They were just the same as us, but since it took so long to take a picture, it was easier to keep a stern face for as long as it took for a picture to be taken.
▲▼ Grass covered trenches and craters from exploded bombshells, Battle of the Somme The Lochnagar Crater, nearly 70 feet deep, was formed after an explosive-packed mine was detonated during the Battle of the Somme. The tiny village of Butte de Vaquois once stood on a hilltop, and was destroyed after three years of furious mining blew away its summit.
This is Simone Segouin, an incredible resistance fighter. Her first mission was to steal a Nazi’s bike, and thereafter went on with her team to derail a train, blow up bridges, arrest 25 Nazis in a single day, and, well, liberate France. She’s still alive at the age of 90.
In 1920 a series of photos of fairies captured the attention of the world. The photos had been taken by two young girls, the cousins Frances Griffith and Elsie Wright, while playing in the garden of Elsie’s Cottingley village home. Photographic experts examined the pictures and declared them genuine. Spiritualists promoted them as proof of the existence of supernatural creatures, and despite criticism by skeptics, the pictures became among the most widely recognized photos in the world. It was only decades later, in the late 1970s, that the photos were definitively debunked.
Shown above are the five Cottingley fairy photos, in the order in which they were taken. In the early 1980s Elsie and Frances admitted that the photographs were faked, using cardboard cutouts of fairies copied from a popular children’s book of the time, but Frances maintained that the fifth and final photograph was genuine.
Anne Frank – In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.
(born June 12, 1929, Frankfurt am Main, Germany—died February/March 1945, Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, near Hannover), young Jewish girl whose diary of her family’s two years in hiding during the German occupation of the Netherlands became a classic of war literature. {read more}
Nell Gwyn (born February 2, 1650) was selling oranges at the Drury
Lane Theater in London when she became the mistress of actor Charles
Hart, who trained her for the stage. Soon, “pretty, witty Nell” was the
leading comedienne of the King’s Company and the mistress of Charles II.
With
Puritanism a recent thing of the past, Gwyn was one of the first
actresses ever allowed to perform on the English stage. The public found
her high spirits and wit refreshing, and she became a symbol of the
Reformation comedy, or comedy of manners.
The last Romanov patriarchs at their Coronation Mass, painting by Laurits Regner Tuxen, c. 1898.
“The coronation in Moscow on May 26th 1896 was the most opulent
celebration which I ever witnessed. It bordered close to the Oriental
and lasted for 10 days. In Moscow the cathedral was filled with
paintings on gold ground of saints and all priests were dressed in gold
robes applied with embroidery and precious stones. A very deep feeling
of mysticism was in all the ceremonies and you could feel the tradition
of Byzance… And following the prayer for the Emperor he gets up and
then is the only person standing at that moment in the whole Russian
Empire… To look at all this must have been like a fantastic dream
because the sun was shining an all.” - Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse, Brother of Empress Alexandra, Grandson of Queen Victoria
Some loser: “Please don’t watch the history of japan video AGAIN! You’ve watched it 83 times already!
Me:
Holy shit you’re right.
honestly this video is so good but the part that gets me every time is the fact that it’s so hectic and fast paced but there’s this long quite chilling pause after the atom bombs are dropped
just a moment of sobriety in the midst of the humor
Didn’t Hamilton forget his bank account number once or something
ok i left you the answer on snapchat but here’s an actual reference rather than just my word. but uh yeah he lost his checkbook and so he also lost his account balance:
“Months after leaving office, he wrote to the Bank of the United States and admitted that he did not know his account balance because he had lost his bank book—this from the man who had created the bank.” (Alexander Hamilton, Chernow, 502)
Marie Antoinette’s final words, spoken to the executioner after she accidentally stepped on his foot, almost seem to carry a deeper meaning considering how her lavish lifestyle and unpopularity with the people were partially responsible for the bloody French Revolution.
what i learned today: in 1800 alexander hamilton and aaron burr were both defense lawyers for a guy who was accused of murder. they tried to cast suspicion on another guy who was near the scene of the crime, richard croucher. the details of what happened next are contentious, because the court transcript is vague and it honestly sounds like something either of these two fuckos would have done, so here’s a brief run-down of the two equally beautiful stories that have evolved regarding richard croucher’s day in court, paraphrased from ron chernow who was kind enough to ensure history didn’t forget this anecdote
the legend is, while croucher was testifying, hamilton held two candles under the dude’s face, giving him a “sinister glow”. he told the jury, “i conjure you to look through that man’s countenance to his conscience.” apparently spooked by a-ham’s theatrics, croucher confessed on the spot.
however! aaron burr later insisted HE was the one who put on this circus show. his version of the story is, he grabbed two candelabras and thrust them at croucher, exclaiming “BEHOLD THE MURDERER, GENTLEMEN!” croucher then ran out of the courtroom in terror
