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Look Through History

To understand the present and future, Look Through History! Bringing you fresh history content and stories from peace and war.

Explore our store in the link for unique historical products and gear!

04/04/2025

A Chimpanzee showing its sensitive side, feeding a leopard cub in Southam Park Zoo, UK: 1971

01/04/2025

1. A Northumbrian Miner tucks into his evening Meal after a hard days work; 1937. Photographer: Bill Brandt.

2. “Friends, 1940s”

3. A man plucks out his next potential read in the Cincinnati Library which was demolished in 1955.

4. One lucky son takes a sip from his fathers beer in a Dublin pub; 1959. Photo by Marvin Koner.

5. A young boy dances through a crowd at a “Gypsy wedding” in Tarascon, France; 1953. Taken by the incredible Sabine Weiss.

6. Old school selfie..the five photographers Joe Byron, Pirie MacDonald, Colonel Marceau, Pop Core (best name ever) and Ben Falk stand together on a New York City rooftop.

7. French Shepards watch their flock atop stilts known as “tchangues”, used to traverse difficult marshy terrain; Gascony, 1895.

23/01/2025

Cudjoe Kazoola Lewis, known as the last surviving member of the Atlantic slave trade, sits smoking his pipe; 1900s.

Born in West Africa around 1841 Cudjoe was taken prisoner in 1860 and taken to the slaving port of Ouidah where he was sold to Captain William Foster of the Clotilda, an American slaving ship. He was smuggled into the United States through Alabama. Born free, smuggled across the planet far from home in chains, and living free again until passing away in 1935; Cudjoe’s life is an epic in itself worthy of a Hollywood film. Yet it is but the faintest tip of the iceberg of the countless lives caught in the slave trade. The things this man endured is almost unfathomable. Unlike most, his story ended in relative freedom but he could still not raise the money to return to his homeland.

15/01/2025

The last oh

The 1800s were a transformative period as Japan transitioned from feudal rule under the Tokugawa Shogunate to modernisation during the Meiji Restoration in 1868. This shift dismantled the samurai’s traditional privileges, including their right to bear swords, and replaced them with a conscripted army.

The Satsuma Rebellion of 1877, led by Saigō Takamori, was the samurai’s final attempt to preserve their status and way of life. Though defeated, the rebellion underscored the tensions between preserving tradition and embracing modernisation.

Photography, introduced in the mid-19th century, documented the samurai’s decline during this transformative era into a modern and imperialist state that would make their infamous mark in the following century. These images immortalised their traditional attire and show us a glimpse of what life may have been like when the Samurai ruled the country.

12/12/2024

Lots of tough, stressful events happening around the world at this year. Don’t forget to give yourself a break from it once in a while. Enjoy some personal favourite historical photos that aren’t too taxing on the soul.

Standing at a modest 2 foot 6 inches tall Henry Behrens dances with his pet cat outside his house; 1956. 60 years old in this photo, his wife Emmie was 3 foot 3 inches tall.

An Inuk girl stand to face the camera with her small Malamute puppy on her back; 1949.

A shopkeeper delivers the bad news to two disappointed would be customers in 1930s England.

Shoemaker’s Lunch – 1944, by Bernard Cole.

A collection of precariously placed soba noodles accompany a deliveryman as he cycles his way through Tokyo, 1935.

A little girl showong off her reptilian friend at a pet show on Venice Beach, California; 1937.

A Chicago police officer walks down a residential sidewalk, unaware of the impending attack awaiting him by the local kids; 1950s.

09/12/2024

Peter Freuchen enrolled in the University of Copenhagen and began to study medicine but before long realised his calling existed outside the reach of modern living. In 1906, he made his first expedition to Greenland. He and his friend Knud Rasmussen sailed from Denmark as far north as possible before leaving their ship and continuing by dogsled for over 600 miles. He allegedly made himself a coat out of a polar bear he’d killed himself. According to his own account he also made a shovel out of his own faeces to hide himself from a blizzard.

In 1910, Peter Freuchen and Rasmussen established a trading post, in Cape York, Greenland, naming it Thule. The name came from the term “Ultima Thule,” which to a medieval cartographer meant a place “beyond the borders of the known world.”
The post would serve as a base for seven expeditions, known as the Thule Expeditions, that would take place between 1912 and 1933.

During World War II, Freuchen was actively involved with the Danish resistance movement against the occupation by N**i Germany despite having lost a leg to frostbite in 1926. Whenever he witnessed anti-semitism he would, in all his 6’7″ glory, openly claim to be Jewish. Freuchen was imprisoned by the Germans, and was sentenced to death, but he managed to escape and flee to Sweden.

