Barnorama All Fun In The Barn
These 40 rare historical photos capture unseen moments, revealing a side of the past that textbooks never showed—because sometimes, the most incredible stories are hidden in a single snapshot.
“This is Adolfo Kaminsky. After his mother was k**led by Nazis in 1941, he joined the French resistance at age 17. He spend most of World War 2 in an underground laboratory in Paris forging passports. He is estimated to have saved the lives of 14,000 French Jews. “I’ll always remember our biggest request for documents. 300 children in 3 days. It wasn’t possible. I had to stay awake as long as possible. Fight against sleep. The math was simple. In one hour, I made 30 fake documents. If I slept for one hour, 30 people would die. My biggest fear was making a technical mistake, any little detail that might escape me. On every document rests the life or death of a human being. So I worked, worked, worked until I passed out. When I woke up, I kept working. We couldn’t stop.” Kaminsky passed away in January 9th, 2023 at the age of 97.”
“This is Gerda Weissmann Klein. She spent three years in several different N**i concentration camps. In late January of 1945, Gerda and 4,000 other Jewish women were forced to embark on a 350-mile death march to flee the advances of the Allied forces. By early May, Gerda was one of only 120 women who were still alive. The rest—including several of her childhood friends—had died from exhaustion, starvation, random executions, and exposure to the elements. Gerda was one day shy of her 21st birthday when she was rescued by American soldiers. Weighing only 68 lbs. (30.84 kg), Gerda’s hair was nearly white and her clothes were tattered and crawling with lice. She hadn’t taken a bath in three years. She later recalled seeing the man who saved her life: “I stood in the doorway of that factory, and I knew that I was free. I saw a strange car coming down the hill, with the white star of the American army on its hood. Two men in strange uniforms sat in it, we gathered them to be Americans. One of the men came towards me, and I looked at him with incredible awe and disbelief that I was looking at someone who fought for us. Of course I was terribly frightened. I looked at him and said, ‘we are Jewish.’ There was a long paused, then he said, ‘so am I.’ It was the greatest moment of my life. He asked me to come with him, and he held the door open for me. He has now been holding the door open for 50 years as my husband.” Gerda married Kurt Klein (swipe left) in Paris and moved to Buffalo, New York where they eventually had three children and eight grandchildren. Gerda became a human rights activist and published her own autobiography titled, “All But My Life.” She is still alive today at age 97.”
“A Lego letter to parents from 1974. Here’s the letter transcribed: “To Parents The urge to create is equally strong in all children. Boys and girls. It’s the imagination that counts. Not skill. You build whatever comes into your head, the way you want it. A bed or a truck. A dolls house or a spaceship. A lot of boys like dolls houses. They’re more human than spaceships. A lot of girls prefer spaceships. They’re more exciting than dolls houses. The most important thing is to put the right material in their hands and let them create whatever appeals to them.””
“This is Dr. Eugene Lazowski, a Polish doctor who saved 8,000 Jewish people by creating a fake typhus epidemic in Stalowa Wola, a city in Poland that was occupied by the Nazis during World War 2. Here is an excerpt from the Chicago Sun-Times in 2006 about how Lazowski risked the N**i death penalty in order to carry out the Hippocratic Oath: “When the Nazis overran Poland in World War II, Lazowski yearned to find a way to fight back, to protect human life, and he seized upon a paradoxical instrument of salvation—the German army’s profound fear of disease. While German industrialist Oskar Schindler, whose heroic story was told in the movie ‘Schindler’s List,’ employed bribes and influence to protect as many as 1,000 Jews who worked in his factory, Lazowski slyly used medical science to save the lives of thousands of Jews and other Poles in 12 Polish villages. He and a fellow physician, Stanislaw Matulewicz, faked a typhus epidemic that forced the German army to quarantine the villages.” Matulewicz discovered a bacteria strain that when injected into a person would cause them to test positive for typhus without suffering from the ill effects of the disease. Lazowski began to inject this bacteria strain into non-Jews because he knew that the Nazis would immediately k**l Jewish people infected with typhus. He then sent the blood samples to German labs. Once typhus was detected, the Nazis proceeded to quarantine the outbreak area. Lazowski kept track of how many “typhus” cases he was sending to the labs to make sure they actually correlated with how the disease typically progresses. The quarantine spared the lives of approximately 8,000 men, women and children from being deported to concentration camps. Lazowski kept his activities a secret, not even telling his wife. After the war, he moved to Chicago where he had to undergo more training to receive his medical license in the US. In 1981, he began working as a professor at the University of Illinois, eventually obtaining emeritus status. He passed away in 2006 at the age of 93.”
“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.”
“This is Irena Sendler, a Polish social worker and nurse who smuggled approximately 2,500 Jewish children out of N**i-occupied Warsaw. She entered the ghetto using a special work pass and would smuggle out children in the bottom of her toolbox and also utilize her burlap sack for larger kids. She also used ambulances and sewers to get them out of the ghetto. She was eventually caught by the Nazis and despite being tortured and having both her arms and legs broken, she did not reveal the names nor whereabouts of the children she had rescued. She was sentenced to death but managed to escape on the day of her scheduled e*******n after the Polish resistance bribed N**i officials for her release. She is quoted as saying, “Let me stress most emphatically that we who were rescuing children are not some kind of heroes. Indeed, that term irritates me greatly. The opposite is true. I continue to have pangs of conscience that I did so little.” All the children Sendler had rescued had only known her by her code name, Jolanta. Many years after the war, a photo of Sendler appeared in a local newspaper. “A man, a painter, telephoned me,” recalled Sendler, “‘I remember your face,’ he said. `It was you who took me out of the ghetto.’ I had many calls like that!” Sendler lived to the age of 98, passing away on May 12, 2008.”
