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:
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: