#1 Douglas Bent, A U.S. Navy Petty Officer, Was Captured During The Vietnam War. His Captors Thought Him Unintelligent, Earning Him The Moniker "The Stupid." He Feigned Ignorance, Opting To Hum A Song Instead Of Speaking
While in captivity, bent maintained this act, leading his Vietnamese captors to believe he suffered from a mental disorder. After being freed and returning to the United States, Bent astounded everyone by listing approximately 256 names of missing fellow pows. He had ingeniously memorized their names by associating them with the melody of "Old McDonald Had a Farm," the same tune he hummed throughout his imprisonment
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#2 Blackfoot Tribe In Glacier National Park, 1913
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#3 Sergeant William Henry “Black Death” Johnson Of The Harlem Hellfighters Wearing His Croix De Guerre Medal Ca. 1918. In Northern France, Johnson Single-Handedly Fought Off A German Raiding Party Receiving 21 Wounds In Order To Save Fellow Soldier Pvt Needham Roberts
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With over 150k followers on Instagram, History Defined also has their own website and subreddit. In their own words, they are all about exploring history's most interesting people and events. It’s probably safe to assume that their users are eager to learn more about the past.
With all the demands of living in the present and concerns about the future, why do people care about what happened in the past? Everything we do, every item we use, and all the things we experience in our daily lives are shaped by our past. The foundation for our traditions, technologies, and everything in between was laid by those who came before us.
#4 A Photo Of Freddie Mercury, 1958
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#5 Mississippi's First Interracial Couple Recognized By The State, August 3, 1970
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#6 Pictured Here Is Willemien Rieken. She Was Only 9 Years Old When She First Began Laying Flowers On The Grave Of William Edmond, A British Soldier Who Fought And Died To Liberate Her Dutch Village. From The Day He Died, And For 75 Years, She Looked After His Grave And Kept His Memory Alive
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Our understanding and knowledge of topics increases over time due to historical perspectives. Photographs from the past aren’t just about people, they show us how humans lived decades ago and how their actions have impacted our lives.
For instance, the beloved tradition of decorating trees dates back to 16th-century Germany where families would bring these evergreen trees home as a symbol of eternal life. This practice evolved over centuries as people started decking their Christmas trees with ornaments, lights and tree toppers.
#7 Gunnar Kaasen And His Team Of 13 Dogs, LED By The Siberian Husky, Balto, Completed The Last Leg Of A 1925 Trip To Deliver 300,000 Units Of Diphtheria Antitoxin To Nome, Alaska To Prevent An Outbreak. They Traveled By Night In Temperatures Of -23 °f (-31 °c)
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#8 Little Girl And Her Pet Toad At A Pet Show, Venice Beach, California, 1936
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#9 Mister Rogers Received A Letter From A Blind Girl Who Was Concerned About His Fish, As She Had Heard Him Mention Them. Worried That They Might Not Be Getting Fed, He Started A Heartwarming Tradition. At The Conclusion Of Each Subsequent Show, He Would Narrate, “I'm Feeding The Fish”
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Today’s medical advancements were possible due to the pioneering work of historical figures. The first smallpox vaccine was created by Dr. Edward Jenner in 1796. Joseph Lister, a British surgeon in the 19th century, laid the foundation for antiseptic surgery, which has helped save countless lives by minimizing the risk of infection in surgeries.
#10 Two Boys Show Each Other Different Skills, Kenya, 1962. 9-Year-Old Kevin From New York Had Come To Kenya To Join His Stepfather As Guest Of A Maasai Tribe, Where He And The Chief’s Son Dionni Became Close Companions
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#11 Witold Pilecki, A Member Of The Secret Polish Army, Intentionally Let Himself Be Caught By German Policemen During A Roundup In Warsaw To Get Arrested & Be Sent To Auschwitz To Set Up A Resistance Network There. The Mission Was A Success
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#12 Anne Frank Photographed With Her Sister Margot At The Beach In Zandvoort, Netherlands, In 1940
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The photograph of Rosa Parks refusing to give up her segregated bus seat in Alabama in 1955. Her act of civil disobedience led to a year-long bus boycott in Montgomery. This not only led to the desegregation of public transport but also paved the way for greater equality and civil rights for Americans. Her image became a symbol of courage and dignity and still inspires people globally to stand up against any discrimination.
#13 At 3 A.m. One Night In 1988, Hawaiian Singer Israel Kamakawiwo'ole Called A Local Studio And Said He Needed To Record Something Immediately. He Pleaded With The Engineer: "Please, Can I Come In? I Have An Idea." Kamakawiwo'ole Recorded The Iconic Version Of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" In One Take, Which Would Soon Touch Countless People Across The Globe
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#14 In 1902, 18-Year-Old Alice Roosevelt Was Known For Her Rebellious And Independent Spirit. Alice Was Known For Her Unusual Habits, Such As Wearing Pants, Driving Cars, Smoking Cigarettes, Betting With Bookies, And Dancing On Rooftops
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#15 Two Brothers From East And West Berlin Reunite At Checkpoint Charlie After The East German Government Agreed To Open The Wall For Christmas, 1963
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#16 The Coney Island Sideshow Was Run By Martin Couney, Also Known As "The Incubator Doctor," Who Saved More Than 7,000 Premature Babies Throughout His Lifetime By Exhibiting Them In Incubators And Allowing Visitors To Pay 25 Cents To View Them
Back in the early 1900s, many eugenicists believed that premature babies were not worth saving because they were destined to die. But Couney challenged this idea by demonstrating the success of incubators, which he had first seen being used as "Child hatcheries" at the Chicago World's Fair. By the time Couney's Coney Island sideshow closed in 1943, nearly every hospital in America had adopted incubators
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#17 A Peruvian Woman And Her Baby In The Andes, 1930s
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#18 A Young Boy Gets A Photo Taken Moments After The First Plane Hit The World Trade Center. Notice The People In The Background Who Have Not Yet Noticed
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Images taken after the San Francisco earthquake and subsequent fire in 1906 captured not just the destruction but also the resilience of the people affected.
