“Lost In History”: 50 Pictures That Might Change Your Perspective On The 20th Century (New Pics)
History is one big treasure box full of unforgettable moments, incredible people, encounters, places, events, incidents, you name it. But with time flying at the pace of a hadron collider, they easily slip under the dusty blanket of time and oblivion.
Thanks to this incredibly entertaining Instagram page titled “Lost In History,” though, many of these rare moments that got captured on camera were dug up from the past and brought to the present time. Dedicated to 20th-century people and culture, the account is sharing pictures with its 1.2M followers that illuminate history in this entirely new perspective.
Psst! After you're done reading this one, don't forget to check out our previous feature with more "Lost In History" pics.
This post may include affiliate links.
"My Parents On Their Wedding Day In 1964 And Then Again At Christmas 2021"
Simone Segouin, Mostly Known By Her Codename, Nicole Minet, Was Only 18-Years-Old When The Germans Invaded
Her first act of rebellion was to steal a bicycle from a German military administration, and to slice the tires of all of the other bikes and motorcycles so they couldn't pursue her. She found a pocket of the Resistance and joined the fight, using the stolen bike to deliver messages between Resistance groups. She was an extremely fast learner and quickly became an expert at tactics and explosives. She led teams of Resistance fighters to capture German troops, set traps, and sabotage German equipment. As the war dragged on, her deeds escalated to derailing German trains, blocking roads, blowing up bridges and helping to create a German-free path to help the Allied forces retake France from the inside. She was never caught. Segouin was present at the liberation of Chartres on August 23, 1944, and then the liberation of Paris two days later. She was promoted to lieutenant and awarded several medals, including the Croix de Guerre. After the war, she studied medicine and became a pediatric nurse. She is still going strong at 96.
I was dreading a gruesome death. So happy that she's still here! Amazing
Hattie Mcdaniel Accepting Her Oscar In A Segregated "No Blacks" Hotel In Los Angeles For Her Role In Gone With The Wind
Why is this so far down on the list? How was this ever allowed? Humans can be so awful to each other.
“Photographs bring history to life in an immediate and visceral way,” Lisa Yaszek, a Regents Professor of Science Fiction Studies at Georgia Tech, where she researches and teaches science fiction as a global language crossing centuries, continents, and cultures, told Bored Panda in a previous interview.
Yaszek explained how it’s different from exploring history through written sources. “When we read books, we get lots of detailed information about historical events: who was involved, where the event happened, what factors led to and resulted from it, and so on.”
German Anti-Nazi Political Activist, Sophie Scholl, Was Executed In 1943 For Leading Non-Violent Student Resistance Against Hitler
She was 21 years old. Her last words: "How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone willing to give himself up individually to a righteous cause. Such a fine, sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter, if through us, thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?"
Yet today, in the US, we see the White Nationalist and pro Nazi movement gaining mainstream momentum. With events like Kanye and Kyrie Irving publicly making Antisemitic remarks, Trump and the MAGA crowd climbing into bed with Pro Nazi groups and Elon Musk's version of Twitter giving the extreme Right hate groups a voice on a mainstream platform, the sacrifices made by this young lady and others like her are fading into history. Whether through design or plain stupidity, the Right's attack on education represents a real danger to progress and human decency. This danger is especially evident when guys like Kanye and Irving embrace a movement that views them, and all non-white races, as genetically inferior. It shows a remarkable ignorance of the evil Nazis represent.
It kills me to see people react to Trump as if he just came out of nowhere. He's a symptom not a result, and the causes of that symptom are so entrenched in our DNA, and have been for so long, I don't believe we have long as a country. The decline over the past forty years has been so stark, but in the past twenty it has become so very much worse.
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I am 51 yrs old, and am so sad that this is the first time I have ever heard of this brave young lady. She died hoping her death would be a catalyst for change.
Dozens of schools in Germany are named after her and her twin brother Hans, who was executed together with her.
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"Such a fine, sunny day and I have to go..." What a strong, powerful woman, lost too soon.
Her poetic choice of words hit me to the bone. ...and I have to go. Not, and I have to die. She was a remarkable soul.
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Two, her brother Hans fought the good fight with her and was also executed.
