25 photos, each of which hides an amazing story (26 photos)

The past can teach us a lot about the present and give us insight into what to expect in the future. The Unvarnished History collection shares rarely seen old photographs from a variety of subjects, including architecture and construction, as well as family life and pop culture.





1. Kane Tanaka lived to be 119 years old



She was 11 years old when World War I began, 36 years old when World War II began, 74 years old when Star Wars was released, and 116 years old when COVID-19 swept the world.

2. In 1971, a cement truck accident occurred near Winganon, Oklahoma.



The weight of the concrete mixer was so great that it was impossible to move it to another location. They left it that way, and after some time, local residents converted it into a NASA space capsule.

3. British soldiers after liberation from Japanese captivity in Singapore, 1945



4. In 1957, 21-year-old Yves Saint Laurent attended Christian Dior's funeral



When Yves Saint Laurent was 19 years old, Dior hired him as an assistant at his fashion house. They worked together until Saint Laurent was drafted into the army.

Yves admitted: “Dior fascinated me. I could not speak in his presence. He taught me the basics of my art.”

5. During the Ming Dynasty, a method was used in which healthy people inhaled powder from smallpox scabs



As a result, the person fell ill with a mild form of the disease and acquired stable immunity to it.

It was not until 1796 that the English physician Edward Jenner discovered a method of vaccination against smallpox. To do this, he took pus from a pustule on the arm of a woman infected with cowpox and rubbed it into 8-year-old James's scratch. The boy developed a slight malaise, and after a few days he was healthy. A month and a half later, James was vaccinated with smallpox, but the disease did not develop.

6. In October 2021, a Crusader sword was discovered off the coast of Israel, which is about 900 years old.



7. Star Wars characters outside of character in 1977



8. Chest X-ray taken by Dr. Maxime Menard at Cochin Hospital, Paris, France, 1914



As a result of working with X-ray equipment, Menard lost one of his fingers.

9. Sculpture of a giant short-faced bear that lived in North America 11,000 years ago



Having straightened up, the bear reached a height of 3.5-4.5 m.

10. The ancient Greek philosopher Diogenes was distinguished by cynicism and wit



One day he positioned himself next to an archer who was constantly missing his target, and said that this was the safest place.

Another time, Diogenes noticed a boy, the son of a harlot, throwing stones at the crowd. He quietly warned the child: “Be careful, you might hit your own father with a stone.”

Diogenes had a strong dislike for Socrates and Plato, even going so far as to disrupt their lectures.

Alexander the Great asked Diogenes why he was sorting through the garbage, to which he replied: “I am looking for the remains of your father, but I cannot distinguish them from the bones of his slaves.”

Diogenes did not like the pettiness and hypocrisy of people and preferred to communicate with dogs. Although he was often unkindly called "the dog of Diogenes", he took it as a compliment, remarking: "I am the dog of Diogenes. I seek the kind-hearted, challenge the greedy and oppose the dishonest."

11. Couple in Seoul, South Korea, 1904



Just 6 years after it was madeand this photo, Korea will be under Japanese rule. The colonial government pursued a strict authoritarian policy towards the population. It was forbidden to speak Korean and teach Korean history in schools and universities. More than 200 thousand Korean historical documents were destroyed. By 1939, 80% of Korean families were forced to adopt Japanese first and last names.

The Japanese encouraged the development of industry, the main purpose of which was to support Japanese expansion into China and the Pacific region.

During the war mobilization against China in the late 1930s, many Koreans were forced to fight on the front lines, and tens of thousands of Korean women were forced to become "comfort women."

The colonial period ended with Japan's surrender in World War II.

12. In 1924, 18-year-old Ruth Malcomson won the title of Miss America.



A year earlier, she won the Miss Philadelphia competition.

After the triumph, the girl shared her beauty rules:

Wake up early.

Have a hearty breakfast.

Exercise regularly.

Abstain from alcohol.

Understand the harmful effects of smoking.

Be outdoors more often.

Choose a light lunch.

Dinner is delicious.

Go to bed early.

Get enough sleep.

13. Vasily Arkhipov prevented the launch of a Soviet nuclear torpedo during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962



On October 27, 1962, Captain 2nd Rank Vasily Arkhipov saved humanity. During a clash with the American military, he decided to make contact with the enemy and canceled the launch of a Soviet nuclear torpedo from the B-59 submarine.

14. Portrait in Warsaw, 1946



15. Worker during the construction of the Columbia Tower, Seattle, 1984



16. In 1968, Vietnamese revolutionary Vo Thi Thang smiled at the camera after the South Vietnamese government sentenced her to 20 years of hard labor.



The girl was tasked with killing a suspected spy in Saigon, but the attempt failed. During her sentencing, Waugh defiantly told the judge: "20 years? Your government won't last that long." After 6 years she was released.

17. Emmeline Pankhurst arrested at Buckingham Palace, 1914



Suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst is carried out of Buckingham Palace in London after she attempted to present a petition to King George V of Great Britain.

18. This 1974 photo shows the discovery of the Terracotta Warriors in Xi'an, China.



The image is notable for the fact that it shows bright colors that were skillfully applied by craftsmen more than 2 thousand years ago. Unfortunately, under the influence of air and sunlight during excavations, the paints began to quickly deteriorate and disappeared in a matter of minutes.

Terracotta warriors guarded the tomb of the first emperor of the Qin dynasty. To this day, the tomb remains unopened.

According to the stories of ancient historians, it represents an entire underground kingdom and palace, the ceilings of which are decorated with pearls imitating the night sky. Rare artifacts are also stored there, but crossbow traps await intruders. To maintain secrecy, the mausoleum's builders are believed to have been buried with Qin Shi Huang.

The death of the emperor was associated with taking mercury pills, which were believed at that time to have the properties of an elixir of immortality. By the way, mercury is the reason why scientists still cannot get into the tomb. A Han Dynasty historian mentioned that in the tomb, “a hundred rivers and also seas were created with the help of mercury.” Modern tests have shown extremely high levels of mercury in the surrounding soil.

19. Comparison of the sizes of the Titanic and a modern cruise ship



20. The world's first photograph, 1826



Inventor Nicéphore Niépce captured the view from the window of his estate inBurgundy, France.

21. Men's outfits in the Netherlands, 1900s



A typical men's suit consisted of woolen trousers with silver buttons, wooden shoes, a shirt, a jacket and a hat. The design and size of the hat depended on the region.

22. “Valley of the Shadow of Death”, 1855, Crimea



The famous photograph was taken on April 23, 1855 by Roger Fenton during the Crimean War.

23. Solvay Congress on Quantum Mechanics in Brussels, Belgium, 1927



This photo shows many of the world's greatest scientists. Among them are Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, Max Planck, Niels Bohr and Auguste Piccard.

24. Women of the Kayan Lakhvi tribe at St. James's Palace during a visit to London, 1935



The Kayan Lakhwi, also called Padung, are an ethnic minority living in Myanmar and Thailand. Their unique tradition is to lengthen their own necks using rings. Under the weight of the products, the collarbones shift and the chest shrinks. The result is the illusion of an unusually long neck.

25. At the beginning of the 20th century, Japanese physician and pathologist Fukushi Masaichi collected tattooed skin from dead people



His fascination with tattooing began from observing how the ink had a healing effect on lesions caused by syphilis. In 1926, he began to study the Japanese art of tattooing (irezumi). Carrying out autopsies on the bodies of the dead, he carefully removed the skin and looked for ways to preserve it. The doctor collected an archive of about 2000 copies. Part of his collection survived World War II.