Reading stories of human civilization can be enriching, yet sometimes boring. Imagine flipping through giant books filled with just informative text. Sounds like a snooze-fest, right? Whether you’re a history buff or just a curious person, learning about our past doesn’t need to be dull. The Instagram page “historydefined” conveys historical stories through engaging, visual content. Below, you’ll find interesting photos of moments from the bygone eras that aren't just pixels on our phone screen; they're windows into the world's rich tapestry of events. Get ready to ditch the yawns and learn something new in an enjoyable way.
#1 Mississippi's First Interracial Couple Recognized By The State, August 3, 1970
Image credits: historydefined
#2 This Photo Shows John Lewis Being Arrested In Tennessee In 1961 For Organizing And Participating In Civil Rights Demonstrations
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#3 Blackfoot Tribe In Glacier National Park, 1913
Image credits: senorphone1
With over 150k followers on Instagram, History Defined also has their own website and subreddit. In their own words, they are all about exploring history's most interesting people and events. It’s probably safe to assume that their users are eager to learn more about the past.
With all the demands of living in the present and concerns about the future, why do people care about what happened in the past? Everything we do, every item we use, and all the things we experience in our daily lives are shaped by our past. The foundation for our traditions, technologies, and everything in between was laid by those who came before us.
#4 Mister Rogers Received A Letter From A Blind Girl Who Was Concerned About His Fish, As She Had Heard Him Mention Them. Worried That They Might Not Be Getting Fed, He Started A Heartwarming Tradition. At The Conclusion Of Each Subsequent Show, He Would Narrate, “I'm Feeding The Fish”
Image credits: senorphone1
#5 Two Boys Show Each Other Different Skills, Kenya, 1962. 9-Year-Old Kevin From New York Had Come To Kenya To Join His Stepfather As Guest Of A Maasai Tribe, Where He And The Chief’s Son Dionni Became Close Companions
Image credits: historydefined
#6 Little Girl And Her Pet Toad At A Pet Show, Venice Beach, California, 1936
Image credits: senorphone1
Our understanding and knowledge of topics increases over time due to historical perspectives. Photographs from the past aren’t just about people, they show us how humans lived decades ago and how their actions have impacted our lives.
For instance, the beloved tradition of decorating trees dates back to 16th-century Germany where families would bring these evergreen trees home as a symbol of eternal life. This practice evolved over centuries as people started decking their Christmas trees with ornaments, lights and tree toppers.
#7 A Peruvian Woman And Her Baby In The Andes, 1930s
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#8 A Young Boy Gets A Photo Taken Moments After The First Plane Hit The World Trade Center. Notice The People In The Background Who Have Not Yet Noticed
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#9 "No Dog Biscuits Today" London, C. 1942
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Today’s medical advancements were possible due to the pioneering work of historical figures. The first smallpox vaccine was created by Dr. Edward Jenner in 1796. Joseph Lister, a British surgeon in the 19th century, laid the foundation for antiseptic surgery, which has helped save countless lives by minimizing the risk of infection in surgeries.
#10 In 1902, 18-Year-Old Alice Roosevelt Was Known For Her Rebellious And Independent Spirit. Alice Was Known For Her Unusual Habits, Such As Wearing Pants, Driving Cars, Smoking Cigarettes, Betting With Bookies, And Dancing On Rooftops
Image credits: historydefined
#11 American Soldier Reunites With His Wife At Train Station Fittingly Named"New Hope." Us, 1945
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#12 Wedding Rings Removed From Holocaust Victims Before They Were Executed, 1945
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The photograph of Rosa Parks refusing to give up her segregated bus seat in Alabama in 1955. Her act of civil disobedience led to a year-long bus boycott in Montgomery. This not only led to the desegregation of public transport but also paved the way for greater equality and civil rights for Americans. Her image became a symbol of courage and dignity and still inspires people globally to stand up against any discrimination.
