Stars Insider has compiled famous images of people “standing in long lines” throughout world history, whether for elections, receiving food, waiting for vaccinations, or simply to enjoy art.
Voting line in South Africa. The image shows voters standing in long lines during the historic general election on April 27, 1994, in South Africa. This was the first election in which people of all races were allowed to participate. A total of 19,726,579 votes were counted.
In November 1963, fans of the band The Beatles, numbering 11,000, stood in long lines to buy tickets for the Fab Four’s Christmas concert at the Empire Theatre in Liverpool, England. The line stretched up to 1.6 kilometers long.
Part of the 1,400,000 people suffering from food shortages in Hamburg waiting in line to receive food in 1945, after World War II ended.
A long line of people in Bedford Square, London, waiting to see the exhibition of artifacts from the tomb of Tutankhamun at the British Museum. From March 29 to December 31, 1972, the exhibition attracted 1.6 million visitors.
British soldiers lining up at a field hospital after being blinded by mustard gas during World War I.
Standing in line for vaccinations. Thousands of New Yorkers were lined up outside Morrisania Hospital in the Bronx in 1947 to receive smallpox vaccinations after an outbreak led to two deaths and several infections.
From January 9 to February 3, 1963, 518,525 people lined up for up to two hours to see the portrait of the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C.
People waiting in long lines for shopping outside a store in Watford, England, amid social distancing recommendations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Immigrants on Ellis Island in New York City patiently standing in line at the processing center before starting their new lives in America. From 1892 to 1954, approximately 12 million immigrants passed through this inspection station.
Children from underprivileged families, many of whom are orphans, lining up for food served by volunteers during the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918.
From 1991 to 2002, during the civil war in Sierra Leone, over 1,270 primary schools were destroyed, preventing many children from attending school. The image shows children in Sierra Leone today in uniforms waiting to enter class.
Passengers lining up to board an open-top bus in London during the holiday season in 1921.
