26 Extremely Rare And Fascinating Pictures From History That Will Completely And Totally Change Your Perspective On The Past

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10-06-2025

Before airplanes were pressurized for commercial use, flyers had to wear oxygen masks at higher altitudes:
This picture is from 1939 and taken while 20,000 feet in the air.
During World War II, the USS Trigger got close enough to Japan on patrol to take a picture through its periscope of Mount Fuji:
This is from 1943. Fascinating stuff!
The Michelin Man not only used to be absolutely terrifying, but he used to run with a gang of several other musically inclined Michelin men:
Chet Baker is shaking.
Tourists in Egypt used to be able to climb on top of the Great Pyramid all willy-nilly:
Let's be thankful there are some stricter rules about visiting the landmark.
These gigantic contraptions are apparently one of the first life preservers ever made:
They're made out of mattresses but something tells me they aren't comfortable.
This picture, taken in 1942, shows a New York Times employee creating that day's layout of the Sports page:
"Boy, this Mort Cooper guy can really slang it."
This is selection of prosthetic face parts designed for World War I veterans:
Here's what one of those prosthetics looked like in action:
This is Australian javelin thrower Reg Spiers, best known for literally mailing himself in a big giant box from London to Australia in the 1960s:
Spiers was broke and needed to figure out a way home to his family, so he did what any person would have done: he posted himself.
This is the 5x3x2.5 foot box Spiers mailed himself in:
The journey took over two days. Spiers stuffed himself in the box with some "tinned food, a torch, a blanket and a pillow, plus two plastic bottles - one for water, one for urine." You can read more about the whole ordeal here.
This is frogman Courtney Brown towing a 55 scale model of the Titanic during the filming of the movie Raise The Titanic:
The movie was, well, about raising the Titanic from the ocean floor. Interestingly enough, because the movie was made in 1980, the wreck of the ship had yet to be found. That's why "the wreck" is in one big piece here.
Here's what the wreck of the model of the wreck of the Titanic looks like today:
Slightly worse than the one in the Atlantic, I'd say.
This is Robert Earl Hughes, the one-time world's heaviest man and his pet dog:
At his heaviest, Robert weighed over 1,000 pounds.
Eleven days in October had to be skipped after the Gregorian calendar was adopted in 1582:
A wise person on Reddit hipped the internet to the fact that if you scroll back in your phone long enough, you can see it for yourself.
Here's what gorilla's fingerprint looks like compared to a human's:
Gorillas: they're just like us.
This is what a whole bunch of wind turbines look like from way above:
Like they're floating!
This is a replica of what was apparently the world's largest polar bear, standing tall at 12 feet and weighing over 2,200 pounds:
That, and I don't say this lightly, is one big bear.
This is the crew of the USS Hunchback, taken in Virginia at the end of the Civil War. Unlike the army, the Union's navy was actually integrated:
I think I would have also been the banjo player during the Civil War.
This is what British World War I victory medal looks like:
Too bad there would be another Great War for civilization less than two decades later.
This is the first computer Apple ever developed:
It looks nothing like an apple. Not even like an orange.
This is a Corinthian helmet and the skull that wore it from the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC:
Chilling stuff.
This is what a pick-up truck from 1985 looks like compared to the behemoths that are modern pick-up trucks:
Poor l'il guy.
Owls have big ol' long legs:
Check out the gams on Birdie.
This is a list of the causes of death of everyone who died in London in 1632:
Me, personally? I'm dying from "Planet."
This was the scene aboard the ship The Queen Elizabeth as it brought soldiers back home to New York after World War II ended:
I hate to say it... but imagine having to use the bathroom? Nightmare.
And, finally, this is what Nicolas Cages' father, August Coppola, looked like:
Incredible stuff.