Historic Figures Who Lived Long Enough To Be Photographed
Have you ever wondered what the earliest surviving photograph looks like? Believe it or not, humanity took that first picture way back in 1826/1827! Even with all the advances we've made since then, from realistic paintings to digital cameras, nothing else comes close to being able to capture a moment and freeze it in time - as Joseph Nicéphore Niépce did with his groundbreaking photo.
Thanks to his achievement and those of many other photographers throughout history, we now have an accurate idea of just how some famous historical figures looked. Keep scrolling to see what they looked like here.
Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin is a famous naturalist who suggested that all species evolved from common ancestors. His theories initially met with the opposition yet now form one of the foundation stones of science.
In 1859, he published On The Origin Of Species which detailed his insights on evolution resulting from natural selection.
Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll, born in 1832, was an English writer famous for his creative stories of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There.
He had a stutter which he turned into inspiration to create the Dodo bird featured in Alice. His remarkable imagination allowed him to bring these stories to life!
Annie Oakley
Annie Oakley was an incredible female sharpshooter who achieved celebrity status working in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. At 15, she won a sharpshooting contest, which marked the beginning of her remarkable career.
To support her family, Oakley had become skilled at hunting from a young age. In 1885, Buffalo Bill handpicked Annie to join his show and even paid her more than anyone except himself!
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S Grant was a notable figure in American history. He served as the 18th President of the United States, and before that, he gained national attention as the leader of the Union Army during the Civil War. His military prowess turned him into one of the greatest generals in history, even earning him a stint as Secretary of War.
After his presidency ended, he completed an unforgettable feat by making a journey around the world – becoming the first former president to circumnavigate it on a post-presidential tour.
Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac was an American novelist known for his 1950 novel The Town and the City. Despite his fame in life, it was only 40 years after his death that another of his books -The Sea is My Brother- saw publication.
His legacy continues to have a lasting influence on many great artists today, including Bob Dylan.
Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman was born into slavery but managed to escape. She then devoted her life to freeing others, leading 13 missions, and personally rescuing 70 people using a network of safe houses.
This network later became known as the Underground Railroad. During the Civil War, she served as an army scout and spy for the Union Army, continuing her fight against slavery.
Leo Tolstoy
Russian author Leo Tolstoy wrote numerous iconic novels during his time. Some of his more well-known pieces of literature include War and Peace, Anna Karenina, and the trilogy Childhood, Boyhood, and Youth.
While he never won a Nobel Prize, he was nominated three times for one in Literature and once for the Peace Prize.
Ernest Hemingway
American novelist Ernest Hemingway was born in 1899. He had an extremely strong influence on 20th-century literature, with some of his more iconic works being published during the time.
Some of his more famous novels include The Old Man and the Sea, Farewell to Arms, and For Whom the Bell Tolls. Many of his novels are now considered classics.
Charles Dickens
English author Charles Dickens wrote many classic novels people still enjoy today, including Great Expectations, Tale of Two Cities, and Oliver Twist. The latter has even been adapted into plays and films.
Sadly, Dickens is said to have suffered from severe depression and bipolar disorder throughout his life.
Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, futurist, and engineer. He was one of the greatest minds of the time, yet he had some issues when it came to mental stability.
Tesla actually came from a family of mentally ill parents. Rumor has it that he had such a bad case of OCD that he had to wear white gloves during every meal.
Marie Curie
Marie Curie was a remarkable chemist and physicist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity, a term she actually coined during her time in the laboratory.
Born in 1867, Curie became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. Eventually, she added another to her collection, becoming the only woman in history to receive two.
Theodore Roosevelt
Born in 1858, Theodore Roosevelt grew up to become the 26th President of the United States. During his presidency, Roosevelt accomplished a lot, including the progressive movement and his iconic "Square Deal" domestic policies.
Teddy Roosevelt is thought to be one of the top five Presidents to hold the title.
John Tyler
John Tyler first served as the Vice President under William Henry Harrison before taking on the presidency following Harrison's death in 1841. He sat at the head of the government from 1841 to 1845.
Unfortunately for Tyler, many historians give his presidency a pretty low ranking, even though some scholars have praised his politics.
Emily Dickinson
A famous American poet, Emily Dickinson, lived from 1830 until 1886. During her lifetime, Dickinson wrote 1,800 poems. Sadly, only ten poems and one letter from her entire collection of art were published before her death.
Known to be eccentric, her poems were a bit different for the time, using short lines, typically no titles, and slant rhymes.
Abraham Lincoln
The 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln began his career as a lawyer, Illinois state legislator, congressman, and Whig Party Leader. After he won the presidency in 1860, pro-slavery states began to secede from the Union, and the Civil War began.
Lincoln then led the country through the Civil War, preserving the Union, until he was ultimately assassinated in 1865. To this day, he is considered one of the greatest presidents to ever hold office.
Franklin Pierce
Born in 1804, Franklin Pierce became the 14th President of the United States, winning the election of 1853. Sadly, many moves made during his presidency led to the American Civil War in 1861.
