This image, taken in 2007, was accompanied by a famous line, “Today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone.” CEO and Apple founder, Steve Jobs, made history on that platform and did indeed transform the way we use and understand phones. Over ten years down the line, Apple is still reinventing the phone.
Phones have evolved from simply being used for talking and texting to practically becoming minicomputers with a price tag to match. With a sleek design and a portal to the rest of the world at your fingertips, this photo was just the beginning of phone technology. Who knows what Apple will come up with within another ten years.
Hippos Can Surf Too!
While, at first sight, you might find this image amazing or even hilarious, there was an even deeper message in taking and distributing this photo. Michael Nichols captured this alongside National Geographic Society explorer Michael Fay while they trekked an exhausting 2,000 miles from the Congo to Gabon. Seeing these two hippopotamuses swimming in the Atlantic Ocean was surely quite bewildering, and Nichols had a message to deliver.
With their rivers and lakes destroyed, the hippos have been pushed out to the oceans, forced to adapt and live in an area that they are not biologically constituted for. This image is truly one in a million but actually led to real change. Former President of Gabon, Omar Bongo, upon seeing this image, was inspired to create a national park system. This move sees 11 percent of Gabon being protected, ensuring that the wild animals are able to continue living untouched and peacefully.
Annette Kellerman and Her Fitted One-piece Bathing Suit, 1907
*Gasp* A woman exposing her body!? It’s 1907, and boy, was there a change a-coming. Australian professional swimmer, actress, and writer (and clearly very accomplished woman) Annette Kellerman are pictured here as a fearless female leader. One of the first to bravely wear the one-piece swimsuit, she became something of a fashion designer too, with demand increasingly high for her swimsuits!
Labeled the “Annette Kellermans,” these bathing-suit-wearing divas were a topic of controversy, which took over the radio waves across the world. In 1907, in Revere Beach, Massachusetts, the Australian was arrested for “indecency.” But they say there’s no such thing as bad publicity because this occurred at the height of her popularity, which sent sales flying! If those officers saw the swimsuits kids are wearing these days, they’d go into cardiac arrest.
Hollywood Royalty Meets Real Royalty, 1956
Below, the Queen of Hollywood at the time, Marilyn Monroe, met the late Queen Elizabeth II. To think that the pair of influential women were the same age is quite astonishing. But that also made the late Queen the longest-reigning monarch, seeing many decades pass and being present for countless historical landmarks.
You might think the Royals are locked away in their age-old fortresses, guarded by the highest security and constantly moping about, but that was certainly not the case. The pair actually met one another at a film premiere, to which Monroe was accompanying her husband at the time. The women in this photo were both just 30 years old. A meeting of two legends in their own right. Quite remarkable.
The Beginning of an Era, 1999
Google is a household name these days. It’s even become a verb. But something this huge had to start somewhere, and here’s the photographic evidence. This photo was taken of two early Google co-founders and heavyweights, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in one of the server rooms.
Google has gone on to become the dominant search engine with access to billions of web pages. It is the most-used search engine worldwide. Both Page and Brin each have a net worth of over $100 Billion. Fun fact, Google was originally called "Backrub..." Yes, you read that right.