This shot from WWII may look normal until you see the soldier on the left. He's smiling with a creepy smile, almost like he's staring past the cameraman (and at you). This look is evidence of shellshock.
Shellshock is a state of severe shock caused by exposure to active warfare, especially while under bombardment. It's quite clear that these soldiers went through a lot during their time on the front lines.
Some people love to spend their time exploring their urban environment, and it's clear to see why. They find interesting history just standing in time! Back before anyone got to space, it was the Russians vs. the USA.
This is a snapshot of some Russian space shuttles, likely left after the collapse of the USSR. The Russian government wasn't too happy about the photographer taking the picture and posting it on the internet.
Hollywood wastes no time when it comes to the sexualization of women. Here, Brigitte Bardot was just 18 years old when this photo was taken at the Cannes Film Festival in 1953. The French actress would go from being sexualized as a teenager until well into her adulthood.
Bardot's first exposure as a sex symbol was her appearance on the cover of Elle. Her first film role would be the comedy Crazy for Love, a small role that paid her less than $6K. For the Italian film, Mio figlio Nerone, she was asked to dye her hair blond, a look that would become her signature look for the rest of her career.
Behind every photo, there's a story and this photo has a ton of story, all leading up to drag racer Jungle Jim's untimely death in 1977 when his Chevy Corvette collided with a bus. He was just 31 years old when he died. Depicted in this photo is his Chevy Vega along with Jungle Pam.
Jungle Pam was Jungle Jim's sidekick, born as Pamela Hardy. He spotted her in 1972 while driving his Corvette. She was used basically as an object to get fans' attention on the track. She was usually featured braless and dressed in a manner that made her mere eye candy for racing fans. However, she did have her track responsibilities as well, packing parachutes and checking Jungle Jim's car fluids.
This is Lucille Chalifoux hiding her face in shame. In 1948, the Chalifoux family faced being evicted from their apartment because Lucille's husband was unemployed. Their children were six, five, four, and two. Lucille was also pregnant with another child, who was sold soon after.
Two of the children were purchased for $2. The two middle children, Rae and Milton, were abused by their "adoptive" family. It was so bad Milton was sent to a mental hospital while Rae completely disappeared.
What year do you think this photo represents? The 1800s? Nope. This was in Pennsylvania in January of 1911. As early as the 1900s, America used child labor for a variety of things. These children worked in a coal mine just to earn a few little coins for their families.
Every year, thousands of children died while working in farming, coal mining, chimney sweeps, and other jobs. That's almost like having 9/11 happen every single year. Child labor continued until 1938 when the first Labor Laws were put in place.
Marilyn Monroe was easily the most famous icon of the 1950s and 1960s. Unfortunately, her life was cut short in August 1962. She passed away from a suspected drug overdose, and the world mourned the loss of this bombshell.
These photos were her last photoshoot. Who would have guessed that she would have died soon after? It was 55 years after these pictures were taken that the photographer, George Barris, released them to the public.
Mental institutions were pretty awful back in the day. It wasn't hard for some people to be thrown in one, only to be forgotten. "Out of sight, out of mind." Those who had epilepsy and autism were frequently admitted.
Women could be admitted simply because their husbands wanted a "legal" divorce. The conditions were awful, and the treatments were even worse. Patients would be left standing for days on end. Others were left to live in their own squalor for months.
When people say, "things are the worst they've ever been," it's easy to believe until you see something like this. This woman is walking her child in a gas-proof carriage while wearing a gas mask. Why? World War II was quickly on its way.
The government saw WWII brewing and wanted its civilians to be safe. They handed out gas masks to everyone. It's a good thing, too. London was bombed in the Blitz from September 1940 to May 1941. What a terrifying time in history.
Oh, how times have changed! Sure, they have diners that mimic, but it isn't exactly the same. This one shows the perfect snapshot with the right colors and materials. The person who discovered this stated that it was somewhere in upstate New York.
Sadly, he had no idea why the place was abandoned. Plates are still on the counter, stoves dirty from being used, not-so-fresh flowers still in their vase, and prices still on the board. They likely bailed pretty quick.
Annelise Michel was brought up by a strict Roman Catholic family. Her classmates described her as "withdrawn and very religious." After a series of seizures, her family came to the decision that a demon possessed her.
Skip ahead to 1976, and Annelise had undergone 67 Catholic exorcisms in one year, which left her beaten, bruised, and extremely malnourished, which is what she died from at the age of 23. Annelise's parents and the priest were convicted of negligent homicide.
This photo can't help but weird us out. Here a grown teenage Ivanka Trump sits practically dancing in Donald Trump's lap at a Beach Boys concert in Palm Beach, Florida. It's creepy enough on its own but even stranger when you consider Trump's comments during his presidential campaign.