“Frank Sinatra was a fervent anti-racist and an early activist during the civil rights movement. He refused to stay at hotels and play at clubs that did not admit black people. His band would also provide equal pay and treatment for black musicians. It was through his relentless and tireless efforts that Las Vegas quickly became integrated. In an interview in 2016, Frank Sinatra, Jr. had this to say about his father: “In the days when Las Vegas began to become popular, the black performers could play in showrooms, but they couldn’t stay in the hotel. And it was Frank Sinatra who went to the board of directors, who had rather shady pasts, and he said, ‘Are you guys going to come into the twentieth century, or aren’t you?’…Somebody said ‘Well, we have white people, we have black people.” Sinatra, the story goes, said to them, ‘The money is green. How about that?’ And they began to look at each other and the wheels were turning, and because of Sammy (Davis), Las Vegas became integrated.” Sinatra was also big-time supporter of Martin Luther King and helped him raise money to support the Civil Rights Movement by headlining fundraisers. In 1958, he wrote in Ebony Magazine: “A friend to me has no race, no class and belongs to no minority. My friendships are formed out of affection, mutual respect and a feeling of having something in common. These are eternal values that cannot be classified.””
“Neerja Bhanot was a 22-year-old flight attendant working on Pan Am Flight 73 when it was hijacked by terrorists during a layover in 1986. The terrorists quickly executed an Indian-American passenger and threw his body out the plane. They then instructed Bhanot to collect all the passports of the passengers onboard so they could properly identify other Americans. Bhanot instead hid the passports of the 43 other Americans onboard, hiding some under seats and throwing some others in the trash. After 17 hours of holding the plane hostage, the terrorists started to set off explosives and open fire. Bhanot managed to open the airplane doors and instead of fleeing and saving her own life, she started to guide the other passengers off the plane. She was killed while shielding three American children from a hail of bullets. A 7-year-old child that Bhanot helped protect went on to become a captain of a major airline, and he noted that she was his inspiration.”
“A photo from the Bush to Obama transition, 2009. Here’s an excerpt from a letter written by Barbara and Jenna Bush to Sasha and Malia. “…Sasha and Malia, here is some advice to you from two sisters who have stood where you will stand and who have lived where you will live: —Surround yourself with loyal friends. They’ll protect and calm you and join in on some of the fun, and appreciate the history. —If you’re traveling with your parents over Halloween, don’t let it stop you from doing what you would normally do. Dress up in some imaginative, elaborate costume (if you are like us a pack of Juicy Fruit and a Vampiress) and trick-or-treat down the plane aisle. —If you ever need a hug, go find Ramsey. If you want to talk football, look for Buddy. And, if you just need a smile, look for ‘Smiley.’ —And, a note on White House puppies—our sweet puppy Spot was nursed on the lawn of the White House. And then of course, there’s Barney, who most recently bit a reporter. Cherish your animals because sometimes you’ll need the quiet comfort that only animals can provide. —Slide down the banister of the solarium, go to T-ball games, have swimming parties, and play Sardines on the White House lawn. Have fun and enjoy your childhood in such a magical place to live and play. —When your dad throws out the first pitch for the Yankees, go to the game. —In fact, go to anything and everything you possibly can: the Kennedy Center for theater, State Dinners, Christmas parties (the White House staff party is our favorite!), museum openings, arrival ceremonies, and walks around the monuments. Just go. Four years goes by so fast, so absorb it all, enjoy it all! …Many people will think they know him, but they have no idea how he felt the day you were born, the pride he felt on your first day of school, or how much you both love being his daughters. So here is our most important piece of advice: remember who your dad really is.” ”
“Behind the scenes from the British television show, Telletubbies, which originally aired from 1997 to 2001. In real life, the Telletubbies were actually very tall. The oldest, purple Teletubby, Tinky Winky, stood at 10 feet tall (305 cm). The red Teletubby, Po, was 6 feet 6 (198 cm) inches tall. The yellow Teletubby, Laa-Laa, was 6 feet 5 inches (196 cm). The green Teletubby, Dipsy, was 8 feet (244 cm). The show was filmed on an incredibly large set to create the illusion that the Telletubbies were small. The location of the set was so secret that visitors had to be blindfolded. Eventually, word got out and it became known that a sloping hill on a private field in Wimpstone, Warwickshire in England was the home to “Tubbytronic Superdome”. After the show ended, tourists began to flock to the iconic set. The landowners became fed up with trespassers, stating that “it was never meant to be a tourist attraction. We had people jumping fences, crossing cattle fields and all sorts…” They ultimately decided to flood the entire set and it has now been underwater for nearly two decades. The set is now occupied by a family of swans and freshwater fish.”
