50 "Before And After" Photos That Will Completely And Totally Change Your Perspective On The World

By: Alexandra Williams

Date:

November 23, 2024

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1.The Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC in 1907…

Lincoln Memorial — Library of Congress

2.And the Lincoln Memorial 100 years later:

Lincoln Memorial — Leonardfarrell / Getty Images/iStockphoto

3.Hong Kong circa 1920…

Hong Kong — Lionel Green / Getty Images

4.And Hong Kong today:

Kong Kong — Avalon / Avalon/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

5.The Azure Swimming Pool in Chernobyl before the nuclear disaster…

Indoor pool with large windows and a high diving platform where two people stand, while others swim below

6.And the same swimming pool today:

Abandoned indoor swimming pool with overgrown foliage visible through broken windows, creating an eerie and forgotten atmosphere — Erik Peterson / Alamy Stock Photo

7.The Mayan temple at Chichen Itza in the 1860s before it was restored…

A building at the top of a wild hill

8.And the same temple today:

A temple at the top of stairs with maintained grass at the base — Marte Rebollar / AFP via Getty Images

9.The New York City skyline in 1931…

Aerial view of New York City with the skyline and skyscrapers casting long shadows. The horizon features large water bodies in the distance — / Alamy Stock Photo

10.And the New York City skyline today:

Aerial view of New York City featuring dense skyscrapers, with the Empire State Building prominently in the center and Manhattan in the background — C. Taylor Crothers / Getty Images

11.Nickelodeon Studios in the 1990s…

Brightly colored Nickelodeon Studios, with stairs and large toy objects outside it

12.And Nickelodeon studios today:

A blue-and-white balcony building with a few potted trees in front of it and a Hard Rock Cafe sign next to it

13.The great promenade deck of the Titanic in 1912…

covered deck with folded chairs along the wall — mccool / Alamy Stock Photo

14.And the same deck on the Titanic today:

submerged in water — Maximum Film / Alamy Stock Photo

15.The “back” of the Hoover Dam prior to the dam being flooded with water…

The dam amid mountain ranges — Sueddeutsche Zeitung Photo / Alamy Stock Photo

16.And the same side of the Hoover Dam today:

It's surrounded by water — Photographed by Randi Ang / Getty Images

17.Mount St. Helens one day before it erupted in 1980…

Mount St. Helens before it erupted — USGS / Alamy Stock Photo

18.And Mount St. Helens today:

Mount St. Helens after the eruption — Education Images / Universal Images Group via Getty Images

19.Tokyo in March of 1945…

Aerial view of an urban landscape with widespread destruction. Few buildings stand amidst debris, indicating massive damage, likely from a disaster — Pictures From History / Pictures from History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

20.And Tokyo today:

Aerial view of Tokyo with the prominent Tokyo Skytree tower surrounded by urban buildings and intersecting rivers — Behrouz Mehri / AFP via Getty Images

21.The face of the Statue of Liberty before it was installed onto the monument…

The Statue of Liberty's face — NPS Photo / Alamy Stock Photo

22.And the Statue of Liberty’s face today:

Close-up of the Statue of Liberty's face and crown against a clear sky — Tankbmb / Getty Images/iStockphoto

23.Franklin Delano Roosevelt at the start of his first term as President in 1933…

A person in a suit seated at a desk with papers and a microphone in front of them — Bettmann / Bettmann Archive

24.And this the last picture of Franklin Delano Roosevelt ever taken, snapped just one day before his death in 1945:

Closeup of FDR — He was 63 years old in this picture.