In 1945, after fleeing the Third Reich, Freuchen met Danish-Jewish fashion illustrator Dagmar Cohn. The pair moved to New York City to escape N**i persecution, where Cohn had a job working for Vogue.

“We’re not going to church, Dagmar. We are going to the North Pole!”

08/12/2024

A series of photographs showing the moment a B-17G Flying Fortress ‘Miss Donna Mae II’ drifted under another bomber on a bomb run over Berlin; 19 May 1944.

Occurring directly over the target on signal of bombs away, a 1,000 lb bomb dropped from “Trudy” above tore off the left stabilizer and sent the plane into an uncontrollable spin downward to earth. One of the wings came off at about 13,000 feet and according to the missing air crew report, two chutes were observed but sadly all 11 crew lost their lives.

Pilot 1LT Marion Ulysses Reid, Co-Pilot 2LT Lewis T Carter, Bombardier 2LT Stanley David Duffield, Navigator 2LT Roger Francis Tessier, Radio Operator SSGT John F. Boone, Ball Turret Gunner SSGT Ludwig Herman Huth, Tail Gunner SSGT Willard Melvin Christensen, Waist Gunner SSGT Richard Edward Brennan, Waist Gunner SSGT James Andrew Kalahar, Top Turret Gunner TSGT Lee Zane Kieffer, Observer TSGT John Baillie Davis.

05/12/2024

A collection of mugshots of British criminals from the 1920s and 30s from the Tyne and Wear Archives. Shout out to Fatty Potter.

So much fascinating details and categories filled out on these including the ‘marks’ and ‘peculiarities’ sections.

04/12/2024

Two pictures taken four years apart in 1941 and 1945 showing Soviet soldier Evgeny Stepanovich Kobytev before and after his time fighting in World War 2.

In 1941 Evgeny graduated with honours from the Kyiv State Art Institute in Ukraine before normal life came to a crashing halt with Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941 with “Operation Barbarossa”. He voluntarily enlisted into one of the artillery regiments of the Red Army which became engaged in a fierce battle to protect the small town of Pripyat, which lies between Kyiv and Kharkiv.

In September 1941, Kobytov was wounded in the leg and became a prisoner of war, managing to escape in 1943 where he again rejoined the Red Army. He participated in various military operations throughout Ukraine, Moldova, Poland, Germany. After the Second World War ended, he was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union medal for his excellent military service during the battles for the liberation of Smila and Korsun in Ukraine. However, the High Command refused to award him the Victory over Germany medal since his military career was “spoiled” for being a prisoner of war.

When looking at this image, you can’t help but think those going through the similar horrific ordeals that Evgeny faced at this very moment .

28/11/2024

An Ardennes draught horse gets put to work to assist with tree felling.

The largest horse to ever live was Sampson, a Shire horse gelding foaled in 1846 in Toddington Mills, Bedfordshire, England. Owned by Thomas Cleaver, Sampson stood 2.19 metres (7 ft 2 in) high by the time he was four years old, when he was renamed Mammoth. His peak weight was estimated at 3,360 lb (1,524 kg).

17/11/2024

Photos illustrating the immense scale of the ensigns flown by ships in the age of sail. These are from the Spanish ship San Ildefonso and French ship Le Genereux.

The 74-gun ship of the line San Ildefonso fought during the Battle of Trafalgar against Admiral Lord Nelson’s fleet of the Royal Navy in 1805. The ensign is made of wool, it’s dimensions measure 10m x 14.5m. The British third-rate HMS Defence captured San Ildefonso where its crew suffered 34 killed and 126 wounded at the Battle of Trafalgar and successfully weathered the storm afterwards to be taken into Royal Navy service as HMS Ildefonso. It was hung in the crossing of St Paul’s Cathedral during Nelson’s funeral service on 9 January 1806 and was presented to the Royal Naval Museum by the Dean and Chapter of St Paul’s in 1907.

The French ensign of the Le Genereux was captured by one of Admiral Nelson’s captains, Sir Edward Berry, at the Battle of Malta Convoy in 1800.

14/11/2024

Three people pose in front of a recently felled Sequoia tree named “Mark Twain” in what is now Sequoia National Park; 1892.

These trees that are one of 3 species that are Redwood trees are some of the oldest living organisms in the world, with the one pictured here belived to be 1341 years old. The reminence of Mark Twain can still be visited on Big Stump Trail and whilst incredible to behold it raises an ever pressing question regarding conservation and pur environment. A once great being can all to easily be reduced to preservation in photos and museums rather than in their natural habitat.

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What we do

We look to create and share the most amazing historical stories from the past so that we can all better understand what forces shape our world. We want to do this by engaging with the communities interested in history and become part of the conversation.