“This is 23-year-old Bobbi Gibb in 1966, right after becoming the first woman to run the Boston marathon. A few months earlier, Gibb had received a letter in the mail, disqualifying her for the marathon. The letter stated that women are “not physiologically able to run a marathon.” The Amateur Athletics Union even went as far as prohibiting women from running more than 1.5 miles (2.4 km) and the organizers of the Boston Marathon did not want to “take the liability” of having a woman compete. However, the rejection letter only emboldened her. On the day of the race, Gibb showed up wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt over a black swim-suit and her brother’s Bermuda shorts. She hid behind a bush near the starting line and waited. When the starting gun fired, Gibb waited some more until about half the runners had passed. She then jumped in and blended into the pack. However, it wasn’t long before the men saw that she was a woman. To her surprise, she was not met with hostility, but with encouragement and support. She removed her sweatshirt and and finished the race in 3 hours and 21 minutes and 40 seconds, beating two-thirds of the runners. Diana Chapman Walsh, who later went on to become the President of Wellesley College, recalled that day many years later: “That was my senior year at Wellesley. As I had done every spring since I arrived on campus, I went out to cheer the runners. But there was something different about that Marathon Day—like a spark down a wire, the word spread to all of us lining the route that a woman was running the course. For a while, the ‘screech tunnel’ fell silent. We scanned face after face in breathless anticipation until just ahead of her, through the excited crowd, a ripple of recognition shot though the lines and we cheered as we never had before. We let out a roar that day, sensing that this woman had done more than just break the gender barrier in a famous race…””
“A member of the Harlem Hellfighters (369th Infantry Regiment) poses for the camera while holding a puppy he saved during World War 1, 1918. The Harlem Hellfighters was a regiment made up of decorated Black soldiers who fought as part of the French army because the U.S. did not allow Black soldiers to fight alongside white soldiers. The French accepted the Harlem Hellfighters with open arms and did not racially segregate them. During World War 1, they fought on the front lines for 191 days, longer than any other American unit. And as a result, suffered the most casualties of any American regiment—losing approximately 1,500 men. Despite the heavy death toll and the poor replacement system, the Harlem Hellfighters never lost a trench or a foot of ground to the enemy; none of them became prisoners of war. Not only were they one of the most successful regiments of World War 1, but they also helped bring Jazz to France. Upon returning home, the Harlem Hellfighters received a welcome parade in New York City; a privilege that was denied to them before they had left for war. However, the celebrations were short lived as the summer of 1919 became known as the Red Summer, in which the country saw some of the worst racial violence since the Civil War. The Harlem Hellfighters who dreamed of returning home to a place that would finally treat them with respect and as equal human beings, quickly realized that nothing had changed at all.”
“In 1973, Sacheen Littlefeather took the stage to reject an Oscar on behalf of Marlon Brando. She was given 60 seconds on stage to provide the following speech: “Hello. My name is Sacheen Littlefeather. I’m Apache and I am president of the National Native American Affirmative Image Committee. I’m representing Marlon Brando this evening and he has asked me to tell you in a very long speech, which I cannot share with you presently because of time but I will be glad to share with the press afterwards, that he very regretfully cannot accept this very generous award. And the reasons for this being are the treatment of American Indians today by the film industry – excuse me – and on television in movie reruns, and also with recent happenings at Wounded Knee. I beg at this time that I have not intruded upon this evening and that we will in the future, our hearts and our understandings will meet with love and generosity. Thank you on behalf of Marlon Brando.” She kept her full composure despite the boos and jeers coming from the audience. John Wayne had to be restrained by security because he wanted to physically a*****t her as she left the stage. Clint Eastwood mocked her by saying that he was presenting the award on behalf of “all the cowboys shot in all the John Ford Westerns.” Subsequently, Littlefeather was blacklisted by Hollywood and never worked in the film industry again. Nearly half a century later, Littlefeather will return to the Academy as a guest of honor on September 17, 2022.”
“This is a portrait of Spanish spy and double agent, Juan Pujol Garcia in his uniform as a lieutenant in the Spanish Republic Army. Up until the breakout of World War II, Pujol was pretty much a failure in all aspects of his life. He had failed at being a student, soldier, businessman, and cinema magnate. Not to mention, his marriage was falling apart. When the war broke out, Pujol approached the British three different times to work for them. When they turned him away, he approached the Nazis, and they accepted him (giving him the codename Arabel). Once he earned credentials working as a N**i spy, he approached the Allies again, this time getting a job as a double agent (codenamed Garbo). He began to feed the Nazis a combination of misinformation that was true but useless. Any high-value information always got to the Nazis just a little too late. He even started a spy network consisting of 27 sub-agents. However, in reality, none of them existed. They were completely made up. Nevertheless, he submitted expense reports for them and the Nazis paid their salaries. At one point, Pujol had to explain why some high-value information got to the Nazis late. He told them that one of his spies had died and even managed to get the Nazis to pay pension to the imaginary spy’s imaginary wife for her loss. Not only did his false information get the Nazis to waste millions of dollars, but he was also instrumental in convincing the Nazis that the attacks on D-Day were just a diversion, and the real attack was yet to come, keeping vital resources away from the front lines. Pujol is one of the only people to ever get an Iron Cross from the Nazis (which required Hitler’s personal authorization, since he wasn’t a soldier) and an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) from King George VI After the war, Pujol feared that he would be hunted by surviving Nazis. In 1949, with the help of MI5, Pujol travelled to Angola where he faked his own death from malaria. He then moved to Lagunillas, Venezuela, where he set up a small bookstore and gift shop, living in anonymity until his death in 1988.”
