26 Extremely Rare And Fascinating Pictures From History That Will Completely And Totally Change Your Perspective On The Past

1.

Before airplanes were pressurized for commercial use, flyers had to wear oxygen masks at higher altitudes:

2.

During World War II, the USS Trigger got close enough to Japan on patrol to take a picture through its periscope of Mount Fuji:

3.

The Michelin Man not only used to be absolutely terrifying, but he used to run with a gang of several other musically inclined Michelin men:

4.

Tourists in Egypt used to be able to climb on top of the Great Pyramid all willy-nilly:

5.

These gigantic contraptions are apparently one of the first life preservers ever made:

6.

This picture, taken in 1942, shows a New York Times employee creating that day’s layout of the Sports page:

7.

This is selection of prosthetic face parts designed for World War I veterans:

8.

Here’s what one of those prosthetics looked like in action:

9.

This is Australian javelin thrower Reg Spiers, best known for literally mailing himself in a big giant box from London to Australia in the 1960s:

10.

This is the 5x3x2.5 foot box Spiers mailed himself in:

11.

This is frogman Courtney Brown towing a 55 scale model of the Titanic during the filming of the movie Raise The Titanic:

12.

Here’s what the wreck of the model of the wreck of the Titanic looks like today:

13.

This is Robert Earl Hughes, the one-time world’s heaviest man and his pet dog:

14.

Eleven days in October had to be skipped after the Gregorian calendar was adopted in 1582:

15.

Here’s what gorilla’s fingerprint looks like compared to a human’s:

16.

This is what a whole bunch of wind turbines look like from way above:

17.

This is a replica of what was apparently the world’s largest polar bear, standing tall at 12 feet and weighing over 2,200 pounds:

18.

This is the crew of the USS Hunchback, taken in Virginia at the end of the Civil War. Unlike the army, the Union’s navy was actually integrated:

19.

This is what British World War I victory medal looks like:

20.

This is the first computer Apple ever developed:

21.

This is a Corinthian helmet and the skull that wore it from the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC:

22.

This is what a pick-up truck from 1985 looks like compared to the behemoths that are modern pick-up trucks:

23.

Owls have big ol’ long legs:

24.

This is a list of the causes of death of everyone who died in London in 1632:

25.

This was the scene aboard the ship The Queen Elizabeth as it brought soldiers back home to New York after World War II ended:

26.

And, finally, this is what Nicolas Cages’ father, August Coppola, looked like: