a stream in the Bieszczady Mountains, 1980

Rare Historical Photos, Polish border guard and his horse

6. The remains of the Ancient Roman City of Timgad in Algeria's Aures Mountains

Rare Historical Photos,  Ancient Roman City

7. “Mother's Eyes" - The Bedouin Mother.  Photograph by Ilo Battigeli, 1948

Rare Historical Photos,

8. German and British pilots engaged in a dogfight above St Paul's Cathedral during the Battle of Britain, London, 1940, World War II

Rare Historical Photos, German and British pilots

9. Mugshot and fingerprints of Benito Mussolini, Bern, Switzerland, 1903

Rare Historical Photos, Benito Mussolini

10. A lone dog sits in the snow next to a retreating Italian soldier column at Stalingrad, Soviet Union, December 1942, World War II

Rare Historical Photos, dog

11. Goodyear's Illuminated Tires - On an October night in 1961, a woman adjusts her stocking using the light emitted by the Goodyear tire.

Rare Historical Photos,  Goodyear's Illuminated Tires

12. The coins that saved a soldier's life at the beginning of World War I

Rare Historical Photos, World War I

13. 111 football games were played at Hackney Marshes in London, United Kingdom in 1962

Rare Historical Photos, football games

14. J. Robert Oppenheimer with Albert Einstein at the Institute for Advanced Study, 1947

Rare Historical Photos, Robert Oppenheimer with Albert Einstein

15. A French Foreign Legion soldier holds the battalion mascot, Fritz, at Bir Hakeim. Fritz "moved over to the other side" in Narvik in 1940 and remained with them ever since.

Rare Historical Photos, mascot

16. Drive-in theater, Los Angeles, 1949

Rare Historical Photos, Drive-in theater

17. Snowball fight in Lyon, France, 1896

Rare Historical Photos,  Snowball fight in Lyon

18. Japanese Samurai, 1870's

Rare Historical Photos, Japanese Samurai, 1870's

19. Members of the New York City's Fat Men's Club in 1904. All participants had to learn a secret handshake and password, were required to weigh at least 200 pounds (91kg), and pay a dollar as a fee.

Rare Historical Photos, New York City's Fat Men's Club

20. A Canadian police officer guarding the pharmacy in waist-high flood waters in Galt, Ontario, 1974

Rare Historical Photos, Canadian police officer
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