Studying history is truly a fascinating pastime. However, despite the vast amount of material in textbooks, we can miss interesting facts. And there is nothing more vivid than old photographs that show the joys and horrors of the past.
1. Irena Sendlerowa (1910-2008) smuggled 2,500 Jewish children out of the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II
She was arrested in October 1943, but managed to hide the list of names and locations rescued children. After being tortured, she was sentenced to death, but the guards who accompanied her were bribed. On paper, the woman was listed as executed, but she continued to help children.
2. Marilyn Monroe visited wounded soldiers in Japan in 1954
The soldier in the photo had a broken back and was required to lie face down during the initial recovery phase.
3. 5-year-old Harold Whittles receives hearing aids and hears sound for the first time, 1974
4. Inuit teaches boy how to shoot a bow, circa 1920
5. Female students before the Islamic Revolution, Iran, 1971 year
6. Surgeon Zbigniew Religa monitors a patient's vital signs after a 23-hour heart transplant. Poland, 1987
The bottom photo shows patient Tadeusz Zitkiewicz 25 years later. He died in 2017, 30 years after the operation, outliving Dr. Religa. The doctor passed away in 2009.
7. A blind Muslim named Muhammad carries his best friend, a paralyzed Christian with dwarfism named Samir, Damascus, 1889
8. On August 23, 1989, the "Baltic Way" action took place in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia
2 million people joined hands and formed a human chain 675.5 km long. The protesters demanded independence from the USSR.
9. The O'Halloran Sisters. Armed with sticks and boiling water, they prevented officers from evicting their family during the Irish Land War in 1887
10. The last moments before the gas chambers of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Oswiecim
The photo was taken almost 80 years ago, most likely in late May 1944. A small child finds a dandelion in the grass and passes it or shows it to an older boy.
11. A severe case of syphilis in the early 1900s, before the discovery of penicillin
12. A father and son cry as they say goodbye to relatives who are boarding a ship to Buenos Aires in search of a better life during Spain's economic hardships
Photographer Manuel Ferrol took this photo in 1957 in the port of A Coruña.
13. The cast of Star Wars, 1977
14. The Amasunzu is a traditional Rwandan hairstyle that was once worn by men and unmarried women
The hairstyle indicated social status, and men who did not wear the amasunzu were looked upon with suspicion. Women showed that they were single and ready to marry.
15. Portrait of 10 Chiefs, 1891
16. Maori Woman with Her Son, New Zealand, 1890s
17. The Hand of a Radiographer at the Royal London Hospital, Showing the Effects of Radiation Exposure, 1900 year
18. Geisha getting her hair done, Japan, 1905
19. Bedouin mother from Saudi Arabia in 1948 year
20. Princeton sophomores pose for a photo after a snowball fight in 1893
21. Acrobat Luisita Leers, 1929
22. Lunch at a California school in 1942
Photo taken shortly before Japanese Americans (including this boy) were sent to concentration camps during World War II, a measure initiated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt under Executive Order 9066 after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
23. A couple, 1940s
24. A veteran at the Eternal Flame on the anniversary of Victory Day, 1966
25. The meeting of 13-year-old Princess Elizabeth and 18-year-old Philip at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, in 1939 year
26. Victorian Poverty, 1900
Seven-year-old Annie and one-year-old Nellie sit outside their London home. Their single mother, Annie Daniels, gave birth to ten children, five of whom died in infancy.
27. Then and now, 1970 and 2024. A family recreated the photo 54 years later in Salford, England
28. This is how passengers boarded the airships
This photo shows the British airship R101 in 1930.
29. A couple strolling on the beach, Netherlands, 1930s
30. An English miner having dinner with his wife after a long day at work, 1937
31. Parents take their toddler skating, 1930s
32. Mongolian Shaman, 1909
33. Cambridge Students in the 1920s years
34. Original Michelin, 1898
Michelin is white because rubber tires were originally gray/white. It wasn't until 1912 that carbon chemicals were added to make them black. The addition of carbon makes the tires more durable.
The brand began awarding restaurants with stars to encourage people to drive longer distances in their cars and wear out their tires faster.
The stars are rated as follows:
1 star: "A very good restaurant in its category."
2 stars: "Excellent cuisine, worth a visit."
3 stars: "An exceptional restaurant, worthy of a special trip."
35. Circus performer Miss Mara practicing, 1958