From the woman with the blue tattoo to an entire mountain of skulls, here are 11 incredible
historical photos and their story.
11.
Colonel Anthony J. Drexel Biddle, Sr
Col. Anthony Biddle, Sr. was a millionaire who served in both World Wars, training men
in hand to hand combat.
He was the grandson of a wealthy banker, Anthony Joseph Drexel and became an amateur boxing
champion.
He loved singing and writing, but also took up bayonet fighting and judo, eventually becoming
a director of US Marine training.
He is considered one of the most fascinating people of the 20th century but now is often
forgotten.
During his career in the marines, he wrote a book on combat methods, including knives
and fists.
He trained both the US Marine Corp and special agents in the FBI and was considered a pioneer
in hand to hand combat and bayonet combat.
This famous image https://i.imgur.com/NnLInpG.png is from 1943, when Biddle reportedly ordered
Marines to attempt to kill him with bayonets and disarmed them all!!
He opened his own military training facility in his home state of Philadelphia and trained
over 4000 men.
At some point he even served in the National guard.
This millionaire led such an unconventional life that he was immortalized in the 1967
Walt Disney musical film The Happiest Millionaire.
Has anyone seen this?
It was based on the book My Philadelphia Father written by Biddle’s daughter Cordelia.
10.
Joseph Beyrle Joseph Beyrle was a soldier during WWII and
is the only American to have fought the Nazis for both the US and the USSR, was declared
dead, became a prisoner of war, was injured in battle, and amazingly was able to finally
make it back home.
Beyrle was born in 1923 and grew up in Michigan.
After graduating high school in 1942, he turned down a baseball scholarship and became a paratrooper
in the U.S. Army.
He served in the Screaming Eagles 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment.
During World War II, he parachuted into German-occupied France for the French Resistance and also
participated in D-Day.
During the Normandy landings, some 1200 planes flew overhead to drop paratroopers over the
area but many of them were hit.
Beyrle’s plane started going down so he jumped out when they were still quite high
and landed on a church rooftop.
All of the troops were scattered but he was able to complete several sabotage missions
until he was captured by the Germans.
He spent the next seven months as a prisoner of war.
Beyrle unsuccessfully tried escaping twice and paid dearly for it.
He was tortured by the Gestapo, but he remained undeterred.
His third attempt to escape German custody came in January 1945 and was successful.
As he headed eastward, Beyrle crossed paths with a Russian tank battalion that was advancing
west.
There he was also captured but convinced Alexandra Samusenko, the only female Russian tank commander
in World War II, to allow him to serve with the Soviet forces.
But that’s a video for another day!
The Germans had murdered Samusenko’s entire family so the unlikely pair joined forces
against the enemy.
For the next month, Beyrle fought alongside the Russians, even helping to liberate a prison
camp where he himself had been locked up.
He was later injured and ended up in a hospital in Poland where he was finally able to reach
the American Embassy.
The problem was that nobody believed his story because his dog tags had been found on a dead
soldier at Normandy, leading the U.S. government and his family to believe he was killed in
battle.
He insisted they take his fingerprints and Beyrle’s identity was finally confirmed.
It is now believed that a German soldier must have found his tags and worn them as a trophy.
Beyrle finally made it home.
He is the only soldier known to have served in both the American and the Soviet Red Army
during World War II.
In 1994, U.S. President Bill Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin honored him at the
White House on the 50th D-Day anniversary.
His efforts were respected by both armies and he became a symbol of cooperation for
post Cold-War countries.
He died in 2004 at 81 years old.
9.
Princess Qajar
This 19th century princess has been circulating the internet for quite some time.
Called Princess Qajar, and legend says that her facial hair and masculine appearance were
the epitome of beauty for her time, and that 13 men killed themselves over their unrequited
love for her.
The point is to shock you since the woman pictured is not a modern symbol of beauty.
However, the true story is different.
It is a woman, but she is not princess Qajar, she was from the Persian Qajar dynasty.
It is Princess Fatemeh Khanum, known as “‘Esmat al-Dowleh” who was the daughter of the King
of Persia from 1848–1896.
During the 1800’s in Persia, it does seem that her moustache would have been considered
beautiful.