“This is a photo of Hachikō, a Japanese Akita dog remembered for his unwavering loyalty to his owner. Hachikō belonged to Professor Eizaburo Ueno who lived in Shibuya and taught at Tokyo Imperial University during the early 1920s. Every day, Ueno would walk to Shibuya Station with Hachikō and take the train to work. Once he was done for the day, he would take the train back and return to the station at precisely 3 PM. Hachikō would always be there waiting patiently to accompany the professor home. One day, Ueno suffered a stroke and never arrived at the station. Hachikō went to the station every day for 9 years until his death in 1935.”
“French knife grinders were called ventres jaunes (“yellow bellies” in English) because of the yellow dust that would be released from the grinding wheel. This photo from 1902 shows the workers on their stomachs in order to save their backs from being hunched all day. They were also encouraged to bring their dogs to work to keep them company and also act as mini heaters by having them rest on their owners’ legs.”
“For a small amount of perspective at this moment, imagine you were born in 1900… Then on your 14th birthday, World War I starts, and ends on your 18th birthday. 22 million people perish in that war, including many of your friends who volunteered to defend freedom in Europe. Later in the year, a Spanish Flu epidemic hits the planet and runs until your 20th birthday. 50 million people die from it in those two years. Yes, 50 million. On your 29th birthday, the Great Depression begins. Unemployment hits 25%, the World GDP drops 27%. That runs until you are 38. The country nearly collapses along with the world economy. If you were lucky, you had a job that paid $300 a year, a dollar a day. When you turn 39, World War II starts. You aren’t even over the hill yet, but don’t try to catch your breath. If you lived in London, England or most of continental Europe, bombing of your neighborhood, or invasion of your country by foreign soldiers along with their tank and artillery was a daily event…Between your 39th and 45th birthday, 75 million people perish in the war. At 50, the Korean War starts. 5 million perish. At 55 the Vietnam War begins and doesn’t end for 20 years. 4 million people perish in that conflict. On your 62nd birthday there is the Cuban Missile Crisis, a tipping point in the Cold War. Life on our planet, as we know it, could have ended. Sensible leaders prevented that from happening. In 2020, we have the COVID-19 pandemic. Thousands have died; it feels pretty dangerous; and it is. Now think of everyone on the planet born in 1900. How do you think they survived all of the above? When you were a kid in 1965, you didn’t think your 65-year-old grandparents understood how hard school was, and how mean that kid in your class was. Yet they survived through everything listed above. Perspective is an amazing art. Refined as time goes on, and very enlightening. So, let’s try and keep things in perspective. Let’s be smart, we are all in this together. Let’s help each other out, and we will get through all of this.”
“Advice on marriage written in a pamphlet by a suffragette in 1918. It is currently on display at the Pontypridd Museum in Wales, 1918”
“Perfectly preserved Roman mosaic floor discovered under a vineyard, just 12 kilometers outside of Verona, Italy. The multi-colored tiles likely date to the 3rd century A.D. These photos were posted on the town’s Facebook page (Comune di Negrar di Valpolicella) with the following caption (translated from Italian): “After countless decades of failed attempts, part of the floor and foundations of the Roman villa located north of Verona, discovered by scholars a century ago, has finally been brought to light…The superintendent will now liaise with the owners of the area and municipality to identify the most appropriate ways of making this archaeological treasure, which has always been hidden beneath our feet, available and accessible.””
“Frida Kahlo takes a family photo, wearing a 3-piece suit and holding a cane, 1924. Nearly 30 years later, in 1953, she writes a letter to Diego Rivera as she awaits surgery to amputate one of her legs. “I’m writing this letter from a hospital room before I am admitted into the operating theatre. They want me to hurry, but I am determined to finish writing first, as I don’t want to leave anything unfinished. Especially now that I know what they are up to. They want to hurt my pride by cutting a leg off. When they told me it would be necessary to amputate, the news didn’t affect me the way everybody expected. No, I was already a maimed woman when I lost you, again, for the umpteenth time maybe, and still I survived. I am not afraid of pain and you know it. It is almost inherent to my being, although I confess that I suffered, and a great deal, when you cheated on me, every time you did it, not just with my sister but with so many other women. How did they let themselves be fooled by you?” “…Let’s not fool ourselves, Diego, I gave you everything that is humanly possible to offer and we both know that. But still, how the hell do you manage to seduce so many women when you’re such an ugly son of a b***h?” The reason why I’m writing is not to accuse you of anything more than we’ve already accused each other of in this and however many more bloody lives. It’s because I’m having a leg cut off (damned thing, it got what it wanted in the end). I told you I’ve counted myself as incomplete for a long time, but why the f**k does everybody else need to know about it too? Now my fragmentation will be obvious for everyone to see, for you to see… That’s why I’m telling you before you hear it on the grapevine…” “…I’m writing to let you know I’m releasing you, I’m amputating you. Be happy and never seek me again. I don’t want to hear from you, I don’t want you to hear from me. If there is anything I’d enjoy before I die, it’d be not having to see your f*****g horrible b*****d face wandering around my garden. That is all, I can now go to be chopped up in peace. Good bye from somebody who is crazy and vehemently in love with you, Your Frida””