While Pierce was very outgoing, many historians and scholars believe him to be one of the worst presidents and least memorable.
Geronimo
Geronimo, or "the one who yawns," was a leader and a healer from the Bedonkohe band of the Apache tribe. Geronimo was a feared and respected and feared Native American who led several raids against Mexican and United States soldiers that are considered part of the Apache-United States conflict, which resulted from the Americans settling Apache land after the Mexican-American War.
Geronimo was constantly on the run for the U.S. after breaking out of several Indian reservations until he was eventually captured and made his living attending exhibits and other public functions.
George Armstrong Custer
George Armstrong Custer was a United States Army officer that graduated from West Point at the bottom of his class in 1861. However, during the American Civil War, he proved himself to be a worthy leader and was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers at the young age of 23.
After demonstrating his valor in the Civil War, he also participated in the American Indian Wars.
Robert E. Lee
Robert E. Lee is arguably best known for his time as a general for the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. He was highly regarded during the war and became known as a skilled tactician.
He later became the president of Washington College, later named after him (Washington and Lee University).
Daniel F. Bakeman
Daniel F. Bakeman served in the revolutionary and was the last surviving soldier to receive a veteran's pension for his service. During the last four years of the war, Bakeman served as a private in the Tryon County militia.
After the war, he settled down, marrying Susan Brewer and having eight children.
Calamity Jane
A Wild West legend, Calamity Jane, born Martha Jane Cannary, was a frontierswoman and sharpshooter, known to be close with Wild Bill Hickock. Their friendship would result in her performing in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show.
Nevertheless, her personality was considered to be particularly unique, as she was known to be extremely compassionate and, in contrast, a rough-and-tumble type of woman that was known to frequently wear men's clothes. Her name is right at the top with other famous people of the Old West.
Ichabod Crane
Colonel Ichabod Crane was a career military officer who served in both the United States Army and Marine Corps for 48 years. Born in 1787, Crane saw numerous wars, including the War of 1812, the Patriot War, and the Black Hawk War.
People might also recognize his name as the protagonist from Washington Irving's novel The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
Sylvia Plath
American poet Sylvia Plath wrote numerous poems, novels, and collections during her lifetime. Some of her more iconic works include The Bell Jar and the two poetry collections Ariel and The Colossus and Other Poems.
She was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in Poetry in 1982.
Billy The Kid
Born Henry McCarty, Billy the Kid was an outlaw of the Old West who began his life of crime as a young teenager after being orphaned at the age of 15.
Before adulthood, McCarty was a federal fugitive with wanted posters referring to him as "Billy the Kid."
Chief Seattle
Born in 1786, Chief Seattle was the leader of the Suquamish and Duwamish people. He is known for making relationships with the settlers who came to Washington state, particularly with the American pioneer "Doc" Maynard.
Due to the peaceful relationships the Chief formed, the city of Seattle was named after him.
Butch Cassidy
Born in 1866, Butch Cassidy grew up to become a notorious train and bank robber, leading a gang known as the "Wild Bunch" throughout the Wild West. He wreaked havoc throughout the west for over a decade.
Finally, with the law on his tail, Cassidy fled the country with his partner Harry Alonzo Longabaugh, aka the Sundance Kid, and his Longabaugh's girlfriend, Etta Place.
Helen Keller
At just over a year old, Helen Keller lost her sight and hearing due to an illness. During her childhood, she met her teacher and life-long companion, Anne Sullivan, who taught her to read, write, and communicate using language.
As a young adult, she attended Radcliffe College of Harvard University, becoming the first deafblind person to earn a bachelor's degree. On top of writing 14 books and countless speeches and essays, she also was an advocate for women's rights, labor rights, and disability rights.
Conrad Heyer
Conrad Heyer is possibly the earliest-born man to be photographed; his claim to fame. Born in 1749, Heyer was a farmer before fighting the American Revolutionary War.
He fought under the leadership of General George Washington and was even part of the famous crossing to the Deleware River in December of 1776. He lived to be 106 years old.
The Wright Brothers
Orville and Wilbur Wright were two brothers that gained experience in mechanics working on various devices at their shop in Dayton, Ohio. They would then go to design and build the first successful motor-operated airplane.
Their first flight was on the craft called the Wright Flyer on December 17, 1903, in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. On top of their success in getting humans into the air, the brothers are also credited with inventing aircraft controls that made the fixed-wing powered flight possible.
James K. Polk
James K. Polk was the 11th President of the United States and was the first to step down after one term without seeking re-election. He is known for extending United States territory by winning the Mexican-American War, strengthening the executive branch, and lowering tarrifs.
Polk was a favorable president, and he actually accomplished the big items on his agenda.
Samuel Wilson Or "Uncle Sam"
Uncle Sam is a symbol of the United States government and American culture that first came into use during the War of 1812. He is typically viewed as a man with a top hat, white hair, and beard, along with other American-related regalia.
It is rumored that the character is based on a man named Samuel Wilson, who worked as a meatpacker during the War of 1812. His barrels contained the letters U.S. for the United States, with some joking that it stood for "Uncle Sam."