#13 Burial At Sea On The Uss Intrepid, November 1944
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#14 British Soldier Retrieving Bandages From The Kit Of A Dog During Wwi, 1915
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#15 A Drawing Of Elvis Presley Done By A 12-Year-Old Jimi Hendrix After Seeing Him In Concert
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#16 Gunnar Kaasen And His Team Of 13 Dogs, LED By The Siberian Husky, Balto, Completed The Last Leg Of A 1925 Trip To Deliver 300,000 Units Of Diphtheria Antitoxin To Nome, Alaska To Prevent An Outbreak. They Traveled By Night In Temperatures Of -23 °f (-31 °c)
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#17 A Photo Of Freddie Mercury, 1958
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#18 The 1973 Pulitzer Prize-Winning Photograph “Burst Of Joy," Taken By Sal Vedar. A Former Us Prisoner Of War Is Shown Being Reunited With His Family
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Images taken after the San Francisco earthquake and subsequent fire in 1906 captured not just the destruction but also the resilience of the people affected.
These images have been used by engineers and architects to plan and implement measures to mitigate future earthquake risks. Later, they were also used in public awareness drives to highlight the need for community preparedness in order to minimize the impact of any future disasters.
#19 The Coney Island Sideshow Was Run By Martin Couney, Also Known As "The Incubator Doctor," Who Saved More Than 7,000 Premature Babies Throughout His Lifetime By Exhibiting Them In Incubators And Allowing Visitors To Pay 25 Cents To View Them
Back in the early 1900s, many eugenicists believed that premature babies were not worth saving because they were destined to die. But Couney challenged this idea by demonstrating the success of incubators, which he had first seen being used as "Child hatcheries" at the Chicago World's Fair. By the time Couney's Coney Island sideshow closed in 1943, nearly every hospital in America had adopted incubators
Image credits: historydefined
#20 Two Girls Gallop Full Speed On Sheep In Cornwall, England 1969. Photo By John Drysdale
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#21 A Young Woman Wearing Dior's Clothing Was Physically Assaulted And Had Her Clothes Torn Off By Those Who Were Outraged By The Extravagance
The 1940s saw the emergence of Christian Dior's fashion house, which was one of the first to bring back the use of excess fabric after the austerity of World War II. The extravagant designs were seen as a controversial and provocative statement in a time of rationing, but they were also highly admired for their beauty and luxury. However, the fashion house faced backlash from politicians and some members of the public, who saw the lavish designs as a waste of resources and even attacked models wearing Dior's creations
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Today, almost 66% of the world’s population and nearly 94% of the U.S. population has access to the internet. We can easily read historical facts in bite-sized pieces like these. Which of these images did you find the most intriguing? Tell us in the comments below if you have any ancestral photos!
#22 Mom Uses A Trash Can To Contain Her Baby While She Crochets In The Park, 1969
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#23 One Of The Last Photos Of Charlie Chaplin Taken In 1977
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#24 Soviet Basketball Player Arvydas Sabonis At The World Cup Final In Spain, 1986
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#25 Us Soldiers Drinking Coca-Cola. Over 5 Billion Bottles Were Distributed During The War
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#26 The 1949 Nash Airflyte Was Designed With Seats That Reclined Into Convertible Beds. In 1936, Nash Motors Introduced The “Bed-In-A-Car” Feature. Actress Carol Burnett Said She Was Probably Conceived In A Nash Sleeper Seat
Image credits: all-about-serps
#27 A Woman Driving A Sports Car Around Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, With Thor The Great Dane Riding In The Passenger Seat. Photographed In 1961 By Ralph Crane
Image credits: senorphone1
#28 Teenagers Dressed For A High School Dance In The 1920s
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#29 This Photograph Was Taken Seconds Before The Red Car Exploded, Taking The Lives Of 29 People, Including The Photographer. The Camera Was Found Afterward In The Rubble. The Man And Child In The Photo Both Survived
