Take a trip through time, space, and history in our slideshow today.

While you may have already seen a few of these photographs, the vast majority of them are not the typical specimens found in history books. It’s possible that many of them have too long of a backstory, but they also possess the power to change the narrative of history altogether.

Follow along for an emotional journey through history as we know (or don’t know) it.

1) Hitting Close to Home

This picture tells a familiar story, but in a time so long ago. Apparently, this isn’t our first rodeo having to wear masks here in America. The 1918 flu swept across the entire globe with devastation, taking an estimated fifty million lives altogether.

2) Einstein Becomes an American

Born in Germany and educated in Switzerland, Einstein won the Nobel Peace Prize in Physics in 1921. But his fame made him a Nazi target and he fled to America with his wife. On June 22, 1940, Einstein took his American citizenship test and was naturalized on October 1, 1940.

3) Pool Party

Don’t let looks deceive you – François Clemmons wasn’t a cop, but an actor. He was best known for his officer role on Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. And in 1969, when pools were still segregated, Mr. Rogers broke the color barrier.

4) Time and Space

Here, the wives of the astronauts on the Apollo 8 mission rejoice in hearing their husbands’ voices for the first time from orbit in 1968.

5) Las Vegas

What we know today as the Las Vegas strip was once but a stretch of desert. Imagine the potential someone once saw if it was selling for three million dollars in the fifties.

6) Knockout

The boxing ring is unique from this vantage point. Here is what was considered one of Muhammad Ali’s greatest fights. In 1966 knocked out Cleveland Williams in three rounds.

7) A Century’s Old Manhatten

Check out this amazing aerial of New York City from 1910 – not quite yet the city we know today.

8) He Will Rock You

Here is a 1947 photograph of Freddie Mercury as a baby with his mother. It’s an amazing treat to see such an icon in quiet times before their massive stardom.

9) A Sandy Jazz Retreat

Here is a 1961 photograph of Louis Armstrong playing for his wife in Egypt. So far out, it almost seems as if they’ve been superimposed. But during an act of cultural diplomacy, Armstrong was asked to play at the foot of the Great Sphinx and the pyramids in Giza.

10) Speaking Out

While The Dead Kennedys may have used this as an album cover, it’s so much more than that. This 1980 photograph of a missionary holding hands with a starving boy in Uganda speaks for itself. Starvation should not be a modern issue.

11) Free Borsht!

Not just in memory, but in actual celebration of Stalin’s death, the citizens driven out of their very own home enjoy a traditional meal in 1953.

12) Artful Dodge

During World War II, so much of Europe was bombed. We think about survivors in terms of people, but what about art? Here is a photograph of Michaelangelo’s statue David encased in bricks to protect it from war.

13) Mile High Club

In 1930, when this photograph was taken, it seems that airplanes left a bit to be desired.

14) Högertrafikomläggningen

Here marks the historical, long-winded sounding day in Sweden in 1967 when they switched from driving from the left to the right side of the road. The outcome looks exactly like the word.

15) The Human Fly

George Willig made ballsy history in 1977 when he took it upon himself to scale the World Trade Center’s South Tower. He completed the entire climb in three and a half hours and was arrested and fined at the top.

16) Golden Gate

Pictured here is the initial construction of the Golden Gate Bridge in 1934.

17) Space Odyssey

Here’s an epic 1963 shot of David Bowie at just a mere sixteen-years-old. At this age he played the saxophone and was the lead singer for the Kon-rads in South London.

18) Queen of the Scene

Young Queen Elizabeth in 1939, then known as Princess Elizabeth, was a force in WWII. She became the first female royal family member to serve as a full-time active member in the military. During the war, she was a truck mechanic and ambulance driver.

19) Wedding Bands

Here is a photograph that speaks for itself, also from World War II. These are wedding bands left behind from executed Holocaust victims.

20) Low Profile

While attending Al Capone’s trial in 1931, mobsters hide their faces behind their hats in an attempt to maintain a low profile.

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Sources: Spotlight Stories, Reddit/History Porn