John "Johnny Appleseed" Chapman
John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed, was a pioneer nurseryman. He went around the United States, introducing apple trees to various settlements, including those in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, West Virginia, and even in Ontario, Canada.
A kind man and a leader in environmental conservation, Johnny Appleseed was even a legend in his time.
Harriet Beecher Stowe
An author and abolitionist, Harriet Beecher Stowe is best known for her famous American novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, published in 1852. The novel portrayed life in the United States during the time, something that empowered the North and angered the South.
During her life, Stowe wrote 30 books and three travel memoirs.
Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren is credited with being one of the key founders of the Democratic Party. Over his political career, he served as the governor of New York, the tenth Secretary of State, the eighth Vice President, and eighth President of the United States.
With Andrew Jackson's support, Martin Van Buren won the presidential election of 1836, although he lost his 1840 reelection to William Henry Harrison. Van Buren ran for president a final time in 1848 under the Free Soil Party.
Sir John Herschel
Sir John Herschel was a man of many talents. A mathematician, inventor, chemist, experimental photographer, and even an astronomer, Herschel went on to create the very first blueprint.
While studying the stars, Herschel named seven moons of Saturn and four of Uranus, a planet discovered by his father, Sir William Herschel.
Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass was a political leader and revolutionary during the 19th century. After managing to escape slavery in Maryland, he became an anti-slavery activist as a leader in the abolition movement in both Massachusetts and New York.
His intellect and influence went directly against the belief that African-American's lacked the capacity to be independent American citizens, with many Northerners even surprised that he was once a slave. Later in his life, against his approval, he became the first African-American to be nominated for Vice President of the United States.
Butch Cassidy
Born Robert LeRoy Parker, Butch Cassidy was a notorious train robber during the Old West. He was also the leader of a criminal outlaw unit known as the "Wild Bunch" and was eventually forced to flee the country with his partner Alonzo Longbaugh, "The Sundance Kid," and Etta Pace.
It is believed that Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were killed in a shootout with the Bolivian Army in 1908. Today, Cassidy is considered to be an icon of the Wild West.
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson worked as a frontier lawyer before becoming a US Senate member, House of Representatives, and a justice on the Tennessee Supreme Court.
Jackson was also a renowned soldier, leading troops in the Creek War, the War of 1812, and the First Seminole War. He ran for president in 1824, in which he lost to John Quincy Adams. After forming the Democratic party, Jackson ran again in 1828, winning without question.
Grigori Efimovich Rasputin
Grigori Efimovich Rasputin was a Russian holy-man and mystic who worked for Nicholas II and the rest of the Romonav family during the time of Imperial Russia. While Rasputin had befriended the royal family, he wound up betraying them.
There have been different variations of Rasputin throughout pop culture, including the 1997 film Anastasia.
Leo Tolstoy
Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, commonly referred to as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian writer during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Since his early successes, he has been considered one of the greatest of all time.
Between the years 1902 and 1906, he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901, 1902, and 1909. Some of his most notable works include Anna Karenina, War, and Peace, The Death of Ivan Ilyich, among several others.
Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna
Born in 1901, Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna was the daughter of Tsar Nicolas II and Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna. Her father was the last Tsar of Imperial Russia.
While there were many rumors of her escape during the siege of the palace, the Grand Duchess Anastasia did not make it out the night of July 17, 1918.
Edvard Munch
Norwegian painter Edvard Munch was deemed insane by many people, especially when his famous painting The Scream was released in 1893. As it turns out, Munch suffered from clinical anxiety and hallucinations, something that can be seen in many of his paintings.
Aware that his "condition was verging on madness," Munch admitted himself to a therapeutic clinic in 1908.
John Quincy Adams
Born on July 11, 1767, John Quincy Adams was a lawyer, diplomat, and statesman. He was the eldest son of John Adams, the second president of the United States. During Quincy Adam's career, he was a member of the US Senate and House of Representatives for Massachusetts, as well as an ambassador.
In 1825, he became the sixth president of the United States as a member of the Democratic-Republican Party and in the 1830s became associated with the Whig Party.
Jefferson Davis
A politician, Jefferson Davis is best known for serving as the President of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865, during the American Civil War. But that is not all he did during his life.
Davis was also a Mississippi Senator, the Secretary of War under President Franklin Pierce, and fought in the Mexican-American War.
John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams was the son of former President and founding father John Adams and Abigal Smith. John Quincy eventually followed in his father's political footsteps, becoming the sixth President of the United States from March 4, 1825 – March 4, 1829.
Historians typically rank him as an average president.
Harriet Beecher Stowe
An abolitionist and an author, Harriet Beecher Stowe is known for writing the now-iconic Uncle Tom's Cabin, which helped to illuminate the harsh treatment of slaves in the country. Her book became internationally known and was used to inspire others to rise up against slavery, especially in the north.
In her life, Stowe authored 30 books, many of which were deeply involved in social issues and her stance on them at the time. Today, her works are considered to be highly influential.
