Perspective

History Archives - Futility Closet · Jun 5, 2026

This is the oldest surviving successful aerial photograph, shot in October 1860 by James Wallace Black from a hot-air balloon 1,200 feet over Boston. He called it Boston, as the Eagle and the Wild Goose See It. 06/22/2026 UPDATE: The photo was named not by Black but by Oliver Wendell Holmes! In July 1863, Holmes wrote in the Atlantic Monthly (page 12): “Boston, as the eagle and wild goose see it, is a very different object from the same place as the solid citizen looks up at its eaves and chimneys. The Old South [Meeting House] and Trinity Church [left...