“This ring was found on a woman who was buried approximately 1,200 years ago in Birka, an ancient Viking city located 30 km (19 miles) west of contemporary Stockholm, Sweden. What makes this ring special is that it is inscribed with the words “for Allah” in Kufic Arabic, which was widely used between the 8th and 10th centuries. The ring provides evidence of the direct contact between Vikings and the Abbasid Caliphate, the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. I proceeded to go down a rabbit hole of various Arab travelers and the extent to which they traveled and explored the pre-modern world. The explorer who traveled the most in pre-modern history was a Muslim Moroccan explorer by the name of Ibn Battuta who is believed to have traversed 117,000 km (72,000 miles). He is followed by Chinese explorer Zheng He who traveled 50,000 km (30,000 miles) and Marco Polo who traveled 24,000 km (15,000 miles). I particularly love the original title of Ibn Battuta’s travelogue: “A Masterpiece to Those Who Contemplate the Wonders of Cities and the Marvels of Travelling” (تحفة النظار في غرائب الأمصار وعجائب الأسفار). His work was later renamed to “The Travels” (الرحلة). Ibn Battuta never really set out to be a world traveler. He was bit by the travel bug when as a 21 years old, he embarked on a pilgrimage to Mecca, which typically lasted 16 months during his time. However, Ibn Battuta would not set foot in Morocco again for 24 years. “I set out alone, having neither fellow-traveller in whose companionship I might find cheer, nor caravan whose part I might join, but swayed by an overmastering impulse within me and a desire long-cherished in my bosom to visit these illustrious sanctuaries. So I braced my resolution to quit my dear ones, female and male, and forsook my home as birds forsake their nests. My parents being yet in the bonds of life, it weighed sorely upon me to part from them, and both they and I were afflicted with sorrow at this separation.””
“A Japanese couple poses for a selfie, 1920s. I dug a bit further to see if I could find more information about the couple. All I was able to come across was an article written by Hamish Campbell, a fine art and commercial photographer based in Tokyo, Japan. In 2014, he came across an abandoned home that was built in the Taisho Era of Japan (1912-1926). The last time it housed residents was some time in the 70s or 80s. On the second floor, he discovered a closet that was transformed into a dark room and inside were “over 200 glass plate negatives taken by a photographer almost 100 years ago.” That photographer is the man you see in the photo above. Campbell writes, “These plates offer us an unprecedented look into the lives of the man and family who once lived in this house. We see the house’s construction, the photographer’s wedding, neighboring friends and family, and all manner of daily vignettes featuring recurring characters including a pet monkey.” The search for any living direct descendants is still ongoing, so if anyone has more information about the individuals in the photo above, please let me know. ”
“Abolitionist Fredrick Douglass was the most photographed American of the 19th century. He never smiled in a single photo in order to counter the notion of a happy s***e. Born in 1817 in Maryland, Douglass was enslaved from birth. At age 12, he learned the alphabet from the slaveholder’s wife, however, his lessons were soon discontinued on the belief that it would foster a desire for freedom. But it was already too late. Douglass continued to learn from white children and others in his neighborhood. He began to read newspapers and devoured any books he could get his hands on. Soon he began teaching others how to read and write. More than 40 people would attend his secret lessons until it was broken up by an angry white mob. At age 16, Douglass was made to work for a brutal s***e master by the name of Edward Covey, who was known as a “s***e-breaker”. He whipped Douglass so regularly that his wounds didn’t have time to heal. The beatings were so bad it broke his body, soul, and spirit. One day, Douglass could not take it anymore and fought back and won. Covey could have had Douglass killed but he didn’t want to risk his reputation. He never tried to beat him again. In 1838, after several failed attempts, Douglass managed to escape slavery by boarding a north-bound train and taking it all the way to New York City. A year prior to his escape, he had met a woman by the name of Anna Murray who was a free black woman living in Baltimore. He fell in love with her and she in turn helped him escape by providing him a sailor’s uniform, part of her savings to pay for travel expenses, identification papers and protection papers. Douglass later wrote about seeing New York City for the first time: “A new world had opened upon me. If life is more than breath, and the ‘quick round of blood,’ I lived more in one day than in a year of my s***e life…I felt as one might feel upon escape from a den of hungry lions.'” Murray soon followed, and 11 days later, the two were married by a black Presbyterian minister. They remained married for 44 years until her death in 1882. Source: Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom (2018) by David W. Blight”
“Two childhood friends meet during a protest. One is a factory worker, the other is a riot officer. Guy Burmieux and Jean-Yvon Antignac were childhood friends but they chose different paths in life. On April 6, 1972 in Brittany, France, Guy was part of a protest to get better working conditions. Jean-Yvon and other riot officers were called in to quell the protestors. Guy remembers the moment: “I was part of the core of rebellious workers…We spent the night there, drinking coffee upon coffee. In the morning, the atmosphere was electric. After the police officers, the anti-riot police, it was the officers of the [Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité 13] which emerged suddenly. There I found Jean-Yvon!” The photographer, Jacques Gourmelen, captured the moment when the two met face-to-face. Gourmelen, described what he saw: “I took the photo on instinct. Guy had recognized his old friend and classmate. I saw Guy going toward his old friend and grab him by the collar. Guy yelled with rage and told him, ‘Go ahead and hit me while you’re at it!’ The other one didn’t move a muscle.””
