"History" is in the news because of Ridley Scott's upcoming historical drama, Napoleon. But unlike that movie, these historical pics get their facts right.
Scott is facing some serious heat from history buffs over his depiction of Napoleon's conquests in Egypt, and he's learning the hard that you should never anger one of the internet's deepest subcultures. The drama all stems from one scene in particular, in which Napoleon directs his troops to bomb the Pyramids. Of course that never happened, but according to Scott, "I don’t know if he did that, but it was a fast way of saying he took Egypt.”
While that's bad enough, it was his following statement that really sealed the deal. "When I have issues with historians, I ask: 'Excuse me mate, were you there? No? Well shut the f- up then.'" Now I can totally get behind a little artistic liberty for the sake of entertainment, as long as it's properly acknowledgedly, and ideally in spirit with what actually happened. But if you seem to think that proven recorded history is just a bunch of mumbo jumbo because "were you there?" then maybe you shouldn't be the director behind a "$130–200 million" historical film.
Unlike Scott, these 21 historical photographs don't take history for granted.
1
President Abraham Lincoln at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery, speaking to crowds. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, November 19, 1863.
2
A photo from the set of the movie "Ben Hur," 1959.
3
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt at Chazy Lake, New York with a .22 Smith and Wesson she carried when refusing her Secret Service Protection - 1934.
4
North Korean football player Pak Do Ik. He scored the winning goal against Italy in the World Cup (1-0) in 1966 to get North Korea through to the quarter-finals where they were beaten by Portugal. This photo was taken in 2002.
5
"Must Be Air Force." A U.S. Navy McDonnell F2H-2 Banshee painted by the crew after landing aboard the USS Wasp in 1952.
6
Alexander Graham Bell, surrounded by executives, making the first call between New York and Chicago in 1892.
7
Four men sitting in William Howard Taft's would-be White House bathtub, 1909.
8
Rebecca Ann Felton. On 21 November 1922, she became the first woman to serve in the US Senate, although she served for only one day. Felton was a white supremacist and the last slave owner to serve in the Senate.
9
The experimental steam locomotive 6399 “Fury,” sometime between 1930 and 1935.
10
Edward Teller’s Hungarian passport that he used to enter the US in 1935. Teller is best known for being the father of the hydrogen bomb, as well as testifying against J. Robert Oppenheimer in 1954.
11
A wildcat strike in 1973 by Turkish laborers at Ford’s factory in Cologne, Germany to protest poor working conditions.
12
Chinese Americans protesting scrap iron shipments to Japan, 1939.
13
Agatha Christie in her home, 1950s.
15
Egyptian President Anwar Sadat addresses the Knesset. On 20 November 1977, Sadat became the first Arab leader to officially visit Israel. Jerusalem, 1977.
16
A young spinner in the Century Cotton Mills in South Boston, Virginia. Her ten-year-old sister on the right helps with the baby. June, 1911.
17
The Tatenokai, a nationalist militia led by Yukio Mishima, parade in Tokyo in the 1960s.
18
Patrice Lumumba calling for the removal of Belgian Troops from the Congo. July 20th, 1960.
19
Russian soldier in Grozny during the First Chechen War, sometime in 1994 to 1996.
