Were the authors of these photographs thinking that their works were destined to become a real portal to the past after a long time? Of course, you can assume that any photo that is over 50 years old is able to make such effect but it’s not completely true. The pictures we’re about to show you demonstrate truly extraordinary objects, situations and scenes that have a particular historical value. They all feel somewhat magical in today’s retrospective.
1. Before automated pin machines, pin boys manually lined them up
Early 1900s.
2. Last sword duel in history in France, 1967
The duelists were Marseilles mayor Gaston Defferre and Rene Ribière, another politician, the Socialist Party candidate for presidency. The cause of the duel was an insult; it resulted in double injury of Ribière. Both injuries were not serious.
3. Rome when it became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy (1871)
4. Soldiers (who were interrupted during rehearsals for a drag show by an air raid) manning anti-aircraft guns at the Royal Artillery Coastal Defence Battery
Shornemead Fort, Kent, England, 1940.
5. Two thousand year old Roman version of a Swiss army knife
6. George Orwell feeding his goat Muriel, who was probably the inspiration for his character in Animal Farm
England, 1939.
7. A 1920s selfie.
8. Gene Simmons with his mother backstage in 1977
9. Aviator Charles Godfroy passing through the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, 1919
10. Snecma C.450 Coléoptère (or “Beetle”), an experimental vertical take-off and landing aircraft. France, 1958
The project was closed one year after failed flight testing.
11. The world’s fastest computer in 1950: a whole 1 MHz
12. An airplane flies over Baghdad, Iraq, early 20th Century
13. Ferris Wheel from the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893
Each of the 36 cars held 60 people for a total of 2160 passengers.
14. Queen Elizabeth II’s wedding cake, 1947
15. World Fair in Paris, 1889
It was the place to see the most futuristic technological inventions in action. Probably the world’s most fascinating place in 1889.