“Acrobats in Paris, 1896. The footage depicts the the Kremos who were a family of acrobats. The original troupe was formed in 1880 by Josef Kremos who hailed from Czechoslovakia when it was still part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Josef married an Austro Hungarian equestrienne by the name of Franzisca Allinger and together they had 13 children, 12 of whom would eventually join the family acrobat business. The hardest trick (which was mastered by 3 of their children) was the triple somersault from their father’s feet. The family legacy lives on with Kris Kremo (born in 1951) who is the third generation to perform and has continued the tradition well into the 21st century. His latest performance dates back to 2019. You can watch his amazing juggling skills on YouTube.”
“Joaquin Phoenix, New York, 1996. Photo by @georgeholzofficial “Joaquin had this nervous energy; I had all these set ups in mind but I realised right away he wasn’t the kind to sit still for a photograph. I threw all my ideas to the wind and we totally shifted gears. He went into the kitchen and there were all these dirty dishes stacked up. He said: ‘Man, these need a wash!’ and he put on an apron and just started scrubbing. In these kinds of situations being a photographer is a bit like being a boxer – you’re grabbing things. Joaquin definitely gave it to the camera but you had to catch it.””
“A forgotten age of open air classrooms in the Netherlands, 1957. The open air school movement originated in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century to help sickly children. Classes were taught in the middle of the forest—far away from urban centers—with the belief that good ventilation, clean air and sunlight contributed to the overall physical and mental well-being of the students. The schools were also built with the specific purpose of combatting tuberculosis (TB), an infectious disease which typically attacks the lungs. TB is spread through the air when an infected individual coughs, spits, speaks, or sneezes. TB has existed since ancient times. Scientists have discovered evidence of the disease in the remains of a 17,000-year-old Bison discovered in Wyoming. The remains of prehistoric humans and even Egyptian mummies from 5,000 years ago have displayed evidence of having had TB. In the 1800s, TB was one of leading causes of death in Europe, but by the mid 20th century, mortality rates had dropped considerably thanks to improvements in sanitation and other public health measures. The introduction of the Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine in 1921 and the development of antibiotics helped curb the mortality rate even further. Today TB is curable and preventable. Despite this, it still killed 1.5 million people in 2018 and is one of the top 10 causes of death according to the World Health Organization (WHO).”
“Prisoners Exercising (1890) by Vincent van Gogh. In 1888, Van Gogh, who was suffering from severe bouts of depression, cut his own ear off after getting in a fight with fellow artist Paul Gauguin. Others have stipulated that it might have been Gaugin who had cut off his ear during the scuffle, knowing that no one would believe the mad artist. A few months later after the incident, Van Gogh voluntarily committed himself to an asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. It was during this time that he wrote, “Sometimes moods of indescribable anguish, sometimes moments when the veil of time and fatality of circumstances seemed to be torn apart for an instant.” Since the asylum limited him to the outside world, Van Gogh began to paint copies of works made by other artists. One of those works was Gustave Doré’s 1872 engraving of Newgate prison yard in London. (swipe left). The painting shows a group of prisoners walking in circles around a small prison yard that is surrounded by brick walls. The prisoners walk past the guards so they would remember their faces. It has been suggested that the face of the prisoner in the center of the painting looking outward is Van Gogh himself. In the last two years of his life, Van Gogh averaged approximately three paintings a week. In total, he produced 900 paintings during a 10 year career, making him one of the most prolific artists to have ever lived.”
“On March 18, 1944, 27-year-old Aimo Koivunen and his Finnish ski unit were patrolling Lapland (northernmost region of Finland that is part of the Arctic Circle) when they came under attack by Soviet forces. They soon found themselves surrounded by the numerically superior Soviets and had no choice but to retreat as quickly as possible through deep, untouched snow. Koivunen led the way, but soon found himself physically drained. He then remembered that he was carrying a package of Pervitin, an earlier version of crystal m**h that was used as a stimulant during World War 2. Popping one of these pills was equivalent to drinking several cups of coffee. It just so happened that Koivunen was carrying the entire supply of Pervitin for his unit. Koivunen struggled to pop a single pill into his mouth because he was wearing thick gloves and was still skiing like a madman to escape the Soviets. Since he could not risk slowing down, he decided to consume all 30 pills of pure m*thamphetamine. He noticed the effects right away. His exhaustion faded and he began to ski faster and faster. The Soviets were unable to keep up and his own unit disappeared behind him. Suddenly, Koivunen’s vision began to blur and he lost all consciousness. When he awoke, he was completely alone and had covered 100 kilometers (62 miles). He was still h*gh with no food or ammunition. His only chance of survival was to keep skiing. He had no idea where his unit was, but he knew the Soviets were still on his trail. During the next few days, Koivunen came across Soviet forces several times, but managed to escape each time. He even skied over a landmine, which exploded and left him badly injured and delirious, but not enough to k**l him. Drifting in and out of consciousness, Koivunen knew that he would quickly perish if he fell asleep for too long in sub-zero temperatures. He needed to keep skiing. Koivunen managed to finally make it back to safety after having traveled a total of 400 kilometers (250 miles). He weighed only 94 pounds, and his heart rate was still pumping at 200 beats per minute. He lived until the age of 71 and passed away in 1989.”
