Back In The Good Old Days

3 Japanese teens show the Wings sign and also show their tickets to a cancelled Wings concert in Toyko, Japan in 1980. The concert was cancelled when Paul McCartney was arrested at the airport after he was found with marijuana in his luggage. The tickets cost around $20 USD at the time. These fans loved Wings, but when the journalist asked them if they also liked The Beatles, the young girls had little to no clue about McCartney's former band.

Soldiers who are part of the international coalition to free Kuwait after Iraq had invaded it stand next to a knocked out tank after the Battle of 73 Easting in the Gulf War in 1991. The Iraqi armor was so outdated the coalition absolutely obliterated any who did not run. Some 160 Iraqi tanks, 180 Iraqi personnel carriers, and 80 other Iraqi wheeled vehicles were destroyed, along with around 1,000 Iraqi soldiers killed. The coalition lost 2 vehicles, 1 to friendly fire, and had officially 1 killed. Some tank crews compared it to shooting fish in a barrel.

Women move a park bench into the water to keep cool on a hot day in Central Park in NYC, US in 1961.

Adolf Hitler reacts to being kissed from a very excited American woman during the 1936 Olympic games in Berlin, Germany. Nazi idealism was accepted and even in some circles popular in the US, before they invaded their neighbors, slaughter millions of innocent people, and became the enemy of the world.

The Kaibiles, a special counterinsurgency force of the Guatemalan army that would eventually be accused of human rights violations, march in Guatemala City, Guatemala, in 1988. If you read up on what these guys did, its almost unthinkable in many ways the atrocities they did to their own people. Most of their actions occurred during the 35 year Guatemalan Civil War that finally ended in 1996.

A young girl and a bear pose for a picture somewhere in Russia in 1933.

This picture shows the exact moment night club owner Jack Ruby shot and killed Lee Harvey Oswald in 1963. Oswald was being taken out to another location from a basement while in police custody for the assassination of John F. Kennedy just 3 days prior. Conspiracy theorists have always believed more to this assassination exists as evidence suggest Oswald could not have done this alone. Jack Ruby had ties to the mafia, and many believe this is a major piece of the puzzle proving the mafia killed the president. Other theories involve Russia, Cuba, and our own CIA.

An Igbo soldier carrying ammo poses for a picture during the Nigerian Civil War in 1968. The war was fought so a section of Nigeria known as Biafra could become independent. The Nigerian government refused to allow this, and war broke out. The Nigerian forced prevailed, and Biafra was readmitted to Nigeria. The British, French and US all backed the Nigerian forces due to their control of their key export oil. This allowed Nigeria to cut off, surround, and starve the Biafran controlled areas. Somewhere around 2 million people inside Biafra starved to death, with possibly another million dying from other direct results in the conflict. Inquiries into the war felt a form of genocide was administered against minorities and the Biafra people. However, despite upwards of 3 million people dying, not 1 person was ever held accountable for their actions in this war.

People play at what looks like an early waterpark using the natural waterways in Berlin, Germany in 1929.

2 Korean Americans stand guard on top of their stores during the LA Riots in 1992. Prior to the riots, a video surfaced of a black man named Rodney King being beaten by 4 white police officers. The video only showed the beating, and when all evidence was presented, the 4 officers were acquitted. The race of the individuals and the long standing anger caused the city to erupt into chaos almost immediately after the announcement. Looting, rioting, dangerous mobs appeared all across the city. The cops were overwhelmed, forcing shop owners to fend for themselves.

Carrying on from the previous picture, entire shopping centers were looted, then burned to the ground. Store owners who confronted the armed looters engaged in gun battles, with fatalities. The mobs attacked drivers, stores, homes, literally anything. Countless stores were looted, with estimated damage over $1 Billion, and that's before adjusted for inflation. That also doesn't include the total worth of what was stolen. The riots lasted 5 days until the national guard and the police got things under control. Some 63 people died and almost 2,400 were injured. Over 12,000 people were arrested, and many more got away unpunished.

Women preparing to do their laundry in Mexico City, Mexico in 1892. They appear to all be waiting for the go ahead to proceed by whomever owns and operates this location. As you can see, this is what we can relate to as an original laundromat, minus the machines.

A starving family pose for a picture during the Madras Famine in India in 1876. Severe drought was a key issue, but another major issue was the Viceroy of a key agricultural area in South India exported tons of extra wheat to Britain, leaving none for the local populace. All this happened under British rule at the time. Once the famine hit, the authorities did not do much to help the stricken areas, which primarily were in South India. It lasted 3 years before rains came, crops grew, and provisions were brought in. It was only after it ended and some 5-6 million people had died that British India enacted programs to try and prevent a repeat.

