Some news images are so striking that they are seared into our memories forever.
Take, for example, the heartbreaking image of three-year-old Syrian boy Aylan Kurdi who lay lifeless on a beach near Turkey’s Bodrum, after his boat capsized in 2015. Or the image of Vietnamese children running, terrified after an aerial napalm attack in 1972.
Both these images sent shockwaves around the world, and both have been included in a report by the HISTORY channel which asked its viewers to name the most powerful news images of the last 50 years.
The picture of the Vietnamese children, taken by photographer Nick Ut of Kim Phu, tops the list of the world’s most powerful news images, chosen by 37 per cent of British voters.
The harrowing image of Aylan is second on the list, and in joint third place is a picture of Nelson Mandela being freed from prison in 1990, Buzz Aldrin on the moon in 1969 and the lone protestor blocking a Chinese tank on Tiananmen Square in 1989.
The kiss between Prince Charles and Princess Diana on their 1981 wedding day also features on the list, as does a portrait of Moors Murderer Myra Hindley and an image of Davina Turrell following the London terror attacks in 2005.
Click through the gallery about to see the most powerful news images from the past five decades.
Photos That Changed The World starts on History Channel on Monday October 21 at 10pm.