“The extremely detailed right hand of Michaelangelo’s Statue of David that he created from 1501 to 1504. The statue was made from a single 6-ton slab of marble that had previously been discarded by two other sculptors due to flaws. The marble laid outside, exposed to the elements for 26-years before a 26-year-old Michaelangelo won the contract. He began on September 13th, 1501 and spent the next two years of his life carving out the iconic statue. The Statue of David stands 17 ft (5.18 m) tall and has an enlarged head and right hand due to the fact that it was originally supposed to be placed on the roof of the cathedral, so these parts had to be proportionally visible from below.”
“Salvador Dali cutlery set design from 1957. The set is comprised of six pieces made of silver-gilt. It includes two forks, two knives and two enameled spoons. Dali also took the time to name them as well: Fourchette-éléphant 3 dents (Elephant fork with three teeth) Cuillère-artichaut (artichoke spoon) Cocteau feuille (leaf knife) Fourchette 4 dents à manche poisson (Four tooth fork with a fish handle) Petite cuillère-artichaut (small artichoke spoon) Couteau escargot aux larmes (Snail knife with tears) The set sold for $28,125.”
“40 years ago today, Mount St. Helen’s erupted. This was a photo taken by D**k Lasher who was hoping to get a glimpse of the volcano before it erupted. Here’s some background info by Gary Cooper, friend of Lasher. “He pulled over and attempted to turn around seeing as the ash cloud was heading his way and fast. In his hurry he bent the forks on his motorcycle. He jumped out of the car and ran up the hillside to get some pics, thinking he might just die for it, and hoping someone would find the camera at least as it was a phenomomenal sight that filled the sky. The first picture he took was the one with the Pinto cocked in the road and the bent motorcycle still in the back with that HUGE cloud going up in the sky in the background. He made his way back down the mountain after being quickly overtaken by the ash cloud. He was completely blinded, and had to drive on the opposite side of the road steering by staying right on the opposite side of the road heading into oncoming traffic, but encountered nobody going up. The car choked out after a while and he rode his bent motorcycle out of the mountains back to the room he had rented. The next day as soon as he could, he rode his motorcycle back up into the now really hot zone with his camera to get what pics he could. He was well into the red no go zone, when a helicopter saw him, and came right down and landed in his path. He was surprised to be arrested on the spot and flown out in the chopper and to jail. They left his motorcycle lay on the mountain. They also kept him in jail for a few days without letting him call anyone or even plead his case. When he finally got out, he again went back up there, (Not sure how) and was able to get his motorcycle back and I think later his car as well.” ”
“Helmet graffiti during the Vietnam War. “A true war story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, nor restrain men from doing the things men have always done. If a story seems moral, do not believe it. If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie. There is no rectitude whatsoever. There is no virtue. As a first rule of thumb, therefore, you can tell a true war story by its absolute and uncompromising allegiance to obscenity and evil.” —Tim O’Brien, The Things They Carried I first read Tim O’Brien’s book as a freshman in college and soon became fascinated with the Vietnam War. I watched Platoon and Apocalypse Now and even took a history class on the Vietnam War. The one thing I’ll never forget was when the professor handed all of us a transcript of Ho Chi Minh’s speech that he gave in central Hanoi in 1945, 20 years prior to the U.S. invasion. His speech began: “‘All men are created equal. They are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among them are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.’ This immortal statement was made in the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America in 1776. In a broader sense, this means: All the peoples on the earth are equal from birth, all the peoples have a right to live, to be happy and free. The Declaration of the French Revolution made in 1791 on the Rights of Man and the Citizen also states: ‘All men are born free and with equal rights, and must always remain free and have equal rights.’ Those are undeniable truths. Nevertheless, for more than eighty years, the French imperialists, abusing the standard of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, have violated our Fatherland and oppressed our fellow-citizens. They have acted contrary to the ideals of humanity and justice.””
“The RMS Queen Elizabeth pulling into New York with service men returning home after the end of World War 2, 1945. She was able to carry 15,000 people at a time, including 900 crew members.The trip from The British isles to the east coast of the United States usually took 5 to 7 days. During her service in World War 2, the RMS Queen Elizabeth transported more than 750,000 troops, and sailed a total of 500,000 miles (800,000 km).”
“Operation Babylift was a mass evacuation of orphaned children from Vietnam to the United States and other countries such as France, Austria, West Germany at the end of the Vietnam War. In total, approximately 3,300 children were airlifted out of the country from April 3-26, 1975. On April 4, 1975, 250 orphans and 78 crew members were picked up by a C-5 cargo plane from Tan Son Nhut Airport at 4pm. 12 minutes into the flight, an explosion occurred on the lower rear fuselage, which caused rapid decompression. The crew attempted to turn the plane around and make an emergency landing at the airport, but crashed in a nearby rice patty and skidded for a quarter of a mile. The plane broke up into four parts. Of the 328 onboard, 175 survived. “I will never forget that day. It’s as fresh to me right now as it was the day it happened,” said flight nurse and first lieutenant Regina Aune. We put them in little groups and we secured them to the floor of the aircraft, with cargo tie-down straps and litter straps and blankets and pillows and whatever we could to kind of secure them to the floor. I remember thinking, this plane is crashing, and I am going to live through it, and I have to figure out how to take care of everybody once we finally come to a complete stop.” Aune indeed survived the crash and her first instinct was to wade through the waist deep mud to look for the children and any other survivors. After helping carry 149 children to safety, Aune approached the rescue team and said, “Sir, I request to be relieved of my duties since my injuries prevent me from carrying on.” She then passed out and was later treated at a hospital in Saigon where she learned that she had cuts all over body and suffered from a broken foot, a fractured leg, and a broken bone in her back.”
