If you consider yourself a history buff, you'll probably enjoy this collection of seldom-seen cool and contextualized historical photographs. From military history pics to snapshots of life back in the day, these flicks come with fun facts attached, that put you right into the world of the image.
The oldest photo in this gallery comes in the form of a late 1800s meeting between settlers and Canadian natives. It's rare to come across actual photographs of settlers and Native North Americans interacting instead of artist renditions, but this group photo lends an interesting perspective to it all. A different older photograph shows a gas or hydrogen balloon taking off from the Bremen gasworks. The exact date of the photo is ambiguous, with a large window provided, but it is possible that this balloon was flying during World War I.
A different photo shows the American soldier Rinaldo Martini posing with his M1 rifle, after the battle of Iwo Jima in which he won the Silver Star. Now a guy like that with a name like that is why they called them the greatest generation. Check out those three awesome pics and more in this gallery of fun facts and photos from way back when.
1
Prime Minister Winston Churchill at the controls of a BOAC Boeing 314A flying boat, 16 January 1942.
2
Aftermath of “Black Hawk Down,” 1993.
3
Street in the mill district in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1941.
4
Serbian men sit in front of a television set broadcasting the trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević. Milošević had been extradited to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia to stand trial for crimes against humanity, Kosovo, February 18th, 2002.
5
First Nations Treaty negotiators gather at the conclusion of negotiations in the Lake of the Woods region, southwest of Rat Portage, Ontario, in 1873.
6
Lunch Counter Workers, 1940's.
7
Ali Maow Maalin, the last known person in the world with smallpox. He was diagnosed with the disease in October 1977 and made a full recovery.
8
Party leaders pay their respect to Chairman Mao, 1976.
9
Crowds in Algiers celebrating Algeria's Independence Day in the city center, July 1962.
10
September 1917, the American Expeditionary Force parades in front of Buckingham palace.
11
A Chechen girl with balloons in Grozny, 2002.
12
1967 press photo of the Sydney Opera House.
13
A woman steps out of a DC-2 Mexicana de Aviación plane, 1952.
14
Sgt. Rinaldo J. Martini of C Company, 27th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division takes aim with an M1 rifle while seated on Japanese mortar crates. This photograph was taken after he earned the Silver Star on the first day of the Battle of Iwo Jima, 1945.
15
German troops involved in street fighting in the destroyed streets of Stalingrad in 1943.
16
Broadway New York, 1952.
17
Fidel Castro and Agostinho Neto, leader of MPLA, July 1976.
18
Elisabeth Montgomery, on the set of "Bewitched" in 1967.
19
Dutch cyclist Piet Van Kempen circles the track at Wembley during a six day cycling event, London, 25th September 1936.
20
A gas balloon lifts off of the ground of the Bremen gasworks; sometime between 1918 and 1945.
21
Gaza in Ruins during the First World War.
