History has always seemed more real to me when it transforms from words on a book to pictures and, even better, photographs. Some of these images have such power behind them, they made me want to pick up a history books to learn more about them. From 1864 to 1981, you'll find here moments of history captured by camera, making sure future generations have a window into the past.
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President Lincoln standing tall in his White House Office, 1864 |
Mental health in the past: A patient in a restraint chair in the West Riding Lunatic Asylum in Yorkshire, 1869. |
What an opium party looked like in France, 1918 |
The opening day of Yankee Stadium on April 18th, 1923. The opening game was played against the Boston Red Sox. |
Celebrating the end of prohibition by trying something that was illegal just yesterday, 1933. |
The terrible toll of storming a beach - U.S. Marines at Tarawa, November 1943. |
American soldiers stationed in the Pacific listening to the radio reporting victory of WW2 by allied forces on May 8, 1945. |
Heinrich Himmler lying dead after swallowing a cyanide pill while being held prisoner by allied forces. May 23rd, 1945. |
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British soldiers released from Japanese POW camp in Sumatra, September, 1945. |
Ted Geisel, better known as 'Dr. Seuss' working on a drawing of the Grinch for his book "How the Grinch Stole Christmas", 1957. |
Also in 1957, did you know you could enjoy a drive-in meal while cool air is piped into your car? You could in Texas. |
What it was like on the open road in Wyoming by Elliott Erwitt, 1954. |
The lighter side of Ernest Hemingway, drinking at a Havana Bar, 1950s. |
The darker, depressed side of Hemingway, with the shotgun that perhaps took his life, 1950s. |
An astronaut chimp, Ham, gets a small gift after his epic flight into space, 1961. |
The 'space food' taken on the Mercury and Gemini Missions, 1961-1966. |
During the evacuation of Saigon, 45 UH-1 Huey helicopters, costing millions of dollars, were pushed off US aircraft carriers into the water to make room for people. |
The 'space invaders' World Championship looked something like this in 1981. |
Secret service agent whips out a sub-machine gun while other agents and police officers subdue and restrain John Hickley Jr. who shot President Reagan in Washington. March 30th, 1981. |
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