A PHOTO of Brighton Swimming Club in the 1860s has been included in a list of the most interesting photos in history.

It sits alongside the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Titanic leaving Southampton and the first photo ever taken from space.

The list, which became a viral email chain in America, picks out 51 of the most iconic and thought-provoking images from the last 150 years.

The image of 19 smart gentlemen from the swimming club posing in their top hats comes in at number 45.

Club chairman Jasper Stevens said: “Over the years the club has grown from being a sea swimming club to embracing all strands of swimming: pool swimming, synchronised swimming, water polo and of course our sea swimming which has grown more popular recently.

“We celebrated our 150th anniversary recently, and we are also one of the city’s largest youth clubs, something which we are very proud of.

"We want to keep churning out successful competitive swimmers and we hope that many of them will come back to the club in later years as instructors and master swimmers.”

The photographs, which have been shared online, found their way to The Argus after eagle-eyed reader Bob Metson was sent the list by a friend in America.

Mr Metson, 85, of Chestnut Way, Henfield said: “I get a lot of photos and information from my friends in America but I was so surprised to see Brighton in there.

Other images featured include the construction of the Manhattan Bridge, a group of Japanese Samurai warriors and Nagasaki 20 minutes after the atomic bomb was dropped.

Brighton Swimming Club was founded in 1860, and is the oldest swimming club in the country.

The website floatingmemories.co.uk was set up by club member Paul Farrington with lottery funding, to preserve the club’s history.

The photograph is believed to have been taken by the photographer Benjamin William Botham in 1863, and was found inside a collection of scrapbooks during the Floating Memories investigation.