50 Weird History Pics That May Change How You See The Past

So, what really happened with the Miss Vampire America pageant in 1970? As Sacheen Littlefeather didn't come to LA to collect her win, the winner of the New Jersey regional, Christine Domaniecki, was declared winner instead. And it's the photo of her you can find on this list and the "Ethereal Fields" Instagram page.

The contest was meant to promote a new movie in the Dark Shadows franchise, House of Dark Shadows. As was promised, Domaniecki won a week's guest spot on the Dark Shadows TV series. 

The next year, the show's producers, in anticipation for another film Night of Dark Shadows, organized a Miss Ghost America pageant. However, since the prize was an appearance on the game show The Dating Game, the number of participants declined significantly.

The photograph of actress Anita Ekberg threatening a paparazzi might be a cool shot on its own, but it's even cooler when we consider the context and implications of that moment.

This shot was taken by photographer and 'king of paparazzi' Felice Quinto in Rome. He allegedly snapped a photo of Ekberg and a married movie producer kissing, prompting the actress to come out of her villa with a bow and arrow.

Quinto and another paparazzo didn't know that Ekberg was training for a role in The Mongols, and could shoot quite well. "We were getting on our motorbikes to leave, when Anita came running out of the house with a bow and arrow in her hand," he said later. 

In 1997, Quinto told ABC News that Ekberg struck his left arm and the other paparazzo's back a couple of times that night. Perhaps other celebrities ought to try this the next time modern paparazzi invade their privacy?

The photograph of the 1971 Munich hostage crisis definitely looks sinister, but some experts say that it changed the way the world thinks about t*******m forever. Four members of Black September, a Palestine Liberation Organization, took Israeli athletes hostage at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games.

As Dr. Ronit Berger Hobson explained to NPR, governments created new special forces to respond and deter hostage situations and attacks. Most never had them before, and these included West Germany, France, the U.K., and the U.S. 

The Olympics games were also changed forever: security budgets for subsequent games increased dramatically. The 1976 Montreal Olympics, for example, spent 50 times more, and China dedicated $6.5 billion on security alone for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The motto for most people on the Internet should be: check every source thrice. The case of the supposed photo of Mongolian Queen Genepil is a good lesson in how misinformation can spread online like wildfire.

The "Ethereal Fields" page notes that the picture they're featuring is not of Genepil, but rather of an unknown Mongolian noblewoman. Yet when it first started spreading online, it still made its way quickly through Facebook, Reddit, Twitter, and even Wikipedia.

The news agency AFP fact-checked this photograph with the British Library's Visual Arts Department, and their coordinate cataloguer Nicole Ioffredi said that there are no photos of Queen Genepil in their catalogue.

What's more, historians allude that it's impossible for Genepil to be in this photo. Professor of Mongolian history Christopher Atwood told AFP that Bogd Khan was not allowed to legally marry.

Genepil therefore could only be his consort, but in the photograph, she wears a headdress with 'horns,' an accessory only married women in pre-revolutionary Mongolia were allowed to wear.

Although the photograph might just be of a random Mongolian noblewomen, it's still pretty significant to us here in The West. Some fans believe that the outfits of senator Padme Amidala from the Star Wars prequels was inspired by this photograph.

The costume designers have admitted that Amidala's escoffiate headpiece was Mongolian-inspired. "We felt this headdress was worth the effort, weight and expense of having real gold," one of the designers Trisha Biggar explained.

Whether you find the medieval shame masks funny, terrifying, or just bizarre, it's probably the last thing you'd ever want to wear. These were mostly used in early modern Britain throughout the 1500s-1750s.

People would have to wear them as punishment for gossiping, nagging, quarreling, or simply being a nuisance. Called 'the scold's bridle,' the mask would have spike that would press down one's tongue to prevent them from speaking. These were mostly used on women, cementing once again that the Medieval times were not great time for the ladies.

Which one of these photographs surprised you the most, Pandas? Did you learn anything new today? Perhaps you know some interesting facts about more of these photographs and would like to share them with us? Don't hesitate and do so in the comments!

And while you're here, don't forget to check out our other articles about history, like this list of horrifying historical factsor these cool pictures from the 20th century!