CBW / Alamy Stock Photo

25.Mount Rushmore before the presidential heads were carved into it…

Close-up of Mount Rushmore — FPG / Getty Images

26.And Mount Rushmore today:

Mount Rushmore National Memorial with sculpted faces of four U.S. presidents carved into a granite mountainside, surrounded by trees — Jacobs Stock Photography Ltd / Getty Images

27.Main Street in Los Angeles in 1897…

Historic black-and-white photo depicting a bustling city street with horse-drawn carriages and tall buildings lining both sides — Print Collector / The Print Collector/Heritage Images

28.And Main Street in Los Angeles 50 years later:

Historic photo of mid-20th century Los Angeles with cars on a highway and downtown buildings, including a notable tower in the background — Underwood Archives / Getty Images

29.The Berlin Wall in 1969…

A woman hangs laundry on a line beside a concrete wall topped with barbed wire, a church visible in the background. A bike lies nearby — Express Newspapers / Stringer

30.And the same section of the Berlin Wall today:

Two people walk down a leafy sidewalk in an urban area, carrying backpacks, with parked cars and trees nearby — Express Newspapers / Stringer

31.The statue of Anubis that was found inside King Tut’s tomb…

A jackal-like statue on top of a sarcophagus in a small room — Which makes it over 3,000 years old.

Album / Alamy Stock Photo

32.And the statue today:

Side view of the statue, which appears much darker — Dea / De Agostini via Getty Images

33.The Woodstock Festival in 1969…

A massive crowd gathers outdoors at a music festival, with a stage and scaffolding visible in the background under a cloudy sky — Clayton Call / Redferns

34.And that same field today:

A rolling grassy hill with a wooden fence in the foreground and a cloudy sky above — Orjan F. Ellingvag / Corbis via Getty Images

35.Abraham Lincoln when he became president in 1861…

Smiling slightly with a bow tie — Lawrence Thornton / Getty Images

36.And what he looked like four short years later, in 1865:

With a bow tie but many more lines on his face — He quite literally had seen some things.

Corbis / Corbis via Getty Images

37.Machu Pichu before any restoration…

Historic Machu Picchu site with ancient stone structures and terraces against a mountainous backdrop shrouded in clouds — / Alamy Stock Photo

38.And Machu Picchu today:

Machu Picchu landscape with ancient ruins in the foreground and a mountain backdrop under a cloudy sky. A llama grazes in the foreground — Anadolu / Anadolu via Getty Images

39.This is the Times Building, the center of New York’s Times Square, under construction in 1903…

Times Building — Universal History Archive / Universal Images Group via Getty Images

40.And that same area over a hundred years later:

Times Square — Noam Galai / Getty Images

41.The Singapore skyline in 2000…

Aerial view of a cityscape with skyscrapers and a waterfront, featuring a mix of urban and natural landscapes, including trees and water — / Alamy Stock Photo

42.And that same skyline today:

Aerial view of Singapore's Marina Bay at dusk, featuring city skyline and illuminated buildings — Mlenny / Getty Images

43.The city of Seattle in 1907…

Hilly terrain, gravel roads, and just a few small buildings in a black-and-white photo — Alpha / Alamy

44.And the city of Seattle today:

A cityscape view of downtown skyscrapers with a mountain in the distant background — Simonkr / Getty Images

45.The Hollywood sign when it was first put up…

Driving on a winding road towards the original Hollywoodland sign on a hillside, featuring vintage cars from the early 20th century — / Alamy Stock Photo

46.And the Hollywood sign today:

View of the Hollywood sign from a city street lined with telephone poles and trees — Grant Faint / Getty Images

47.Queen Elizabeth II when she was 18…

Young Queen Elizabeth II — Lisa Sheridan / Getty Images

48.And one of the last pictures ever taken of Queen Elizabeth II, taken only two days before her death in September 2022:

An elderly woman with glasses and a plaid skirt stands smiling, holding a cane, in a cozy room with a fireplace in the background — WPA Pool / Getty Images

49.Stonehenge before it was restored…

Black and white image of Stonehenge, featuring large ancient stone structures under a cloudy sky — Getty Images

50.And Stonehenge today:

Stonehenge under a clear sky with scattered clouds, surrounded by green grass and distant visitors exploring the historic site — Dea / De Agostini via Getty Images

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Alexandra Williams

Alexandra Williams is a writer and editor. Angeles. She writes about politics, art, and culture for LinkDaddy News.

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