Everything has a story. Every person, every object, every tree, and yes, every photo. History is happening all around us, and sometimes it gets recorded and documented so it may be shared.
Below is a list of images with incredible backstories, so you can learn about someone or something’s personal history!
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Last of his kind.
Taken in 2018, this photo shows the last male Northern White Rhino, named Sudan . When it was declared that he was the last one, a team was deployed to protect him since poachers couldn’t be trusted to not hunt him down.
One man’s trash is another man’s library.
In Ankara, Turkey, the garbage collectors banded together to save books that were being thrown away, and used the collection to open a library ! There are over 6000 books there, with donations continuing to fill it up.
The darkest of months.
These Siberian children are receiving UV light exposure during the winter months, as it becomes so dark they’ll go without proper sunlight for a while.
Hidden among us.
This photo is from Victory Memorial Drive in Minneapolis, a WWI memorial where the silhouettes of soldiers were carved into the negative space of the balustrades to memorialize them.
For the joy of it all!
Meet Daisuke Inoue, the inventor of the karaoke machine! Here he is with his very first karaoke machine. He never patented the invention because he wanted to “teach the world to sing”. He never earned a penny off it, and still doesn’t regret that decision.
Lighting up the fields.
In Guilin, China, villagers place thousands of torches in the terraced fields as a means of praying for a good harvest that year, creating a beautiful scene.
Keeping your loved ones close.
In WWII, soldiers would keep photos of family and other loved ones under the clear grips of their pistols, called “sweetheart grips”.
Protected in death.
Rather, we’re the ones being protected. This is Marie Curie’s tomb in Paris, which is lined with a lead an inch thick as her remains are still radioactive to this day.
A body as a work of art.
The first known female tattoo artist in the United States, Maud Wagner shows off her expanse of tattoos, many of which she’d done on herself!
A tree as old as time.
This is a Ginkgo tree , which is believed to be the oldest tree species on earth (older than the dinosaurs). This specific Ginkgo tree is 1,400 years old and resides in the Gu Guanyin Buddhist Temple in China, and sheds a sea of gorgeous golden leaves every fall!
Brain fried.
Whatever you think you’re looking at, I promise you’re wrong. These are remains from someone who died in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. Specifically, these are pieces of their brain that got turned to glass due to the extreme heat of the eruption.
Fashion statements.
This is Helen Hulick. In 1938, she was witness to a burglary, but when she showed up in pants to testify, she was given a five-day sentence and sent to jail for it.
The judge rescheduled the case when she first arrived, asking if she’d return in a dress, to which she replied , “You tell the judge I will stand on my rights. If he orders me to change into a dress I won’t do it. I like slacks. They’re comfortable.”
The golden blood type.
This man has something incredibly unique about him, an extremely rare blood type called Rh-null . Only 43 other people have been discovered with this blood type, and it can be accepted by any other blood type in a transfusion, meaning this man’s donations could save tons of lives!
Returning home.
This is the RMS Queen Elizabeth returning to New York after WWII ended, carrying thousands of troops. The ship sailed as a luxury liner for a while after, until it caught fire in 1972 after being sold to an investor.
Revolutionary win.
In 1939, Hattie McDaniel became the first African American to win an Oscar, which she won for her role in Gone With The Wind . She accepted her award in a segregated hotel, where she wasn’t even allowed to sit with her costars.
“It has made me feel very, very humble, and I shall always hold it as a beacon for anything I may be able to do in the future,” she said during her speech . “I sincerely hope I shall always be a credit to my race and to the motion picture industry.”
Up close and personal.
This ring should look familiar to you, as it was a prop used for closeup shots of The One Ring in the Lord of the Rings trilogy!
Highlighting the issue.
In Everett, Washington, 7,624 needles were collected from woods behind a Home Depot to highlight the opioid crisis. They were collected by the Hand Up Project , a non-profit that helps recovering addicts.
Ancient childhood art.
These drawings were made by a seven-year-old boy named Onfim , who lived in Novogrod over 700 years ago. He was also learning how to write, those letters in the bottom left being translated into a phrase about borrowing money, meaning he was likely copying his parents’ documents.
A way better and cooler alternative.
A circus in Germany decided to forgo the use of animals in its shows, and instead replaced them with these giant, magical projections of animals! It makes for a more magical experience without the animal cruelty.
A memorable form of recycling.
These fences are made out of stretchers that were used in WWII to carry injured civilians. Over 600,000 were made, so (once cleaned and disinfected) they were repurposed post-war around London, England.