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#30 Ruth Lee, A Hostess At A Chinese Restaurant, Flies A Chinese Flag So She Isn’t Mistaken For Japanese When She Sunbathes On Her Days Off In Miami. Dec. 15, 1941. Color By Snarlbox
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#31 A Young Agatha Christie
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#32 On June 11, 1962, Three Alcatraz Inmates Left Homemade Dummy Heads In Their Beds To Fool The Guards Before Launching A Daring Escape From The Infamous Island Prison, Never To Be Seen Again
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#33 10 Cent Beer Night. June 4th 1974 Cleveland Ohio. Beers Being Sold For 10 Cents Turned A Baseball Game Into Chaos
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#34 Anne Frank Photographed With Her Sister Margot At The Beach In Zandvoort, Netherlands, In 1940
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#35 Workers And The Huge Chain Links Forged For The Titanic's Anchor, 1910 At Hingley And Sons
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#36 The Hasanlu Lovers Are A Pair Of Human Remains That Were Discovered At The Teppe Hasanlu Archaeological Site In Iran. The Remains Are Believed To Be Around 2800 Years Old And Were Found In The City Of Hasanlu, Located In North-Western Iran
The city was destroyed by an unknown invader around 800 BC, with the inhabitants killed and left where they fell. In 1973, a team of archaeologists from the University of Pennsylvania, led by Robert H. Dyson, discovered the Hasanlu lovers
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#37 In March 1888, A Massive Blizzard Hit The East Coast Of The United States, Stretching From Chesapeake Bay To Canada. The Storm Dumped Up To 50 Inches Of Snow And Had Wind Gusts Reaching Up To 80 Mph, Creating Snow Drifts As High As 30 Feet. This Historical Event Became Known As The "Great White Blizzard"
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#38 Wo Men Remove The Preserved Carcass Of A Juvenile Mammoth That Was Unintentionally Excavated From The Permafrost In Siberia In 1977 By A Miner's Bulldozer. He Died At The Age Of 6-8 Months, Named "Dima" After A Local Creek, Some 40,000 Years Ago. His Stomach Still Contained Traces Of His Mother's Milk
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#39 In November 1943, Berlin Zoo Faced Heavy Bombing From Allied Forces. Within Minutes, A Devastating 30% Of The Zoo’s Population Had Perished. Despite The Chaos, Keepers Risked Life And Limb To Rescue Panicked Animals
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#40 Pictured Here Is Willemien Rieken. She Was Only 9 Years Old When She First Began Laying Flowers On The Grave Of William Edmond, A British Soldier Who Fought And Died To Liberate Her Dutch Village. From The Day He Died, And For 75 Years, She Looked After His Grave And Kept His Memory Alive
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#41 Carrie Fisher Hanging Out With Some Stormtroopers While Promoting “Empire Strikes Back” In London, 1980
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#42 Jfk Being Served Fettuccine Alfredo By Its Inventor, Alfredo Di Lelio At The Restaurant Alfredo In Rome, Italy. 1963
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#43 Monet With A Pigeon On His Head, And His Wife Alice, Venice, 1908
Image credits: all-about-serps
#44 Sergeant William Henry “Black Death” Johnson Of The Harlem Hellfighters Wearing His Croix De Guerre Medal Ca. 1918. In Northern France, Johnson Single-Handedly Fought Off A German Raiding Party Receiving 21 Wounds In Order To Save Fellow Soldier Pvt Needham Roberts
Image credits: senorphone1
#45 Four Physicists Take A Walk: Albert Einstein, Hideki Yukawa, John Wheeler, And Homi Bhabha, 1954
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#46 John D. Rockefeller Gifting A 5-Cent Coin To A Child, 1929
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#47 A Boy Selling Lemonade With A Portable Lemonade Dispenser. Berlin, 1931
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#48 Fidel Castro Laughing At A Newspaper Headline While Visiting New York In 1959
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#49 A Formal Outfit That Was Worn By One Of The Last Daimyōs. Japan, Edo Period, C. 1830
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#50 The Jaws Of An Ancient Megalodon Shark That Lived Around 23 To 3.6 Million Years Ago vs. A Modern-Day Great White
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#51 Photo Of A Soviet War Veteran Near The Eternal Flame On The Anniversary Of Victory Day, 1966