On the talk show The View, Trump remarked, "Ivanka posing for Playboy would be really disappointing… not really. But it would depend on what was inside the magazine…I don’t think Ivanka would [do a nude shoot] inside the magazine, Although she does have a very nice figure. I’ve said that if Ivanka weren’t my daughter, perhaps I’d be dating her.”
The film, Blitzmädels an die Front, is a fictional account of women serving alongside the Luftwaffe, based on the real-life women called the Blitzmädels. Having allowed the enlistment of women in the German army, the sexualization of these women was a tad on the nose as this photo reveals.
The film does an excellent job of exploring the prevalent misogyny during WWII by the enlisted German men. The women are continuously harassed and assaulted. As if the horrors of war were not enough, the added trauma of everything else that goes along with being a woman in the war undoubtedly made it even worse.
We've all seen a million images (and videos) of John Lennon, but you can see Mark David Chapman if you look closely at this one. Lennon is signing a copy of Double Fantasy, just six hours before Chapman would murder Lennon in front of his New York residence.
Chapman was furious with Lennon as he (and the Beatles) was publicized as "more popular than Jesus." He considered it to be blasphemous. After committing the murder, Chapman didn't run. Instead, he sat down and read The Catcher and the Rye. He remained there until NYPD officers arrived.
No one expected to wake up on August 4 (1962) to see that Marylin Monroe had passed away. She died at her Los Angeles home of a barbiturate overdose. In fact, they found a phone in her hand and a bottle of pills lying right next to her. Was this a purposeful suicide?
The last thing she ever said was, "Say goodbye to Pat (Lawford's wife), say goodbye to Jack (President Kennedy), and say goodbye to yourself, because you're a nice guy," according to Lawford. Some believe that she was going to leave President Kennedy, and he had her killed.
Halloween isn't what it used to be. Now, it's more-or-less about girls dressing up in skimpy outfits or children buying a costume that's far too expensive for what you get. Back in the 1900s…well, it was a lot different.
It was pretty terrifying. Could you imagine these little kiddos knocking on your door in the middle of the night? Yeah, no. I'd need to change my pants. The costumes aren't expensive, but they're more than terrifying.
Somewhere in the middle of Virginia, there are 43 busts of past presidents, all standing in a row, facing the same direction. Each one is around 20 feet tall and weigh as much as 22,000 pounds, so it's not like someone can swipe them (even if they wanted to).
It's definitely a sight to behold, though. The statues have become worn with time. They were once on display at Presidents Park near Williamsburg, but it shut down in 2010. It's incredible how fast the busts have broken down. Now, nature has decided to reclaim some of them for its own.
There are abandoned buildings all over America used for essential purposes like hospitals and funeral homes. Some of them shut down because of the cancer-causing Asbestos, while others ran out of money to stay open.
This one was an abandoned embalming room at the bottom of a funeral home. How many bodies laid on those tables? The worst part is that the remains of 50 individuals were left inside of this Philly funeral home, never to be reunited with their loved ones.
These are German prisoners of war that were captured during WWII. The war was terrible for everyone, but the worst part of it was certainly the concentration camps.
This is what the American soldiers showed the Germans. They're being shown a video of what happened in the concentration camps, showing them what they were fighting for. It clearly got the message across – loud and clear.
Action Park was America's most dangerous amusement park. Six people died at the park, with thousands more being injured. Guests today will state going to the park is like a "rite of passage." This was the Cannon Ball Loop, a ride that clearly wasn't designed by any kind of engineer.
People would go down the slide so fast that they would end up with gashes on their faces. Rumor has it that the first few teenagers lost their teeth. Following that, everyone came out with incisions. On inspection, the people were cutting their faces on the teeth from the previous riders.
Before Mayor Gaynor had a chance to get started, he was shot by James J. Gallagher. The man was an angry New York dock Night Watchman who had recently been discharged.
The bullet hit Gaynor in the neck. The photo is one of the most highly praised photographs in journalism as it captures moments after the attempted assassination. Mayor Gaynor recovered and lived for another three years with a bullet in his neck.
Dracula always seemed like a pretty scary story…at least until you hear about Countess Elizabeth Bathory. Back in the 1500s, it was believed that epilepsy – referred to as the falling sickness – could be cured by rubbing the blood of a non-sufferer on your lips.
Bathory took this idea and expanded on it. She thought torturing and bathing in the blood of women would help her epilepsy. Spoiler alert: it did not. Everything was fine until she started preying on royal children. Then, the parents had had enough and arrested her.
