16. Before PTSD
Our brave servicemen who’ve returned from war are battling PTSD, a mental health problem that’s understood better today than it was previously. During World War I, PTSD was known as ‘shell shock’, characterized by emotional shock writ large on soldiers’ faces. In this photograph from 1919, the ludicrous expression on the soldier’s face shows the ugly and disturbing side of war.
17. Fishy Record
This grotesque photograph of a fish may put you off just a little bit. Taken in 1903, it marks an important day in the history of fishing – as it were – because on this day, a man named Edward Llewellen broke the World Record for the biggest sea bass ever caught. He single-handedly caught the mammoth fish weighing a whopping 425 lbs.
18. Blast from the Past
This one will get trigger-happy people all excited. The rest of us will be relieved that there’s something called gun control. The punt gun was a large shotgun capable of killing 50 waterfowl in one shot. Thankfully, people came to their senses and the nasty weapon was banned in the 1860s.
19. Winnie-the-Pooh
An adorable photograph from 1927, this is Christopher Robin Milne, the son of A.A.Milne best known as the creator of Winnie-the-Pooh, who needs no introduction. And the teddy bear in the photo is the actual Winnie, the toy that inspired the famous character. The bear was named after a black bear named ‘Winnie’ at the London Zoo that Christopher was so fascinated with, while ‘Pooh’ was the name of a swan that the young boy had met during one of his holidays.
20. Escape from Alcatraz
Maximum security prison Alcatraz – which has housed such criminals as George ‘Machine Gun’ Kelly and Al Capone – shuttered its doors in 1963. Housing the country’s most dangerous anti-social elements, the infamous prison cost the government a boatload of money, the reason why it was closed after thirty years in business. This is a historic photo of the remaining few inmates of Alcatraz making their way out of the inescapable prison.
Have these photographs boggled your mind? Don’t see a photograph that you think should have made it to the list? Drop us a line and we’ll expand our list to include many more fascinating moments from the annals of history for you.