Harvard University professor Dr. Afsaneh Najmabadi says that “Many Persian-language sources,
as well as photographs, from the nineteenth century confirm that Qajar women sported a
thin mustache, or more accurately a soft down, as a sign of beauty.”
While it was popular during the 1800’s it looks like during the 1900’s it went out
of fashion.
Even though Esmat was considered beautiful and powerful it does not mean that men were
killing themselves over her since she would have been married probably around 10 years
old so she probably did not have a bunch of suitors.
That would be inappropriate for Persia at the time!
However, it’s not really her looks that mattered.
She was one of the most photographed women at her father’s court and she was trusted
with many responsibilities including serving as host for foreign dignitaries.
She also had much influence with her father the king and against tradition, she learned
to play the piano and became a photographer with a private studio in her home.
She became the first female pianist in Iran.
Another woman who has been confused with Esmat is Princess Zahra Khanum known as “Taj al-Saltaneh”.
She was the 12th daughter of Nasir al-Din Shah Qajar, and a half-sister to Esmat.
She was also a feminist and a nationalist who supported a cultural and constitutional
revolution in Persia.
While they have been ridiculed in many memes, they actually did exist and their real stories
should be known.
And now for number 8, but first wanted to give a big shout out to meedah Asger and Chris
Coleman!
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8.
BRITISH SOLDIER FAINTING
As Queen Elizabeth II and her guards passed by during the Trooping the Colour parade marking
her birthday in 1970, a guard of honor passed out and fell to the ground.
With so many photographers around for the big event, naturally the medical emergency
was captured on camera.
You may be surprised to learn that it’s not entirely unheard of for British guardsmen
to pass out while on duty.
Soldiers are even advised not to lock their knees while standing in formation, especially
in hot temperatures, because it makes them more prone to fainting.
This goes for everybody!!
Locking your knees puts all the body’s weight on the bones, leading to reduced blood flow
to the brain and causing lightheadedness which can result in fainting.
During the 2017 Trooping the Colour Parade, five soldiers passed out in the sweltering
heat.
With temperatures hitting 77 degrees (25 Celsius) Fahrenheit, standing guard in full uniform
becomes uncomfortable and, in some cases, downright difficult.
One guardsman, clad in bearskin, fell forward out of formation.
Another fell to his knees before landing facedown.
The ceremony continued, with most of the soldiers nearby maintaining their strictly stiff positions
even after a handful of their colleagues fell.
Thankfully, some sprang into action to help, removing the guardsmen from the scene and
getting them to a medical team.
7.
OLIVE OATMAN
While traveling west by wagon in 1851, 14-year-old Olive Oatman and her younger sister, Mary
Ann were taken captive by a small group of Native Americans, who attacked the family
and left their brother Lorenzo for dead and clubbed many others to death in what became
known as the Oatman Massacre.
Olive and Mary Ann were reportedly treated badly by their captors, thought to be the
Tolkepaya tribe, who used them for forced labor and frequently beat them.
The sisters were traded to the Mohave tribe after a year of enslavement when the chief’s
daughter, Topeka, noticed their poor condition and became concerned about their welfare.
With the Mohave, the girls were treated much better and were adopted into the family.
Meanwhile, Lorenzo tried persuading the U.S. government to help search for the missing
girls, but to no avail.
Mary Ann died from starvation and Olive remained with the Mohave for four years.
She received a chin tattoo marking her acceptance into the tribe.
While most believed this to be a mark of slavery, most Mohave women had this type of tattoo,
made from blue cactus ink.
She was finally released after rumors of a white woman living with the tribe sparked
extensive negotiations for her return.
There are conflicting stories about whether Olive stayed voluntarily with the Mohaves
or was actually a prisoner.
Olive herself spoke fondly of her time spent with them, and soon after she was reunited
with her brother, a friend wrote that she seemed sad and longed to reunite with the
Mohave.
Her tattoos indicate that she may have been a fully integrated member of the society.
However, many people refused to believe it, and spread rumors that the poor girl had been
a slave and so she must hate them.
Olive said that she had permission to leave but nobody would take her to any settlement
for fear of retribution and she had no idea where to go.
However, people question why she never asked any of the white traders that came through
for help.
Over 200 white people came and traded with the Mohave for a week during an railroad expedition
and she reportedly said nothing.
