34 Black And White Photos Restored With Brilliant Color

Published September 30, 2014
Updated February 1, 2024

Get a whole new perspective on history's most important people and events with these thirty-four black and white photos brilliantly restored in color.

From an intimate portrait of Mark Twain in the last years of his life to an incredible overhead photograph of the D-Day invasion, we take a look history’s most important people and events captured in black and white photos and transformed into beautiful color images:

Testing A Bulletproof Vest In 1923
The inventor of the bulletproof vest tests one of the first prototypes in Washington DC in 1923.

Lou Gehrig
Lou Gehrig after finishing his "The Luckiest Man on the Face of the Earth" speech at Yankee Stadium on July 4th, 1939.

Race Mixing Color Black And White Photos
Protestors in Little Rock, Arkansas demonstrate against school integration in 1959.

Walt Whitman In 1868
Walt Whitman in 1868.

Girls Deliver Ice In 1918
A pair of girls unload ice in 1918.

Clint Eastwood In 1962
Clint Eastwood in 1962.

Black and White Photos Turned Into Color
A Royal Air Force pilot receives a haircut in between missions during World War 2.

Nihang Bodyguard
A Nihang bodyguard serving in the Nizam of Hyderabad's irregular Sikh army. In his right hand he holds a khanda sword, and in his left a ball and chain flail. The all-steel chilanum dagger in his cummerbund is traditionally associated with southern India. He also wears a shield, a second sword and a pistol, the butt of which is visible under his left arm. His battle-turban is fortified with razor-sharp steel quoits, miniature sword blades and steel chains.

Golden Gate Bridge In 1905
The Golden Gate Bridge in mid-construction in the 1930s.

Claude Monet In 1923
Claude Monet poses with various paintings in 1923.

Propaganda Posters 1942
In 1942, a room full of artists produce propaganda posters that will be used in the United States during World War 2.

Gettysburg Veterans 1913
A pair of Civil War veterans exchange stories during the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg in 1913.

Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe

Flipping Burgers In 1938
A cook flips burgers at a state fair in 1938.

Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso

Clam Seller In Little Italy
A clam seller does some business in Little Italy, New York City in 1900.

Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald shortly before he would be assassinated by Jack Ruby.

Elizabeth Taylor In 1956
Elizabeth Taylor in 1956.

Mark Twain In Color
Mark Twain

Helen Keller Meets Charlie Chaplin
Helen Keller meets Charlie Chaplin in 1919.

Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln

Albert Hitchcock On The Set Of Birds
Alfred Hitchcock seen in mid-direction on the set of Birds in 1963.

Titanic Disaster
A young newsboy sells newspapers in London in 1912 following the sinking of the Titanic.

Sharon Tate Black And White Photos
Sharon Tate poses for a photograph in the early 1960s.

Colorized History
A pair of African-American troops pose by artillery on Easter 1944.U.S. National Archives

Robert E. Lee In Color
Robert E. Lee shortly after surrendering at Appomattox in 1865.

Curb Market In New York City 1900
Curb Market in New York City circa 1900.Library of Congress/Color by

Color Black And White Photos
Aubrey Hepburn in the early 1950s.

D-Day 1944
An overhead photograph of the D-Day landing on Normandy Beach in 1944.

Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin

Booker T. Washington in 1905
Booker T. Washington at Tuskegee University in 1905.

Black and White Photos Lauterbrunnen Switzerland
Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland in 1951.

Aubrey Hepburn In 1953
Aubrey Hepburn In 1953

Albert Einstein In 1921 Photo
Albert Einstein in 1921.

Thank you to r/ColorizedHistory, Sanna Dullaway, and Dana Keller for the images above.


And if you enjoyed these black and white photos fantastically restored with color, be sure to see our other posts on amazing facts and history in color.

author
All That's Interesting
author
A New York-based publisher established in 2010, All That's Interesting brings together subject-level experts in history, true crime, and science to share stories that illuminate our world.
editor
All That's Interesting
editor
A New York-based publisher established in 2010, All That's Interesting brings together subject-level experts in history, true crime, and science to share stories that illuminate our world.