The most important photographs of the 20th century according to LIFE magazine

The last century was the most tragic, memorable and bright for humanity. There were wars, there were important scientific and historical discoveries, there were great people - the history of the 20th century is so multifaceted that you can't remember everything. But we were lucky that in the 20th century there was already photography, thanks to which the next generations will remember this difficult and important time in the history of humanity.

The LIFE magazine archive invites readers to travel briefly to the 20th century and recalls the most important photographs of the past century.

A Walk in the Garden of Eden, 1946, Eugene Smith

Coney Island, View from the Parachute Tower, 1951, Margaret Bourke-White

Victory over Japan Day, Times Square, New York, 1945, Alfred Eisenstaedt

Bwana Devil 3D screening at Paramount Theatre, 1952, J.R. Ayerman

Children at the Tuileries Puppet Theatre, Paris, France, 1963, Alfred Eisenstaedt

Route 66, Arizona, 1947, Andreas Feininger

Willa Mae Ricker and Leon James performing the Lindy dance, New York, 1943, Gyen Mili

DC-4 passenger airliner over Manhattan, 1939, Margaret Bourke-White

Penn Station Clock, New York, 1943, Alfred Eisenstaedt

Drum Major at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1951, Alfred Eisenstaedt

Eiffel Tower, Paris, France, 1948, Dmitry Kessel

American baseball player Mickey Mantle, New York, 1965, John Dominis