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#52 17 Year Old Juliane Koepcke Survived The Lansa Flight 508 Plane Crash In 1971. After The Plane Was Struck By Lightning, She Was Sucked Out And Fell 2 Miles Still Strapped To Her Seat. She Survived The Next 11 Days Alone In The Amazon Jungle
This Photo Is A Reenactment Of The Events
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#53 A Young Woman Playing A Harp To A Large Crowd, Rock Of Cashel, Ireland, Ca. 1910 - Photographer Unknown
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#54 During The Late 1960s, Coca Cola Orchestrated A Massive Birdseed Display In St. Mark's Square, Arranging The Seeds To Create Their Iconic Logo. Within Moments, Hundreds Of Pigeons Flocked To The Scene, Feasting On The Seeds And Inadvertently Forming The Coca Cola Emblem
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#55 One Of The Greatest Discoveries Of Archaeology: Oseberg Viking Ship, Tønsberg, Norway, C. 834 Ad
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#56 Jean Bugatti, Engineer And Designer Who Was The Eldest Son Of Ettore Bugatti, The Founder Of The Car Manufacturer Bugatti. Here He Is Standing With A Bugatti Royale In Which Only 7 Were Built. Photograph Taken In 1932
Image credits: senorphone1
#57 In 2003, Two Men Stole A Parked Boeing 727 From Luanda International Airport And Flew Away Into The Sunset. They've Never Been Found
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#58 Spanish Woman Fighting For The Republican Loyalists In The Spanish Civil War
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#59 A Group Of Us Cavalry Soldiers Pose In Front Of A Tree Called "Grizzly Giant," 1900
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#60 Tilling The Fields In The Shadow Of The Ruins Of Roman Aquaducts. Spain, Merida. Date: 1990. Photographer: Bruno Barbey
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#61 Muhammad Ali Sparring With Two Teenagers During A Promotional Tour Of New Zealand, 1979
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#62 An Armored Japanese Samurai Of The Tokugawa Shogunate Photographed By Photographer Felice Beato In The 1860s
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#63 Samurai, 1864-1865. Photograph By Felice Beato
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#64 The Discovery Of The Ancient Statue Of Antinous In Delphi, Greece During An Excavation In 1894 Is Shown In This Colorized Image. Antinous Was The Greek Male Lover Of Roman Emperor Hadrian In The 2nd Century
Antinous died under mysterious circumstances while on a flotilla down the Nile in October 130. Theories about his death range from accidental drowning to human sacrifice to suicide
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#65 The Leader Of The Street Gang The Crips, Stanley Williams Lived An Extreme Double Life — During The Day, He Was An Anti-Gang Youth Counselor, And At Night He Was The Boss Of The Crips, Committing Violent Gang Crimes Against A Rival Gang, The Bloods
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#66 A Lamplighter Hard At Work, London ,1935
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#67 Hiroo Onoda, The Japanese Soldier Who Refused To Surrender Until 1974, 29 Years After Ww2 Ended
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#68 In 1925, A Man Flying From Casablanca To Dakar Photographed A Barbary Lion In The Atlas Mountains. This Photo Is Special Because It's The Last Known Picture Of A Wild Barbary Lion Before They Went Extinct
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#69 Letter From John Steinbeck To Marilyn Monroe
Image credits: all-about-serps
#70 Italian Summer, 1980s. Photos By Slim Aarons
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#71 Frank Lucas, The D Rug Lord Who Ruled Harlem In The 1970s, Was So Discreet That The Police Didn't Know Who He Was In 1971 When He Decided To Wear A $100,000 Full-Length Chinchilla Coat — To A Muhammad Ali Boxing Match
He later wrote that this was a “massive mistake. Apparently, Lucas’s coat caught the eye of law enforcement — who were surprised that he had better seats than Diana Ross and Frank Sinatra. As Lucas put it: “I left that fight a marked man”
Image credits: historydefined
#72 This Photograph Shows A Native American Man Looking Over The Newly Completed Transcontinental Railroad In Nevada In The Year 1869. Let's Assume The Man Was Around Forty And Was Born In The 1820s. The Changes He Must Have Seen Are Astonishing
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#73 At 3 A.m. One Night In 1988, Hawaiian Singer Israel Kamakawiwo'ole Called A Local Studio And Said He Needed To Record Something Immediately. He Pleaded With The Engineer: "Please, Can I Come In? I Have An Idea." Kamakawiwo'ole Recorded The Iconic Version Of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" In One Take, Which Would Soon Touch Countless People Across The Globe
