Photos Taken the Moment Before Historical Disaster
We are often amazed by the foresight of photographers who manage to capture moments, seconds or minutes, before tragedies or events that will change history occur. The following images were taken before an event that will remain in everyone's memory.
Seeing these moments in time evokes awe, nostalgia, and sadness. There are pictures of John F. Kennedy greeting the crowd before his assassination, Mahatma Gandhi walking with his grandchildren before his assassination, and Tiananmen Square just before the massacre in 1989.
Each image reminds us of the unpredictability of fate, and on this occasion, we witness the moment when history would change forever.
Pan Am flight 1736
Pan Am flight 1736 as seen behind KLM 747 at Tenerife Airport in 1977. Tragically just minutes after this photo was taken, the 2 planes collided on the runway, killing 583 people in the worst aviation disaster in history.
Before Texas City Disaster
Last photograph taken before the 1947 Texas City Disaster, The most deadly Industrial Disaster in American History.
Manhattan Before Disaster
Hindenburg over Manhattan on May 6, 1937, hours before disaster.
Liverpool Supporters
Liverpool supporters at a 1989 FA Cup semi-final in what would later be known as the Hillsborough Disaster, where 96 fans were killed. 15th April, 1989.
Tupac Shakur
The last photo ever taken of rapper Tupac Shakur, just 20 minutes before his death in a drive-by shooting, 1996.
Paul Tibbets
Paul Tibbets, the man who flew the plane before the first atomic bomb was dropped.
Before Islamic Revolution
Woman cutting her birthday cake in Iran in 1973, years before the Islamic Revolution.
Tiananmen Square
Tiananmen Square just before the massacre, June 4, 1989.
Soviet Soldiers
Soviet soldiers before the 2nd World War.
Queen Elizabeth II
Queen Elizabeth II moments before Marcus Sarjeant fires six blank shots at her, 1981.
John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy smiling shortly before he is killed November 22, 1963.
Gorbachev & Bush
Gorbachev and Bush about to share a meal on board the Soviet cruise ship Maksim Gorkiy in Marsaxlokk, Malta. Shortly before the declaration of the end of the Cold War. 2 December 1989.
Mahatma Gandhi
Gandhi, dressed in his signature white dhoti, is seen walking with his grandnieces in the last photograph of him taken while he was alive, moments before his assassination on January 30, 1948.
Eisenhower, Churchill & Bradley
Eisenhower, Churchill, and Bradley testing out new M1 carbines in England before the invasion of France, May of 1944.
German Soldiers
Captured German soldiers before being marched through Moscow in the Parade of the Defeated, July 1944.
Graf Zeppelin
Before the Hindenburg disaster, there was the elegant Graf Zeppelin, which circumnavigated the globe. Lakehurst, New Jersey, 1928.
Berlin Wall
An East German soldier passing a flower through the Berlin Wall before it was torn down, 1989.
Young Soldier & Mother
A young soldier and his mother right before he left for WWI in 1917.
French Reservist & Wife
A French reservist gives a farewell kiss to his wife before war mobilization during the Sudetenland Crisis, September 1938.
Czechoslovak Soldier
A Czechoslovak soldier kisses his daughter before being mobilized during the Sudeten Crisis.