What actually happened during her time the tribe remains unknown.
The curious case of the kidnapped white girl who was taken in by Indians made her quite
the celebrity and she traveled around giving lectures and telling stories about her experience.
She later married a wealthy banker and adopted a child.
She is the first known white woman with a Native tattoo in the historical record.
6.
FIRST-EVER ELECTRONIC GAMING COMPETITION
Many young people cannot imagine life without video games, but it wasn’t too long ago
that the world’s first-ever electronic sports (eSports) event took place.
Hosted by Atari, the Space Invaders Tournament commenced in 1980, attracting over 10,000
participants and solidifying video gaming as a valid mainstream hobby.
A teenager named Rebecca Heineman took first place after traveling to Los Angeles to compete
in the competition.
She went on to become a career video game designer and programmer.
This black-and-white image (https://i.imgur.com/VFPsgGz.png) from the event shows competitors behind large
computer screens that today’s young generation would consider archaic at best, serving as
a reminder of how far video gaming technology has come in just a little over 40 years.
Created just two years before the competition, the Space Invaders arcade game took off like
wildfire, revolutionizing the video gaming industry and inspiring the developers who
subsequently created legendary classics like The Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong, Super Mario,
Metal Gear, and Zoom.
A home version of Space Invaders came out in 1980 for the Atari 2600 game console, selling
over two million copies in its first year alone.
5.
BISON SKULL MOUNTAIN
During the 19th century, bison in North America were nearly exterminated entirely.
To give you an idea, the continent’s wild bison population was reduced from between
30 and 60 million at the end of the 18th century to just 456 in 1892, the same year this disturbing
image of a mountain of bison skulls was taken in Rougeville, Michigan.
The arrival of European settlers (and their guns) to North America and the colonization
of the West led to the large-scale bison slaughter that almost wiped out the species.
Killings hit their highest numbers between the 1850s and 1870s amid a skyrocketing market
demand for bison hides and bones.
The Rougeville photograph is an icon of this animal’s slaughter that shows just how extreme
and excessive the hunting was.
As North America’s largest land mammal, bison have a tremendous influence on the entire
ecosystem.
The disappearance of an entire species, especially one that is so impactful on its surroundings,
comes with inevitable severe ecological consequences.
Thankfully, the American bison population has rebounded to a stable number, reducing
the chances that the animal will disappear forever.
4.
THE ALTON GIANT
Robert Wadlow was a normal-sized baby born to normal-sized parents in 1918.
But he grew abnormally fast, and by the time he was six months old, he already weighed
30 pounds (13.6 kg).
Wadlow had an overactive pituitary gland, which generates excessive amounts of human
growth hormone (HGH).
By age eight, he had outgrown his father, measuring six feet (1.83 meters) tall and
weighing in at 169 pounds (76.7 kg).
The young man graduated high school at 8 feet 4 inches (2.54 meters) tall.
This photograph, which shows Wadlow laying on a bed while talking to an average-sized
man who looks miniature next to him, conveys just how gigantic he was.
Unfortunately, Wadlow’s condition came with setbacks.
He walked with the assistance of leg braces and had reduced feeling in his legs and feet,
making it difficult for him to get around on the icy walkways at his college.
Consequently, Wadlow gave up his dream of practicing law and traveled with the Ringling
Brothers Circus.
He became a celebrity and went on to work various promotional gigs, including one for
a shoe company.
Wadlow continued growing until his death at age 22 after a faulty leg brace caused an
infection in his ankle.
Surgery and a blood transfusion failed to save him due to an autoimmune disorder he
suffered from.
At the time of Wadlow’s passing, he was 8 feet 11 inches (2.72 meters) tall and weighed
439 pounds (199 kg).
He was the tallest person in recorded history backed by irrefutable evidence.
3.
The Face Of Aids
Scientists believe that the human immunodeficiency virus, commonly known as HIV, and the the
condition it causes, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS, originated as far back
as the 1920s when HIV crossed over from primates to humans.
But the virus and its consequences only became widely known in the U.S. during the 1980s,
when alarming numbers of Americans suddenly suffered from severe immune deficiency ultimately
leading to death.
Because HIV and AIDS disproportionately affected gay men and intravenous drug users, society
quickly developed a stigma against HIV-positive people and those afflicted with AIDS.
