Back In The Good Old Days

A lynch mob show off their handy work to their children after lynching a young black man somewhere in Mississippi, USA in the late 1940s. Many lynching's were done without proof against any of the accused solely because the accused was black. Lynching's in the US go back centuries, often against anyone accused of a crime the public was sickened by. However, in the South after the Civil War and especially before desegregation, if you were black and accused of anything, especially against whites such as an interracial relationships or a crime without having the burden of proof, sadly that probably meant your life.

Anne Lee Patterson posing for a risqué photo shoot in 1931. This shoot was done after the beauty became Miss America that very same year.

A crowd gathers to bow and show respect to former WWII soldiers recently released from captivity somewhere in Japan in 1950. Many Japanese soldiers committed banzai attacks or committed suicide for their honor during the war, dying needlessly, with only so many being captured. Despite being told surrender was for cowards, the Japanese people honored these soldiers, showing up in large numbers to pay their respects. Each soldier is also holding the remains of fallen friends and fellow soldiers, eventually returning them to the families of the deceased.

Young girls play roller hockey on the street somewhere near Toronto, Canada in 1922. Notice how some children don't have roller skates (probably couldn't afford them) but are allowed to play regardless.

Girls from the Iraqi National school of Music and Ballet practicing outside in Baghdad, Iraq in 1975

A drive-in movie theater preparing to start its feature in Georgia, US in 1950. Each pole near the cars has a speaker people can use to hear the film, and in this theater there is a band on top of the reel building doing live music.

2 children prepare dinner for a small nomadic group (possibly all family) near the settlement of Ad Dibbin in Yemen in 1947. Notice the 1 child has a bullet belt on, as he also had a rifle and was tasked to help defend the group from threats.

Former prostitutes pose for a picture at Ebenezer's Rescue Home in Oslo, Norway in 1920. The majority of these woman were forced into prostitution as young as 13, and had been in the profession many years before being rescued.

The famous Sydney Opera House under construction in Sydney, Australia in 1966. The project started in 1959, and wasn't fully completed for 14 years until 1973. The project ran so far over its budget and had such complications during all that time, that it overall ended up costing around $102 million, or after being adjusted for inflation, almost $1 billion today.

British SAS soldiers (a highly trained group of special forces) move into position for the siege on the Iranian Embassy in London, England in 1980. 6 armed men who were part of an Iranian Arab Group demanded the release of Arab nationals and their safe passage back to Arab lands. They held 26 people hostage, mostly personnel from the Iranian Embassy. After 6 days of talks, the gunman killed a hostage. Fearful of more executions, Margaret Thatcher ordered the SAS to storm the Embassy by force. In the 17 minute gun battle, all but 1 of the remaining hostages were saved and 5 of the 6 gunman were killed, the 6th being captured and prosecuted.

This picture is of the famous naked Napalm Girl who was caught in a napalm attack in Vietnam in 1972. Most have seen the one of her running naked towards a camera screaming alongside other children, and this picture is after that, showing the burns. The attack was on a village suspected of housing Viet Cong, but instead killed and wounded many civilians including lots of children as soldiers and reporters watched in the distance. The survivors, still burning like this girl, ran down the street for help where the reporters were. The little girl (her name is Phan Thi Kim Phuc) survived, and is alive today in Canada.

Pro-communist rioters attack police with stones during the May Day Riots in Tokyo, Japan in 1952. Near the close of the US occupation of Japan, many of the people preferred the idea of Communism and held protests which turned to riots all over Tokyo. Eventually they were put down, but not before many were killed and wounded in the fighting. Exact figures were never tallied, possibly to avoid any involvement from the departing US forces, in an effort to show the US that the Japanese government had control of the country.

A women demonstrates a futuristic typewriter chair complete with headphones and a light in Paris, France in 1972. With the personal home computer 10 years away, these kinds of inventions became obsolete.

A circus elephant practices balancing on its front legs somewhere in the US in 1920. Notice the whips the trainers have to use on the elephant to ensure it performs the trick.

Palestinian Muslim leader Amin al-Husayni greeting Muslim Bosnian SS volunteers in November 1943. An open supporter of Nazi Germany, he even met with Hitler, did propaganda broadcasts, and helped recruit as many Muslim soldiers for the SS as he could. Amin al-Husayni's ultimate goal was to get Germany to defeat the British by marching on Israel, which the British controlled at the time, and relinquish control back to the Arab Muslim world. He ignored all other race conflicts with Nazi's in the hopes of achieving this goal.

US soldiers walk past a disabled man during the Invasion of Grenada in 1983. In 3 weeks, the US took complete control of the tiny island. The invasion was a result of the execution of the pro west leader Maurice Bishop and the support from the Soviet Union and Cuba to turn Grenada communist, as well as to protect numerous American citizens there. US intervention usually led to another pro West dictator at the time, however democratic elections were held the following year and Grenada has been a democracy ever since. 19 Americans were killed and 116 wounded while Grenada had 45 killed and 337 wounded. Cuba also lent troops to Grenada and had 24 killed and 59 wounded with another 638 captured.

The 5 person crew of the mission STS-51-L doing training at a high altitude to simulate weightlessness in 1985. The following year they would take off along with 2 specialist and unfortunately would all die in the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster in 1986. Apparently it was extra cold at the time of the launch, causing the O-Ring to fail. This was the 10th time the Challenger was to enter space, and the disaster caused nearly a 3 year hiatus from the US to return to space.

An older man playfully poses for the camera prior to some organized public races in Athens, Greece in 1982. The young man on the right seems caught quite off guard.

The dance floor at the famous Studio 54 in NYC, US in 1978. The fake fog was part of the effects. Many famous celebrities would party here, and the club had unique and sexy shows creating a culture that was a staple of NYC in the later 1970s through the 80s.

Real women boxers show off their fighting stance for a picture in Chicago, US in 1928. For me, the second from the right particularly looks fearsome.

Families arrives at Auschwitz concentration camp, in occupied Poland, and pose for an officers picture in 1944. Moments later they would be split up based on sex, have their heads shaved (for those who don't already), stripped naked, lead into a fake shower room, and gassed. Sadly, like 6 million other Jews, no one in this picture survives.

A poor family unable to afford a dentist show for a curious photographer how they remove a broken tooth at home using just a pair of pliers in a small town in the Midwest, US, in 1921.

Palestinian fighter Leila Khaled poses with her weapon and grandfather in 1969. Later that year, she would be credited as the first women to hijack a plan when she and another soldier hijacked TWA Flight 840. After a few months all passengers and crew were released with no injuries, and she and her accomplice would be arrested. Eventually she was released in a prisoner exchange. Since her release, she has put down her weapon and instead become a vocal fighter, often speaking in Europe against the Palestinian-Israeli peace process.

A teenager poses for her boss as she works her first job as a secretary somewhere in the US in 1968. TV shows, movies, and magazines portrayed secretaries as needing to look professionally sexy and cater to every one of the bosses needs at the time, regardless of the boss or situation, as though being flirty and cute in such a job was necessary. The job itself could be extremely beneficial with excellent pay and perks, but this culture also allowed a ridiculous amount of sexual harassment that often went completely unpunished for decades.