“The worn down steps of the Great Wall of China. If you ever have a chance to visit the Great Wall of China, you will quickly realize that the steps are uneven and very steep, making them difficult to walk up and down. I remember having to use my hands to maintain my balance. While time has certainly taken its toll, the stairs were deliberately designed with varying heights so that unsuspecting invaders who were unfamiliar with the wall would trip or fall, ultimately slowing them down. Some other interesting facts that I learned about the Great Wall of China is that it is not one single wall. It is actually a series of walls with some parts in North Korea and Mongolia. If all the walls were connected and straightened out to actually make one giant wall, it would be equivalent to 1.8 times the diameter of the earth. The diameter of the earth is 7,456 miles (12,000 km), whereas the Great Wall of China is 13,170 miles (21,196 km) long. And contrary to popular belief, the Great Wall of China cannot be seen from space!”
“21-year-old Yves Saint Laurent at Christian Dior’s funeral, 1957. I thought this was a cool photo and was going to write about YSL and his relationship with Dior, but it was quite a short one that can be easily summed up in YSL’s own words, “Dior fascinated me. I couldn’t speak in front of him. He taught me the basis of my art. Whatever was to happen next, I never forgot the years I spent at his side.” More interestingly, I did discover that Christian Dior had a younger sister named Catherine (swipe left) who was part of the French resistance during World War 2. In 1944, she was captured by the Gestapo and tortured. She was then sent to Ravensbrück and Buchenwald concentration camps, surviving both places before being liberated near Dresden in 1945. When Catherine returned to Paris, Christian barely recognized her because she had lost so much weight. She was too sick to eat the welcome feast he had prepared for her. Catherine went on to testify against the Nazis and won several awards for her acts of resistance, including the Legion of Honour, the highest French order of merit. Christian Dior named his first perfume— Miss Dior—after his little sister. Catherine was also in attendance at her brother’s funeral but I could not find any photos of her from that day. She shunned the spotlight, but I thought her story was worth sharing. Catherine lived until the age of 90 and passed away in 2008.”
“The underground city of Derinkuyu (located in central Turkey) was built in the 8th – 7th centuries BCE and reaches a depth of 200 feet (60 m). At one point it sheltered as many as 20,000 people. It is the largest of the 200 underground cities discovered in Cappadocia, Turkey. The hidden city went 18 stories underground and was built with ventilation to provide fresh air and shafts to provide water to its inhabitants. Derinkuyu also had space for stables, storage rooms, chapels, guest rooms as well as a winery. While there are debates regarding who built Derinkuyu, most scholars believed it was the Phrygians, an Indo-European people that carved up the city in volcanic rock. However, as the Phrygians’ power waned under the Roman Empire and their language slowly became extinct, Derinkuyu eventually came to be occupied by Greek Christians seeking refuge from war and persecution. By the Byzantine era, Derinkuyu was fully expanded and was used as protection from the Arabs during the Arab–Byzantine wars (between the 7th and 11th centuries). In the 14th century, Derinkuyu sheltered its inhabitants from the Mongols. When the region fell into the hands of the Ottomans, Derinkuyu once again provided refuge from the Turkish leaders. In 1923, the underground city was abandoned when the Christian inhabitants were expelled from Turkey and relocated to Greece. In 1963, the underground city was rediscovered when a resident of the area found a mysterious room behind a wall in his home. Further digging revealed access to the tunnel network connecting Derinkuyu. ”
“A young couple by the Waterhen River in Saskatchewan, Canada in 1931. Photo by Paul Coze. When I first saw this photo, I felt happiness for the young couple. I zoomed into their faces and noticed their smile and gaze into each other’s eyes. I also noticed his sharp cheekbones, his hair braids, and the single feather, perched proudly on his head. I noticed the woman wearing a headband with what appeared to be some sort of flower in the front. I then wondered how their life turned out. Did they stay together? Did they end up having kids? Did they reach old age? My eyes then focused on the blanket wrapped around him and I could not help but think about smallpox. When I was younger, I remember reading in my history textbooks that the U.S. Army deliberately engaged in biological warfare by giving infected blankets to the Indigenous people. When I dug deeper into the topic, I was surprised to learn that while the U.S. Army did commit numerous atrocities, there is no evidence to suggest a widespread plot to spread smallpox via blankets. The story is said to have been spread by a University of Colorado professor who was later fired for fabricating version of events and falsifying sources. However, I was able to find one confirmed case of smallpox blankets being used deliberately for biological warfare. During the Pontiac War in 1763, a fur trader by the name of William Trent, who was a captain at Fort Pitt, wrote about his meeting with two Delaware people. He wrote, “Out of our regard to them we gave them two Blankets and an Handkerchief out of the Small Pox Hospital. I hope it will have the desired effect.” Trent submitted the invoice to the British Army, with a note mentioning that the items were “taken from people in the Hospital to Convey the Smallpox to the Indians.” British Army general, Thomas Gage, approved the expense.”
Credits: justhistoryposts.com