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Wedgwood and Davy
Thomas Wedgwood and Sir Humphrey Davy were noted to have made the first contribution to the concept of using Silver Nitrate and the chemical action of light to create and copy images. -
The Battle of Waterloo
Known as the last battle of the Napoleonic Wars, the Battle of Waterloo was a victory for the British against the French. Followed was almost 4 decades of international peace in Europe. -
Joseph Nicephore Niepce
Niepce was created for invention what is now known as a Direct Positive image. By coating a rectangular sheet of pewter with a bitumen of Judea and attaching it to the back of a camera lucida, whose lens were pointing toward the outside courtyard, Niepce was able to create a shadowy image called "View from the Study Window at Maison du Gras" -
Indian Removal Act
While inventors were trying to find a solution to fixing the issue of permanence on their images, the United States issued the Indian Removal Act. This became one of the first legal acts against Native Americans from the US government. -
Henry Fox-Talbot
Technically, Talbot created the first known image but he did not announce his invention until a year after Daguerre. Using what he named a Calotype, he was able to capture an image of the latticed window in his family home, Lacock Abbey. Due to its ability to create multiple copies of one image, the Calotype is the closest process to what we use today. -
Louis-Jacque Mande Daguerre
Daguerre made his first image of a human being and named it a Daguerreotype. The photo, "Boulevard du Temple", featured man getting his shoes shined which allowed for a long exposure time. -
Hippolyte Bayard
Bayard reportedly was persuaded to wait to announce his invention of photography and as a result missed the opportunity to be given credit. As the first example of political-protest photography he took a portrait of himself as a drowned man, uniquely titled "Self Portrait as a Drowned Man". -
Anna Atkins
A scientific illustrator, Atkins used the cyanotype process to create scientific illustration with each image being a one-to-one representation of the form. In this image she captured the anatomy of British Algae. She went on to publish what is widely considered the first photographic book called "Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions. -
The Oregon Trail
A wagon train ventured from Elm Groove, Missouri to the west coast on what is known as the Oregon Trail. A thousand men, women, and children made the dangerous trip and a vast majority survived to reach western Oregon. -
Hill and Adamson
David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson were two Scottish-men who took an extensive essay of the fishermen and women of a fishing village called Newhaven. This is considered one of the first sustained use of photography for a social-documentary project. -
Invention of the Sewing Machine
After the first real images were created, the sewing machine made its way into the world. Although a few other inventors had the idea and some patents, Elias Howe was the first of them to invent and patent the sewing machine. -
Augustus Washington
As the son of a slave, Washington was one of the 50 African American photographers in the US. Since studio portraiture began booming, Washington was able to take a daguerreotype studio portrait of the abolitionist John Brown. -
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The Mexican-American War
A battle over land in the West, led to a two year war between America and Mexico. A result of "Manifest Destiny" and a lack of prepared military on Mexico's part led to America gaining one-third of Mexico's territory, including California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico. -
Louis Agassiz
As a naturalist, Agassiz was one of the first to use photographs for medical purposes. He used photos of slaves as an attempt to scientifically justify racial inequality. Another ethical issue with his photography is that the face and features of the person photographed was not hidden for privacy. -
Roger Fenton
One of the best known photographers, Fenton photographed landscapes and portraits of the Crimean War. Since photographers at that time did not take photos of corpses, Fenton made due with photos of generals, tombs, and cannon balls in the road. There has been some speculation on whether Fenton moved some of the cannon balls in order to make the scene more photographic. -
Oscar Rejlander
Rejlander was one of the first to combine print and negatives to create a detailed image. "The Two Ways of Life" is another example of a Tableaux Vivant and shows two young men being offered guidance by a patriarch. -
Lewis Carroll
Charlies Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) the author of "Alice in Wonderland" in Victorian England, also an avid photographer. Fiction and fantasy was a key factor in his photography with subjects varying from landscapes and architecture to adults and children. In more recent years, his photographs of Alice Liddell have been considered under speculation of sinister motives. -
The Battle of Melegnano June
This battle was one of the first photographs showing the images of the dead. -
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US Civil War
The American Civil War took place over a course of four years, during which over half a million soldiers were killed and injured. There are a few reasons for the start of this war which includes the session of the Southern states in order to preserve the institution of slavery, taxation, and the principle of States' Rights. The War Between the States was fought between the United State of America (Union) and the Confederate States of America (Confederates). -
Julia Margaret Cameron
Cameron was one of the first photographers to take portraits of everyday people. Inspired by literature and biblical stories, Cameron photographed "Tableaux Vivant", a photograph featuring the famous Sir Lancelot with his love interest Queen Guenievre. -
Invention of Incandescent Light Bulb
Thomas Edison invents the incandescent light bulb. The first bulb lasted 13.5 hours while his final creation lasted 600 hours. This invention led to technological improvements on the camera. -
Invention of Police Portraits
Alphonse Bertillon was the first to standardize 'mug-shots'. Now used by police officials world wide, this type of photograph was invented for identification purposes. -
The Statue of Liberity
A gift of friendship from the French, the Statue of Liberity was intended to commemorate the American Revolution and a century of friendship between the US and France. The statue features a robed female figure with an uplifted arm holding a torch. It landed in New York Harbor and was reassembled to become the tallest structure in New York City at the time. -
Coca Cola
Atlanta pharmacist, Dr. John S. Pemberton, mixed a flavored syrup with carbonated water and just like that became it became the world's #1 selling sparkling beverage. The name "Coca-Cola" is credited to his partner and bookkeeper, Frank M. Robinson. Now, Coca-Cola beverages are a big cultural drink that sells daily servings that are estimated a 1.9 billion globally. -
Lizzie Borden
Lizzie Andrew Borden was an American woman who grew to be infamous as the main suspect of the axe murders of her father and stepmother in Massachusetts. She is now seen as a cult lore personality, used in folk rhyme and depicted in literature, music, film, theater, and television.
An interesting photographic aspect of this story is that the murdered bodies of the two victims were photographed and used in the police investigation. -
F. Holland Day
An American photographer, Day was known to use the pictorialist technique of soft focus. Pictorialism was a movement that focused on creating art out of their photography by making them more hand-made. His photograph, "Youth Sitting on a Stone" featured a nude male sitting on a stone rock.