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True, but maybe also a lot to be proud of. Humanity produced this fine young woman, and many like her.
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I did a project on this in college- it was her, her brother and a friend of theirs and I believe a professor at the university they attended. It was called The White Rose resistance movement. They were all beheaded for their "crimes." They were heros. F**k the Nazi's and f**k all the ignorant fucktards that are following in their footsteps of intolerance now. Enough is enough!!
Fish And Chips (What I Say When I Wanna Curse): Beheaded?! Wow. I Would Have Thought Hung Or Shot. Makes Her Words Even More Courageous. What A Horror Show
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There's a play called The White Rose that tells her story. It's phenomenal
Heroics aside, she would fit right into the 21st century with her look
That was my thought too! :) I think she did time travel from this time to the past when the timeline was back then but had the future along the timeline, she comes from the fearless new generation we have now. Amazing!
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Such bravery one could only hope that we would have the same bravery in the face of such tyranny
In Germany, everyone knows her name. But its one of those times where her sex is the determinig factor for her popularity, her brother and his friends from university started the white rose the revolutionist group, which she later joined(after being a proud bund deutscher Mädel leader, the girls nazi union) so while she was definitively brave and good, she wasn't the one who started everything. Just want to honor the male fighters as well, who are often forgotten.
Greetings From Québec : Im Hoping You Arent Trying To Tarnish Her Name By Bringing Up The Fact That She Was Once Hitler Youth. People Tried To Do The Same With Joseph Ratzinger. Something i Always Found Disengenuous Seeing As (To My Understanding) Every Aryan Child Had To Serve A Minimum Amount Of Time Or There Were "Conséquences". Emphasizing The Fact That These Were Children Also Helps Remove The Burden Of Guilt From The Shoulders Of A Child When They Are Invariably Dragged Thru The Mud As Adults. As If Navigating That Environ As A Child Wasnt Horrifying Enuf. Every One Of These Kids More Than Made Up For Whatever Allégeance They May Have Professed Prior. Most Likely Under Durées And Im Most Definitely Bursting With Pride For Her Brother + His Accomplice And The University Professor Not To Mention Every Other Man And Quite Often Boys Who Sacrificed Everything They Could. Leonard Cohen's Song The Partisan Springs To Mind
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Horrific. What that amazing woman could have achieved if she had been allowed to live. Her words are so wise.
That's just silliness. It is not even comparable. Gain some perspective.
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The guy who sentenced her, Roland Freisler, was Germany's chief justice and a sadistic son of a b****. He flew directly from Berlin and overruled other judges because he had a "personal interest" in her. She was beheaded by guillotine. In 1945, Freisler was presiding the trial of another of his "interests", one of the members of the July Plot against Hitler. He was so keen to sentence the man that he refused to evacuate when an air raid started... and then a bomb fell in the building, destroying the court room. He was found crushed under a column, his hands still clutching the prosecutor's papers. Apparently, one witness commented: "God had passed His judgement."
Exactly. Funny How These People / Personalities Echo Thru The Âges. My Patron Saint Btw
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Intrigued In Québec: So Many People Forget That A.H. Was A Politician. A Leader Of A Bona Fide Political Party
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We need to remember her and her words and that courage is doing the right thing in spite of fear.
The wisdom, courage and prescience reflected in her last words is awe inspiring. For a 21 year old to have the courage of her conviction and put their life on the line for their humanitarian principles is absolutely incredible.
"such a fine sunny day and I have to go"... is making me cry 😥
Just goes to prove the two drastic human differences to war. In one a hero who is 96 today and the other who died at age 21.
She is a hero and her words are strong forever,…. If we choose to listen to them!
She is so right. Better die for a good cause, than to passively support evil.
Stirring words from a woke human being lost in sea of ignorant bliss.
Not All Good People Are Asleep And Dreaming
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Considering That She Resisted (And Was Eventually Beheaded By) The Real Deal?? Im Inclined To Think Sheed See Them As Something Akin To Kids Playing A Dangerous Game Of Dress Up. I Think Sheed Be Most Discouraged By Our Apparent Inability To Do What She + Her Brother And Their Comrades Did Especially Now That The Numerical Pendulum Has Swung The Other Way. I Think Sheed Be Amazed At What Weve Failed To Do Considering The Resources At Our Disposal As Compared To What They Contended With
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Could You Please Elaborate On This?? Im Quite Interested In This Post. Is There Something I Need To Know??
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We keep hearing about the 6 million Jews who died under Nazi rule. Nearly 6 million non-Jews also were sent to the camps where they died. Over 57,000 German citizens died at Flossenburg b/c they did not go along with what the regime demands.
Sad thing is she's not part of the history in any way I can remember being taught about anyway.
So, one of the shocking things here is people are the same. Aesthetics are similar bc we’re all the same species no matter time or space or trend. She looks like a male 00’s heartthrob.
The movie Swing Kids is about her & the Resistance group she was part of.
Sophie and Simone, come on Hollywood! Women have fought in so many wars . I myself was in The Women's Army Corps. My sisters are of the same bravery as these ladies. It might surprise you to find out how many women just pulled a 'Mulan" and went. I can site hundreds of women who have been honored to fight.
I won a history fair by writing about her. She and her brothers called themselves "The White Rose"
Read a bio about her. Amazing lady. Was beheaded if you didnt already know.
I read "Studenten gegen Hitler" (Students against Hitler) in German class in College. They were a group of students who formed an organization called „Weiße Rose“ (White Rose), They spoke out against the Nazi regime in 1942-43. Hans and Sophie, brother and sister were executed by the fascists.
Such a brave young woman, whose death was not in vain. Wake up psycho leaders! Haven't we gone through enough war already? Evidently not!
These days true “believers” hide behind masks. Mostly so they can behave appallingly with no repercussions. This woman was amazing.
There is a book by author Amanda Barratt titled “The White Rose Resists” which details the story of Sophie, her brother and the others who were part of that resistance and later captured and executed. Much research went into her amazing book. It’s definitely worth the read.
I have heard about her! She,her brother and some of their friends built a secret club/group thing.And spread pamphlets against the nazis.but they were spotted and reported.
What can someone that age now say the have done that is so very brave?
A brave young woman . God bless her sole and hold her in his arms .Amen
This Is A Photo Of Dr. Eugene Lazowski, A Polish Doctor Who Saved 8,000 Jews By Creating A Fake Typhus Epidemic In Stalowa Wola (Nazi Occupied Poland), 1943
Holocaust Survivor And The Soldier Who Rescued Her In 1944
During World War 2, John Mackay was part of the Scottish commando unit that rescued a group of prisoners from the Nazis as they were being marched from Auschwitz to another concentration camp. Little did he know that amongst the prisoners was a young Hungarian woman by the name of Edith Steiner. He would see her again at a dance, which was organized to celebrate the liberation. John asked a friend to ask Edith if she would dance with him, but she sent his friend back with the message that she would only do so if he asked her out himself. So John worked up the courage to go up to her and ask her in person, and she accepted. In 1946, they married and returned to Scotland where they owned and operated a small hotel in Pitlochry before retiring in Dundee. After celebrating their 71st Valentine's Day together, Edith passed away in June of 2017, just three weeks before their wedding anniversary. She was 92 years old.
“Sometimes such information can be vividly detailed and prompt us to imagine what historical events might have looked like in ways that make us feel more connected to them, but sometimes we are so overwhelmed with dry or technical details that we actually feel more removed from the event than ever before,” the professor explained.
An Iconic Image Showing Aboriginal Rights Activist, Gary Foley With A Sign Reading, “Pardon Me For Being Born Into A Nation Of Racists”, 1971
This Is Shavarsh Karapetyan, A Retired Armenian Swimmer. In 1976, He Had Just Completed A 26 Km (16 Mile) Run When He Heard A Loud Crash
A trolleybus had lost control and had fallen into a reservoir. It was 25 meters (82 ft) off-shore and had sunk to a depth of 10 meters (33 ft). Karapetyan immediately dived into the sewage-infested waters and managed to kick the back window of the trolleybus with his legs, despite zero visibility from the silt that had risen from the bottom. Of the 92 passengers onboard, Karapetyan pulled out 46 people. 20 of whom survived. The combination of cold water and the multiple lacerations from glass shards led him to be hospitalized for 45 days. He developed pneumonia and sepsis. While he was able to recover, damage to his lungs prevented him from continuing his career as a swimmer.
This Is Franca Viola, An Italian Woman Who Became Famous In The 1960s For Publicly Refusing To Accept The Twisted Tradition Of Marrying Her Rapist
Her father supported her. She went public with her story and got lots of support.
Yaszek argues that even when shot by the most amateur of photographers, these images have a unique effect on our modern minds. “These images of people living in and through various moments in history provide a sense of immediate emotional connection—we think, ‘wow, so that’s what it would feel like to experience that moment of history!’” Yaszek explained.
This Is Margaret Ann Neve At Age 110 In 1902. She Was Born In 1792 And Died In 1903, Making Her The First Proven Person In Recorded History To Have Lived In 3 Different Centuries
Lena Baker Was A Black Maid That Was Put On Trial For The Killing Of Her White Employer Earnest Knight For Trying To Rape Her
Though she claimed self defense, she was sentenced to death by an all white male jury. Her trial only lasted one day! Sitting in the electric chair, this is what she said: "What I done, I did in self defense or I would've been killed myself. Where I was, I could not overcome it. I am ready to meet my God''. She was executed on March 5, 1945 as the only woman ever executed in Georgia. She left behind 3 children. Her last words, along side with her picture are displayed near the now-retired electric chair at a museum at Georgia state prison in Reidsville. She was Pardon 60 years after her Murder.
Poor woman. Sentenced to death by an all white male jury, doesn’t surprise me.
Iranian Woman In The Era Before The Islamic Revolution, 1960
Interestingly, by looking at historical images, viewers may develop an emotional bond. “Once we feel an emotional bond with the people in historical photos and perhaps even begin to imaginatively empathize with them—we forge new intellectual connections to history itself, asking ourselves: ‘Why are the people in this photograph in this situation in the first place? What happened leading up to this photo—and what happened afterward?’,” Yaszek told us.
This Is 18-Year-Old Alice Roosevelt And Her Long-Haired Chihuahua Named Leo In 1902
She also had a pet snake named Emily Spinach who she would wrap around on one arm and take to parties. Alice was extremely independent and unlike many women of her time, she was known to wear pants, drive cars, smoke cigarettes, place bets with bookies, dance on rooftops, and party all night. In a span of 15 months, she managed to attend 300 parties, 350 balls and 407 dinners. A friend of Alice’s stepmom once remarked that she was “like a young wild animal that had been put into good clothes.” Her stepmom went a step further and described her as a “guttersnipe” that went “uncontrolled with every boy in town.” William Howard Taft banned her from the White House after Alice buried a voodoo doll (of Taft’s wife) in the front yard. Woodrow Wilson also banned her after she told a very dirty joke (sadly no record of the joke exists) about him in public. Her father, Theodore Roosevelt famously said, “I can either run the country or I can attend to Alice, but I cannot possibly do both.” Alice once told President Lyndon B. Johnson that she specifically wore wide-brimmed hats around him so that he could not kiss her. During an interview in 1974, Alice described herself as a “hedonist.” She died in 1980 at the age of 96.
Sussy, 1917, Sweden
Bob Ross With His Pet Squirrels, 1991
"Check it out, Sammy! I'm Bob's Moustache!" "For crying out loud, Cyril, You're nuts!"
In 1948, A Man Wore 30-Pound, Three-Toed Lead Shoes And Stomped Around A Florida Beach During The Night
The footprints lead people to believe that a 15-foot tall penguin was roaming their lands. He kept up the prank for 10 years, visiting various beaches. The hoax wasn't revealed until 40 years later.
The Indigenous People Known As The Huichol First Appeared In The High Highlands Of Central Mexico Some 15,000 Years Ago
According to their ancient traditions, both men and women would experience the pain of childbirth. This is how it would be done, the father would position himself on the rafters with rope tied around his scrotum while the mother would pull on it while giving birth.
Facial Prosthesis For A Wounded Soldier Of The First World War, 1916
My gran worked as a nurse in the UK during the late 20s in a hospital for returned soldiers, in the ward dealing with injuries like this.... A lot of them could never return to their families because their injuries were so horrific... Most Sundays she would bring my mum and my aunty to the hospital gardens to play, so the patients could watch from the balcony, and experience at least a trace of a normal life they could never experience ...... Still breaks my heart when I think of it, how much damage the human body can take and still go on.... My gran was my fkn hero!!
A Lion Walks Alone In The Desert
This is a 1925 photo of possibly the last Barbary lion in the wild before its extinction. It was taken by French photographer Marcelin Flandrin while he was onboard a flight on the Casablanca-Dakar air route.
Feminist Vandalism, 1970s
Sentiment still stands. Hands off our bodies. It makes me want to puke.
86-Year-Old Lao Huang, A Cormorant Fisherman Living In Yangshuo, China
Dolly Parton At Home In Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, 1960s
Studio Photos Of A Lesbian Couple, Early 1900s
Hanukkah In Kiel, Germany, 1932
There's a story behind that menora. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/19/world/europe/menorah-hanukkah-germany.html
Safety Standards In 1960s
So I have seen this one before. The angle of the picture makes it look super scary, but they actually are not that high off the ground.
On September 30th, 1956, During A Drunken Argument In A New York City Bar, A Man Named Thomas Fitzpatrick Claimed He Could Fly An Airplane From New Jersey To New York In Under 15 Minutes
To prove himself, Fitzpatrick left the bar, stole an airplane from a New Jersey airfield at 3am, flew without lights or radio completely intoxicated, and landed the airplane in the street in front of the bar.
Photograph Of Two Women Kissing Captioned "Um-M! That Kiss! Guess I Still Love You! Jus' Can't Help It!", 1930s
The Lovers Of Valdaro Were Two 6,000-Years-Old Skeletons Who Appeared To Have Died In A Lover's Embrace, Face To Face With Their Arms And Legs Entwined
Ryan Reynolds Back In 1983 Holding A Dead Fish... With His Fly Open
Office Life Before The Invention Of Autocad And Other Drafting Softwares
Prior to the release of AutoCAD in 1982, engineering drawings were all done by hand using different grade pencils, erasers, T-squares and set squares. Even after all the manual labor, if a change was required, the engineers and toolmakers had to start from scratch and make the sketches all over again. Nowadays, architecture designers and other drafters are mainly just clicking their mouse and keyboard and not hunched over on a giant desk wondering if any changes will be made to their final drafts.
If I could get in a time machine and go back to the age before computers - I wouldn't.
In 1938 Bruce Mozert Took The First Underwater Photos And They Are Brilliant
Bruce invented the world’s first underwater camera, and it was at Silver Springs, Florida where he would put his invention to renowned use.
In The Olden Days, Santa Claus Would Gather Up Naughty Children, Toss Them In His Basket And Whisk Them Away To The North Pole To Serve As His Slaves. That’s Where The Legend Of Santas Elves Came From
An Unemployed Lumber Worker And His Wife In Oregon, August, 1939. Photo By Dorothea Lange
In 1902, A French Company Decided To Make Playing Cards That Imagined "Women Of The Future"
Three Young Women Eat Spaghetti On Inflatable Mattresses At Island Of Capri, 1939
As one does on special occasions break out the spaghetti mattress and party.
To Appear Headless While Taking A Photo, Aka "Horsemanning" Was A Popular Way To Pose In The 1920's
A United States Soldier Holds Up A Giant Jungle Centipede During The Vietnam War, 1967
In 19th Century England, Wealthy Farmers Would Commission Paintings Of Their Cows, Pigs And Sheep As A Way To Flex Their Wealth And Status
Vintage Halloween Costume
I don’t care if it’s Halloween or not, lf I see this in the middle of the night alone at the street, I am willing sacrifice all my sweets to them
Former Beauty Queen, Miss Wyoming Winner 1973 Joyce Mckinney Being Arrested By Police After Kidnapping Mormon Missionary Kirk Anderson From His Church, Forcing Him To Be Her Sex Slave For 3 Days. 1977
3,000 Year Old Pair Of Pants Found In China. The Pants Were Discovered In A Tomb In Northwestern China
The Man In The Picture Is Dina Sanichar, Widely Believed To Be Raised By The Wolves
He was born in India and was found in the deep jungles of Uttar Pradesh by the hunters in 1872. They found him hunting alongside the wolves and noted that he was walking on all four of his limbs.
Mexican Actress Maty Huitrón Photographed By Nacho Lopez In 195
This series was one of the multiple social experiments of the Mexican photographer to understand human behavior. In this case, it was about seeing the average reaction to an exuberant woman, the model chosen was the burlesque dancer Maty Huitron, who would later become an eminence of the performing arts in Mexico. The impact was so provocative that Nacho López's photos were awarded in 1957 by UNESCO, and later exhibited in stations of the Paris and Munich Metro.
The Original Michelin Man From 1898. The Michelin Man Is White Because Rubber Tires Are Naturally White
Reese Witherspoon With Ryan Phillipe And Their Daughter On The Set Of Legally Blonde
Reese said in an interview in 1998 that she met Ryan at her 21st birthday party. She recalled the moment as embarrassing, saying she went over to Ryan when she was drunk and said “I think you’re my birthday present!”
Bonnie And Clyde's Last Kiss A Few Hours Before They Were Killed, May 23, 1934
Kate Middleton And Prince William's Post-Clubbing Taxi Pics From The 2000s
The Very First Miss Universe Pageant, 1952
Look at the exotic globe-spanning localities: Turkey, Norway, Great Britain,.......uh, Indiana?
Demi Moore On The Set Of G.i. Jane, 1997
The date is wrong, the first action movie starring a female as lead was the Hunger Games in 2012.
22-Year-Old Lana Del Rey (Then Performing Under May Jailer) Photographed In 2007
Discussing meeting her in the same year, record label-owner David Nichtern said “When she first came to us she was playing plunky little acoustic guitar, had sort of straight blonde hair, very cute young woman. A little bit dark, but very intelligent. We heard that. But she very quickly kept evolving."
Note: this post originally had 92 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
If Wandaluzt ( you can't reply to their comment) doesn't' like BoredPanda they should go back to Grinder.
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And certainly don't reflect "lost history" of the 20th century ...... Especially celebrity pics post 2000....
And yet some of those made the cutoff, while some of the actually historically relevant pics are in the culled section 🙄
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I wish I was allowed to create these types of posts. I've hundreds of history photos that are far more than a mere "here is someone you might have heard of, taken 2 years before they became mildly famous".
I think we may have a different view of what is 'interesting' and of 'historical relevance'. I'm thinking 'how they made the pyramids', but you're showing me Carol Smillie's bottom. I'm not against bottoms but there is a time and a place for them, and I don't think this is it.
Topic: Photos which give historical perspective. Top posts: Holocaust, judicial murder of a black woman, anti-Nazi gorilla fighters, rape survivor. Current photo on link: SWIMSUIT COMPETITION!!!!
Fun fact: on the contrary of many believes, there was homosexuality in the medieval ages, eventough this was heavily debated (main side against it being the church) there are pieces of literature and art found of a homosexual relationship. Plus over 40 different ethnicities have been found in medieval London
Superb scroll for me. Love pondering each photo and the historical questions as well as commentary they provoke.
If Wandaluzt ( you can't reply to their comment) doesn't' like BoredPanda they should go back to Grinder.
Load More Replies... And certainly don't reflect "lost history" of the 20th century ...... Especially celebrity pics post 2000....
And yet some of those made the cutoff, while some of the actually historically relevant pics are in the culled section 🙄
Load More Replies... I wish I was allowed to create these types of posts. I've hundreds of history photos that are far more than a mere "here is someone you might have heard of, taken 2 years before they became mildly famous".
I think we may have a different view of what is 'interesting' and of 'historical relevance'. I'm thinking 'how they made the pyramids', but you're showing me Carol Smillie's bottom. I'm not against bottoms but there is a time and a place for them, and I don't think this is it.
Topic: Photos which give historical perspective. Top posts: Holocaust, judicial murder of a black woman, anti-Nazi gorilla fighters, rape survivor. Current photo on link: SWIMSUIT COMPETITION!!!!
Fun fact: on the contrary of many believes, there was homosexuality in the medieval ages, eventough this was heavily debated (main side against it being the church) there are pieces of literature and art found of a homosexual relationship. Plus over 40 different ethnicities have been found in medieval London
Superb scroll for me. Love pondering each photo and the historical questions as well as commentary they provoke.