Abandoned hospitals are scary enough, and the last thing most people would want to do is go into the basement. Typically, the basement is used as a morgue (and is usually the most haunted location of any medical facility).
This one apparently still had a person lying on the morgue table and blood samples still waiting to be tested. Someone forgot to clean up before the place shut down! Actually, we're finding out that this isn't that rare of an occurrence…
At the time, this wasn't supposed to be creepy – at least, that's what I can assume. Looking back, it's pretty terrifying. First of all, it seems like a bunch of furries in a gang. Second of all, they're advertising cigarettes.
The photo was snapped in 1915. It was 25 years after that doctors discovered that cigarettes caused cancer. Considering they're advertising the cancer-sticks, hopefully, these cats have a few more lives left.
Why are all these people leaving the Magic Kingdom so early? The day is September 11, 2001. Disney World has a specific policy not to break the illusion no matter what, but there wasn't much they could do to keep guests unaware while shooing them out.
The Twin Towers had just been attacked, so cast members began ushering people out without telling them why. They were told not to say why unless specifically asked, mostly to keep everyone calm. The park was scared they would be targeted next.
This photograph was taken in the 1920s by a man named William Hope. This was a seance performed by a group of people. The picture is pretty spooky, right? We hate to tell you that the "ghostly" image below the table was superimposed (the 1920s version of photoshop).
What wasn't superimposed was the fact that everyone looked so morose and gloomy. Honestly, they look half-dead themselves. The people likely left that event scared out of their wits, and I don't blame them.
What happens when a child isn't given a chance to live and learn? Genie. Genie is the name given to a feral child who was abused, neglected, and socially isolated. It wasn't until she was nearly 14 years old (1970) that authorities rescued her.
Genie didn't know how to speak or understand people. Psychologists stepped in to teach her, but she was unable to learn a first language. By 1978, Genie's mother refused to let anyone do any more studies. Not much more is known about Genie from this point on.
There's no way to spin this one other than appalling. This is a human zoo where a little African girl is being held captive by white people. This wasn't an odd occurrence in the 1800s, especially in Europe.
The United States also had human zoos in the early 1900s. In 1906, a Congolese pygmy named Ota Benga was held on display at the Bronx Zoo. He was forced to carry around chimpanzees and other apes to adhere to the image of the "savage African."
If you're a history buff, you may know who Francis Bacon was. Bacon was a philosopher and a statesman that served as the Attorney General and as Lord Chancellor of England in the 1600s. He's often referred to as the father of "empiricism." Enough of the boring stuff.
This picture is one of the books he wrote. It looks like it's bound with nice leather, and you wouldn't be entirely wrong if you thought that. The binding is human skin. It isn't a common practice for obvious reasons, but it continued until the late 1800s. Where did they get the skin?
By now, we've all heard about the 1920s Spanish Flu pandemic (which, by the way, didn't even start in Spain). This disease wiped out 50 million people worldwide, with almost 700,000 from the United States alone. Basically, it mirrors what's going on in this day and age.
Just like today, some people refused to wear masks. This image shows a 1918 police officer scolding a man for not wearing a mask. It may look pretty calm, but police officers were brutal when it came to enforcing masks. They were known to shoot people and quarantine entire areas.
Pretty creepy, right? Nature has begun to reclaim this hostel that was once occupied by guests looking for a cheap place to sleep for the night. The tiles have been stripped from their place, and the walls darkened with soot.
The place was abandoned because there was a fire that destroyed most of the building. It had been 10 years since anyone set foot in the site, but this is what was left; nothing but a few walls, a chair, and the memory of what once was.
This photo looks eerie and rushed because it likely reflects the energy that was once in the room. This medical chamber was once used to perform illegal abortions on women who had no other choice. From 1897 to 1973, abortion was illegal, and that left women in a desperate place.
This image was taken from a 1940s hospital room. There's no way to record how many illegal operations were performed, but experts know death rates. In 1930, the highest was 2,700 – one-fifth of maternal deaths for that year. The next year dropped to 1,700.
The man in the picture is Joseph Goebbels. He was a German Nazi politician and Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany. In fact, he was also one of Hitler's bbfs. Hitler trusted him as much as he could trust anyone else.
This photo was snapped just after he discovered that the photographer was Jewish. The look of hate on his face and in his eyes is unmistakable. Just a few moments before, he looked happy and joyous. What a change…
Anne Frank is a historical figure that told us what it was really like for a young girl hiding in fear during one of the worst times in human history. In the attic, there were eight other people, including Anne and her father Otto.
Out of those eight people, the only one to survive was Otto. Here, he revisits and thinks back on the horrors that happened. Apparently, after the photo, the photographer and Otto embraced and cried.
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