Image credits: historydefined
#74 This Is A Photo Of A British Veteran Of The Napoleonic Wars Posing With His Wife. He Can Be Seen Wearing A Campaign Medal, Commemorating The Fact That He Served In Spain
This photograph was taken in 1850, 35 years after the Battle of Waterloo. It is hard to know how old the former soldier was when this picture was taken but we can see that years of poverty and hard living have left their mark
Image credits: historydefined
#75 Malcolm X Visiting The Great Pyramids During His Pilgrimage To Makkah, 1964
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#76 Longmen Grottoes In Henan Province, China. Over 2,300 Caves Filled With Over 100,000 Statues Of All Sizes, 4th-10th-Centuries Ad
Image credits: senorphone1
#77 Douglas Bent, A U.S. Navy Petty Officer, Was Captured During The Vietnam War. His Captors Thought Him Unintelligent, Earning Him The Moniker "The Stupid." He Feigned Ignorance, Opting To Hum A Song Instead Of Speaking
While in captivity, bent maintained this act, leading his Vietnamese captors to believe he suffered from a mental disorder. After being freed and returning to the United States, bent astounded everyone by listing approximately 256 names of missing fellow pows. He had ingeniously memorized their names by associating them with the melody of "Old McDonald Had a Farm," the same tune he hummed throughout his imprisonment
Image credits: historydefined
#78 A Selfie Taken By Emperor Nicholas II, C. 1896
Image credits: senorphone1
#79 Two Brothers From East And West Berlin Reunite At Checkpoint Charlie After The East German Government Agreed To Open The Wall For Christmas, 1963
Image credits: senorphone1
#80 People At Daytona Beach In Florida, United States In 1904. Color: @sebcolorisation
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#81 The Jim Twins Were Separated At Birth And Reunited At 39. They Quickly Found That They Had Lived Oddly Similar Lives
Both had married and divorced someone named Linda, were currently married to a Betty, had sons named James Allan, had dogs named Toy, drove the same car, and had jobs in security
Image credits: senorphone1
#82 One Of Only Two Certified Photographs Of Billy The Kid (The One With The Top Hat), Playing Cards, 1877
Image credits: HistoryDefined
#83 Ex-American, Argentine Light Cruiser General Belgrano Sinking After Being Struck By A British Torpedo During The Falklands War. 323 Went Down With The Ship, 02,05/1982
Image credits: Beller0ph0nn
#84 A Chunk Of Debris, Likely From One Of The Crashed Airliners, Lies On The Corner Of Murray Street In Lower Manhattan Near The World Trade Center In New York On Sept. 11, 2001
Image credits: all-about-serps
#85 Colonel Theodore Roosevelt Wearing His Rough Riders Uniform, C. 1898. He Would Become The 26th President Of The United States In 1901
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#86 Witold Pilecki, A Member Of The Secret Polish Army, Intentionally Let Himself Be Caught By German Policemen During A Roundup In Warsaw To Get Arrested & Be Sent To Auschwitz To Set Up A Resistance Network There. The Mission Was A Success
Image credits: senorphone1
#87 British Troops March Past The Great Pyramids In Egypt, 1940
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#88 Throughout The Uss Triton's Secret Mission To Circumnavigate The World Submerged, The Only Unauthorized Individual To Spot The Submarine During Those Sixty Days Was A Filipino Man On His Canoe, Who Noticed Its Periscope. April 1, 1960
Image credits: historydefined
#89 Union (Left) And Confederate (Right) Veterans Meet For The Battle Of Gettysburg's 50th Anniversary In 1913
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#90 Ronald Reagan Testifies Against Fellow Actors Before House Un-American Activities Committee In 1947
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#91 In 1978, A Remarkable Discovery Was Made In A Los Angeles Yard When Children Playing Uncovered A Ferrari Buried Just Beneath The Surface. The Police Were Notified, And It Was Revealed That The Car Had Been Reported Stolen Four Years Earlier
The car's owner, Rosendo Cruz, had committed insurance fraud. He partnered with thieves, who hid it in the ground, intending to take it to a chop shop later, but forgot where they had buried it
Image credits: historydefined
#92 Calamity Jane At The Grave Of Wild Bill Hickok In Deadwood, South Dakota, 1903
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