These images have been used by engineers and architects to plan and implement measures to mitigate future earthquake risks. Later, they were also used in public awareness drives to highlight the need for community preparedness in order to minimize the impact of any future disasters.
#19 American Soldier Reunites With His Wife At Train Station Fittingly Named"New Hope." Us, 1945
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#20 British Soldier Retrieving Bandages From The Kit Of A Dog During Wwi, 1915
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#21 The 1973 Pulitzer Prize-Winning Photograph “Burst Of Joy," Taken By Sal Vedar. A Former Us Prisoner Of War Is Shown Being Reunited With His Family
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Today, almost 66% of the world’s population and nearly 94% of the U.S. population has access to the internet. We can easily read historical facts in bite-sized pieces like these. Which of these images did you find the most intriguing? Tell us in the comments below if you have any ancestral photos!
#22 Two Girls Gallop Full Speed On Sheep In Cornwall, England 1969. Photo By John Drysdale
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#23 This Photo Shows John Lewis Being Arrested In Tennessee In 1961 For Organizing And Participating In Civil Rights Demonstrations
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#24 In 1925, A Man Flying From Casablanca To Dakar Photographed A Barbary Lion In The Atlas Mountains. This Photo Is Special Because It's The Last Known Picture Of A Wild Barbary Lion Before They Went Extinct
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#25 Wedding Rings Removed From Holocaust Victims Before They Were Executed, 1945
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#26 Letter From John Steinbeck To Marilyn Monroe
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#27 Photo Of A Soviet War Veteran Near The Eternal Flame On The Anniversary Of Victory Day, 1966
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#28 The Jaws Of An Ancient Megalodon Shark That Lived Around 23 To 3.6 Million Years Ago vs. A Modern-Day Great White
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#29 Spanish Woman Fighting For The Republican Loyalists In The Spanish Civil War
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#30 This Photograph Shows A Native American Man Looking Over The Newly Completed Transcontinental Railroad In Nevada In The Year 1869. Let's Assume The Man Was Around Forty And Was Born In The 1820s. The Changes He Must Have Seen Are Astonishing
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#31 One Of The Greatest Discoveries Of Archaeology: Oseberg Viking Ship, Tønsberg, Norway, C. 834 Ad
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#32 Teenagers Dressed For A High School Dance In The 1920s
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#33 Wo Men Remove The Preserved Carcass Of A Juvenile Mammoth That Was Unintentionally Excavated From The Permafrost In Siberia In 1977 By A Miner's Bulldozer. He Died At The Age Of 6-8 Months, Named "Dima" After A Local Creek, Some 40,000 Years Ago. His Stomach Still Contained Traces Of His Mother's Milk
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#34 In November 1943, Berlin Zoo Faced Heavy Bombing From Allied Forces. Within Minutes, A Devastating 30% Of The Zoo’s Population Had Perished. Despite The Chaos, Keepers Risked Life And Limb To Rescue Panicked Animals
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#35 Longmen Grottoes In Henan Province, China. Over 2,300 Caves Filled With Over 100,000 Statues Of All Sizes, 4th-10th-Centuries Ad
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#36 The 1949 Nash Airflyte Was Designed With Seats That Reclined Into Convertible Beds. In 1936, Nash Motors Introduced The “Bed-In-A-Car” Feature. Actress Carol Burnett Said She Was Probably Conceived In A Nash Sleeper Seat
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#37 A Young Agatha Christie
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#38 Calamity Jane At The Grave Of Wild Bill Hickok In Deadwood, South Dakota, 1903
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#39 Monet With A Pigeon On His Head, And His Wife Alice, Venice, 1908
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#40 Burial At Sea On The Uss Intrepid, November 1944
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#41 Four Physicists Take A Walk: Albert Einstein, Hideki Yukawa, John Wheeler, And Homi Bhabha, 1954
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#42 A Drawing Of Elvis Presley Done By A 12-Year-Old Jimi Hendrix After Seeing Him In Concert
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#43 This Photograph Was Taken Seconds Before The Red Car Exploded, Taking The Lives Of 29 People, Including The Photographer. The Camera Was Found Afterward In The Rubble. The Man And Child In The Photo Both Survived
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#44 Ruth Lee, A Hostess At A Chinese Restaurant, Flies A Chinese Flag So She Isn’t Mistaken For Japanese When She Sunbathes On Her Days Off In Miami. Dec. 15, 1941. Color By Snarlbox
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#45 "No Dog Biscuits Today" London, C. 1942
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#46 A Woman Driving A Sports Car Around Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, With Thor The Great Dane Riding In The Passenger Seat. Photographed In 1961 By Ralph Crane
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#47 A Selfie Taken By Emperor Nicholas II, C. 1896
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#48 A Young Woman Playing A Harp To A Large Crowd, Rock Of Cashel, Ireland, Ca. 1910 - Photographer Unknown
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#49 A Lamplighter Hard At Work, London ,1935
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#50 Muhammad Ali Sparring With Two Teenagers During A Promotional Tour Of New Zealand, 1979
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