The epidemic was also met with widespread fear, which became amplified when the first
known heterosexual and non-drug user cases emerged in the country.
Still, many Americans clung to their views that HIV and AIDS were directly associated
with what they saw as morally wayward lifestyles.
On top of these harshly judgmental views, families of sufferers faced the harsh reality
of the medical field’s grossly under-funded struggle to understand and effectively prevent
and treat the disease, knowing that their loved one probably did not have long to live.
This tragic image, taken by journalism student Therese Frare in 1990, shows a gaunt 32-year-old
AIDS patient and activist named David Kirby laying on his deathbed surrounded by devastated
family members.
His father embraces him, knowing he will soon lose his son to the disease.
Kirby took his last breath soon after the picture was taken.
With Kirby and his family’s permission, Frare had documented his rapid decline during
his final days, putting a face to HIV/AIDS and the anguish that it caused to families
and loved ones.
Her photograph of Kirby on his deathbed became world-famous after it was published in LIFE
Magazine later that year.
While it faced heavy criticism from those unwilling to believe that HIV/AIDS was not
a “bad person’s disease,” the picture served to humanize HIV/AIDS in a way that
hadn’t been done before, helping to raise awareness of the disease and combat the prejudices
surrounding it.
2.
DOROTHY COUNTS
In 1956, the state of North Carolina implemented the Pearsall Plan, which aimed to serve as
a stepping stone toward racial integration in public schools after the U.S. Supreme Court
ruled that such segregation was unconstitutional.
The landmark decision in what’s known as the Brown v. Board of Education case was met
with anger and opposition from many white communities throughout the American South.
Nevertheless, non-white families and individuals bravely fought to access their right to an
equal education.
Dorothy Counts was one of four Black students who were accepted into Charlotte-area high
schools in 1957 under North Carolina’s Pearsall Plan.
This photo, taken as 15-year-old Dorothy walked toward Harry Harding High School on her first
day, shows her walking tall and proud, undeterred by the menacing white adolescents behind her,
taunting her and spitting on her dress.
Just moments earlier, when Dorothy’s father dropped her off outside the school, he had
told her, “Hold your head high.
You are inferior to no one.”
And that’s exactly what the courageous young woman did.
Dorothy went on to finish high school and graduate from college before embarking on
a long, successful career in public education, acting on her life mission to “make sure
no child ever goes through what I went through.”
To many, the iconic picture of Dorothy that was taken 64 years ago remains an important
symbol today.
1.
MIGRANT MOTHER
One of the most iconic representations of the Great Depression is an image showing a
mother staring off into the distance while she cradles her baby and her two other children
bury their faces into her neck and shoulders.
Taken by photographer Dorothea Lange in a migrant farmer camp in Nipomo, California
and published in 1936, it conveys overtones of the hopelessness and despair that millions
of Americans experienced amid rampant poverty during that time period.
Lange was employed by the Farm Security Administration (FSA), a New Deal agency that aimed to help
destitute farm workers.
The “Migrant Mother” image and tens of thousands of others that she and her colleagues
took helped to raise awareness to the plight of many throughout the Dust Bowl who, on top
of struggling with the economic fallout of the Depression, were displaced from their
homes by severe drought.
For decades, Lange’s narrative about the woman telling her that the family survived
on frozen vegetables and dead birds while on the brink of starvation went unchecked.
The woman in the photo, named Florence Owens Thompson, revealed in a 1978 letter to the
Modesto Bee that she was not an immigrant, but a full-blooded Native American, and that
she felt exploited by Lange’s story.
Thompson took issue with being depicted as a stereotypical Dust Bowl refugee, clarifying
that she and her husband Cleo had come to California for work and that her poverty stemmed
largely from Cleo’s death in 1931 from tuberculosis, which left her on her own to support their
six children.
The true version of the woman’s story set the record straight, but did not take away
from the compelling snapshot of economic hardship.
Instead, Thompson’s life struggles and experiences became so well-known that when she passed
away in 1983 at 80 years old, then-President Ronald Reagan offered his condolences.
Thanks for watching!!
Which photograph did you think was the most shocking?
Which story did you find the most interesting?
Let me know in the comments below!