Today in 1884, an unknown photographer inspired legions of tornado-chasers when he captured the earliest known photograph of a tornado. The black-and-white image was taken about 45 kilometers (22 Miles) southwest of Howard, South Dakota. (Source: National Geographic ) I find this picture to be at once both beautiful and scary. This is the stuff that I live for; documented historical occurrences... it's sort of like time travel, if you will.