This is an historic photograph taken by Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell in 1861. It is the first ever color photograph and was created by combining three separate black and white photographs taken through red, green, and blue filters. The image shows a colorful tartan ribbon that Maxwell used to demonstrate the three
From Wikipedia
Color photography is photography that uses media capable of capturing and reproducing colors. By contrast, black-and-white or gray-monochrome photography records only a single channel of luminance (brightness) and uses media capable only of showing shades of gray.