History's Best Shots: Unforgettable Moments Collection
A stark portrayal of the harsh reality faced by a soldier returning home after the Iraq War in 2004.
Iconic image of Soviet soldiers raising their victory banner in front of the destroyed Reichstag, marking the end of the Battle of Berlin in May 1945.
A young George H. W. Bush being rescued by USS Finback after his plane was shot down over Chichijima island on September 2, 1944.
The tragic aftermath of Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114, shot down by Israel on February 21, 1973, after accidentally entering Israeli-controlled airspace during a sandstorm, killing 108.
Nisei (second-generation Japanese-American) soldiers and their commander during an OSS Detachment 101 Guerrilla Warfare exercise on Catalina Island, California, September 1944.
A striking portrait of a Bedouin mother in Saudi Arabia, captured by photographer Ilo Battigelli in 1948.
The USS Massachusetts (BB-59) launching its final bombardment on Kaimaishi, Japan, on August 9, 1945 – marking the last battleship action of World War II.
An Irish woman playfully mocks a British soldier about his height in Creggan, Derry, during 1972.
Newspaper warnings for Vardø, Norway residents concerning the impending Tsar bomb test on October 26, 1961, whose distant explosion still impacted local fisheries.
The Confederate submarine H. L. Hunley being recovered off Charleston Harbor on August 8, 2000, 136 years after its sinking.
Finnish artist Tove Marika Jansson painting her fresco 'Celebrations in the Countryside' for Helsinki City Hall, alongside colleague Niilo Suihko, circa 1947.
Australian officers dramatically falling into a river after an accidental explosion wrecked their boat, circa 1942, fortunately without serious injury.
Pioneering gym owner Abby Stockton (right) with stunt double Relna Brewer (left) and friends at her all-women gym in Santa Monica, California, 1946.
Medical staff diligently attending to a patient in a Shanghai hospital during the Second Sino-Japanese War, 1937, captured by Harrison Forman.
US destroyers rescuing crew from the sinking HMAS Canberra following the Battle of Savo Island, August 9, 1942, with USS Blue alongside.
Portrait of Titanic millionaire Benjamin Guggenheim in 1910, famously refusing a lifeboat and declaring his intent to remain to ensure no woman was left behind.
A lab technician in the 1940s observing couples kissing, a curious method used to test lipstick durability.
M.N. Roy, founder of the Communist parties of India and Mexico, pictured with Vladimir Lenin and Maxim Gorky in 1919.
An unforgettable moment: Russian President Boris Yeltsin dancing energetically at a rock concert in Rostov, 1996.
A sobering scene of bread being distributed to captured Soviet soldiers at a German prison camp in occupied Ukraine, July 1941.
British troops preparing food near a Buddhist temple during the intense Battle of Ramree Island, January 1945.
The iconic albums Michael Jackson's 'Bad' and Weird Al's 'Even Worse' side by side, a perfect pop-meets-parody moment from 1988.
The Republic P-47D Thunderbolt 'Miss Second Front' undergoing maintenance near Cardonville, Normandy, August 1944. (Original color photo by Frank Scherschel, LIFE Magazine)
The USS Quincy ablaze, illuminated by Japanese searchlights during 'The Worst Defeat in US Navy History' at the Battle of Savo Island, August 9, 1942.
The grim fate of Australian POW Sgt. Leonard Siffleet, captured in New Guinea, about to be beheaded by a Japanese officer in 1943.
A poignant image of a battle-weary soldier from George S. Patton’s Third Army finding rest on Hermann Goering's luxurious bed in 1945.
Capturing a popular 1950s fad: a crowded phone booth, as people attempted 'phonebooth stuffing,' with a record of 25 individuals.
A heartbreaking moment: a visitor at a gallery recognizing her deceased son in a photograph on the 12th anniversary of the Abkhazia ethnic cleansing, 2005.
A pivotal date: August 8, 1988, marking the somber end of the devastating eight-year Iran-Iraq War.