Kokomo the Chimpanzee playing with a hose outside his owners apartment in NYC, US in 1960.

2 Young ladies stroll around Toronto, Canada in 1937. This is credited as the first time women wore such shorts in public within the city, and it attracted tons of onlookers. Notice the vehicle on the left has slightly hit the lamp pole, but the distracted male driver doesn't seem to care at this moment.

Children put money into a collection box for the survivors of the Titanic disaster in London, England in 1912. Drives such as this were established in both England and the US to help survivors of the disaster.

Rescue workers pull the body of a young woman from the SS Eastland which sank in Lake Michigan in 1915. It sank almost immediately after its full complement of passengers, nearly 2600, boarded. What's interesting here is this passenger steamer sank as a direct result from the Seamen Act enacted into US federal law earlier that year. The law required enough lifeboats to be mounted on ships to handle the entire complement, which was proposed and eventually passed after the Titanic disaster in 1912. However, the law took 3 years of debates before it passed because many ships were already top heavy, and the additional weight could cause issues. Well, that is exactly what happened to the SS Eastland. In a move to prevent another Titanic disaster, it was a key factor that caused another disaster. 844 passengers and 4 crew members died when the SS Eastland sank. Eventually inspection laws were put in place to check ships max weight to finally avoid major disasters such as these.

American employees from the US Embassy in Tehran, Iran, have their picture taken by militants after being taken hostage in 1979. The US knew tensions were high, as they had accepted the former deposed leader of Iran into the US for medical treatment, among other things. What might surprise you is this hostage crisis wasn't the first time Iranian militia tried to seize the US Embassy. In fact, they had 2 other somewhat successful incidents before leading up to this one. These takeovers and other factors forced the US to change a staff that once was as high as 1400 to just 72. When the 3rd and fully successful takeover took place, the took 66 hostages while 6 managed to escape. Their story was told in the excellent film Argo. The hostages became chess pieces, often enduring unimaginable things, including being lined up in front of a fake firing squad and routine beatings. It took 444 days to secure all hostages release, and relations with the US and Iran have been uneasy ever since.

A man sits by the body of his wife after a German aerial bombing raid killed her during the Warsaw Uprising in Warsaw, Poland in 1944. With Soviet forces pushing the Germans back to full retreat in the East, the Polish First Army wanted to liberate Poland and be an independent country again before the Soviets arrived. During the 2 month battle, the Soviets halted their advance. This allowed the Germans to concentrate on the uprising, and put it down. Once the Polish were defeated, the Soviets renewed their advance, and eventually liberated Poland. The Soviets would state they were preparing for their final advances to end the war, but most would argue that it seems the Soviets just did not want a Free Polish State to exist upon their arrival. This battle saw the utter destruction of Warsaw. Virtually every building was destroyed or severely damaged. In the end, practically nothing was left of this once great and modern city.

In this colorized picture, Japanese soldiers look at sunk or heavily damaged battleships from the Russian Fleet in Port Arthur, Manchuria in 1904. This was during the Russo-Japanese War, which lasted less than 2 years and was a huge surprise to the world as Japan handily defeated Russia on both sea and land. For the next 35 years, Japanese expansion and imperialism would grow exponentially as they realized they were indeed a strong world power after this decisive victory.

Children prepare to perform their acrobatic routine for a crowd in Shanghai, China in 1930. This was basically a version of a circus, but with no safety measures and no actual indoor arena. This group also didn't use animals, and focused on acts and shows to amuse the crowds.

A woman in the town of Corza looks at what used to be her home and neighborhood after the devastating earthquake that struck Southern Italy in 1980. Almost 2,500 people died with nearly 8,000 injured after the 6.9 earthquake struck. This region is prone to earthquakes, and unfortunately sometimes has a large one that causes massive loss of life.

A police dog runs up and bites the leg of the "criminal" during a training session in New Jersey, US in 1919.

A Brazilian helicopter pilot carries a wounded Yanomamian boy after a mining accident in 1982. The tribal lands sit on a large gold deposit, which is still actively mined to this day after the gold was found in the area in the mid 1970s. Originally, the locals were either forced to relocate or would just be suppressed entirely. They also occasionally were caught in the mining process with no regard to their lands or safety for decades as pictured here.

A French soldier gives milk to a cat while in his tent in Vietnam in 1952. This was during the First Indochina War, where the French fought to keep hold of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, but would ultimately lose and withdraw. This region of the world saw War almost continuously for 40 years from WWII, to the First Indochina War to the Vietnam War.