I Guarantee The Before-And-After Photos Of These 25 Historical Landmarks In The 1900s Versus Today Will Blow Your Mind

To impart some timeless wisdom: old photos are cool. Old places are cool. So here are some side-by-sides of old and new photos of old-timey places, just because it's fun to compare. Please enjoy:

1. The Empire State Building in 1931, the year of its completion...

...versus today:

2. Flooding in St. Mark's Square, Venice in about 1910...

...versus the flooding in 2019:

3. The Eiffel Tower during the liberation of Paris in 1944...

...and on Bastille Day in 2024:

4. Not quite the 20th Century, but: Chichén Itzá in 1892 before excavation...

...versus Chichén Itzá today:

5. Downtown Shanghai in 1930...

...versus downtown Shanghai today:

6. The Casino de Monte-Carlo in Monaco in 1913...

...versus the Casino in 2013:

7. Abu Simbel in 1933...

Print Collector / Print Collector / Getty Images, Jose A. Bernat Bacete / Getty Images

...versus Abu Simbel today:

8. Tokyo in the 1920s...

...and Tokyo today:

9. The Sunset Strip in 1937...

...and in 2021:

10. Mount St. Helens in 1933 and in 1980 during its eruption, and...

Historical / Corbis via Getty Images, Steve Terrill / Getty Images

...Mount St. Helens today!

11. The Flatiron Building on Fifth Avenue and Broadway in 1920 and in 1965...

Design Pics Editorial / Design Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images, Archive Photos / Getty Images

...and the Flatiron Building today:

12. People in front of the Hungarian Parliament Building during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956:

...and the Hungarian Parliament Building today:

13. Hiroshima in 1945, after the Atomic Bombing...

...versus Hiroshima today:

14. The Brandenburg Gate hung with Nazi flags in 1936 and behind the Berlin Wall in 1982, and...

Getty Images, Sahm Doherty / Getty Images

...the Brandenburg Gate in 2024:

15. Princess Diana posing at the Taj Mahal in 1992...

...versus tourists visiting in the rain in 2023:

16. The Titanic setting sail from Southampton in 1912...

...versus the bow of the ship at the wreck site:

Xavier Desmier / Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images, Ralph White / Getty Images

17. The Sagrada Familia in Barcelona in 1936...

...versus the Sagrada Familia today:

18. A church in Boscotrecase, Naples buried in lava flow after Mt. Vesuvius erupted...

...versus the same church today:

19. Anchorage, Alaska after the 1964 earthquake...

...versus Anchorage today:

20. The Ponte Vecchio in Florence, Italy after the November 1966 flood...

...versus the Ponte Vecchio today:

21. The fire and aftermath of the Tillamook Burn forest fire in Oregon in 1933...

Mpi / Getty Images

...versus the Tillamook State Forest today:

Sycikimagery / Getty Images, Zeb Andrews / Getty Images

22. The Manhattan skyline in 1950...

...versus the Manhattan skyline today:

23. Dresden after its bombing in 1945, shot by Richard Peter...

...and Dresden today:

24. And finally, the Ziggurat of Ur in Iraq in 1929, before it was fully excavated...

...versus the Ziggurat in 2020: