Historical pictures

[Sugar Ape]

Cabinet Ministers lined up to be executed after a coup d'état in Liberia, 1980.

 

 

State funeral of Sir Winston Churchill.

 

[Sugar Ape]

A native American man overlooking the newly completed transcontinental railroad in Nevada, 1868.

 

 

A beggar running alongside King George V's coach. England, c. 1920

 

[Sugar Ape]

The reaction of German prisoners of war, who were forced to watch footage of what happened in the concentration camps.

 

 

The first photo upon discovery of Machu Picchu, 1912.

 

[Sugar Ape]

Martin Luther King Jr. removing a burned cross from his front yard. His son is at his side. Atlanta, GA, 1960.

 

 

The last known Tasmanian Tiger photographed in 1933. The species is now extinct.

 

[Sugar Ape]

On Sunday, 3rd September 1967, Sweden changed from driving of the left to driving on the right. This is what happened.

 

 

A different angle taken of "Tank Man," the man who stood against a line of tanks in Tiananmen Square.

 

[moof]

What an amazing tread,some unbelievable photos.

Hear, hear. Thread of the year contender. Good job lads

[Tom araya]

That Sweden photo is just so funny.

[Sugar Ape]

The Human Statue of Liberty. 18000 men were used for this photo! Iowa, 1918

 

 

Muhammad Ali and Andre the Giant meet, and compare the size of their hands

 

[Dougie Do'ins]

 

        

Bruce Grobbelaar leaves the pitch as disaster unfolds behind his goal.

[Alan Sex]

 

Sid and Nancy

[Alan Sex]

 

Bowie. Pop. Reid.

[Alan Sex]

 

Iggy Pop hiding a small marsupial.

[Alan Sex]

 

The Damned, mucking about.

[Lee909]

Hendrix at Woodstock

[Lee909]

Some are clad in their distinctive tosei-gusoku, or plated armour, while some look slightly less ready for combat in kimono style robes.

 

 

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Ruling class: A group of samurai warriors in their traditional armour and brandishing bow and arrows and swords are pictured in the 19th century

 

 

 

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Armed and deadly: These Samurai are both seen clutching katana, or swords. The Samurai was the highest social caste until it was abolished as part of the Meiji reforms in the late 19th century

But almost all are clutching the Samurai's most famous, and perhaps most deadly, weapon - the iconic Samurai sword.

Two of the images depict a group taking part in a ceremonial suicide known as harakiri, part of the warrior code which saw Samurai disemboweled to fall with honour rather than be defeated by their enemy

Thought to have been taken in the 1860s, the portraits were made at a time when of great change in terms of rule for Japan.

 

The Edo period had seen the feudal military government the Tokugawa Shogunate rule Japan for more than 250 years, and the establishment of a rigid social caste system that would see the Samurai placed at the top.

But Edo, or modern Tokyo, was about to fall and Emperor Meiji was to sweep to power, spelling the beginning of the end for the Samurai, or bushi as they were also known.

The Samurai originated in the Heian period dating back to 710 and in particular campaigns to subdue the native Emirishi in the Tohuku region of the northern part of Honshu.

 

 

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Last hurrah: A group from the Satsuma clan are pictured during the Boshin War in 1868, shortly before the demise of the samurai

 

 

 

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Respect: A pair of warriors take part in a traditional samurai ceremony. The samurai were bound by a set of Confucian influenced rules that came to be known as bushid¿

Over the centuries they became more and more powerful and eventually became the 'warrior nobility' of Japan, making up the ruling class from about the 12th to the 19th century.

The Samurai followed a set of Confucian influenced rules that came to be known as bushidō - literally 'the way of the warrior'.

The unwritten and unspoken code emphasised frugality, loyalty, martial arts mastery, and honor unto death.

But the code also evolved to stress heroic bravery, fierce family pride, and selfless, at times senseless devotion of master and man.

 

 

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Ritual: A group of samurai pictured taking part in a ceremonial suicide known as harakiri, part of the bushido code which saw warriors disemboweled to fall with honour rather than be defeated by their enemy

During the 15th and 16th centuries there were many warring factions, but later wars reduced in number.

The fearsome warriors wore plate armour and a vast array of weapons including the bow and arrow, spears, guns, and of course, the Samurai sword.

But as peace seemed to endure during the Edo period, many became teachers, artists or bureaucrats as the need for martial skills became less important.

And when Emperor Meiji came to power in 1868 he began to abolish the Samurai's powers.

Firstly, he stripped their right to be the only armed force in Japan and began to introduce a western style conscripted army from 1873.

One of the pictures in the collection shows some of the Satsuma faction of the Samurai fighting in one of its last hurrahsin 1868, the Boshin War - an attempt to return political power to the imperial court.

The Samurai became the shizoku, merging with another social class under Meiji reforms and the right to wear a katana (sword) was lost along with the power to execute anyone who disrespected them in public.

The name shizoku continued to be a part of Japanese culture until the end of World War Two but was outlawed in 1947.

Despite the Samurai making up no more than 10 per cent of the Japanese population at its height, its influence is still heavily seen in Japanese culture, in particular modern martial arts.

 

 

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Doomed: A kneeling samurai warrior understandably looks glum as he is about to take part in a ritual suicide ceremony

[Alan Sex]

Sex Pistols Jubilee boat trip, 1977.

 

[Alan Sex]

The Twickenham Streaker.

 

[Sugar Ape]

Che Guevara and Fidel Castro playing golf to mock Eisenhower, 1962.

 

 

Fidel Castro leaps off a tank during the Bay of Pigs Invasion - April 17, 1961.

 

[Red Lead]

OJ Simpson carries the Olympic Torch in 1984. Nicole Brown can be seen on the left.

[Sugar Ape]

Boxing Match At Yankee Stadium, 1923.

 

 

Camp Nou, 1909

 

[Lee909]

Mahatma Gandhi on the Salt march

 

 

 

Gandhi with 6 year old Indira Gandhi daughter of Nehru and future Indian PM, 

 

The crowd during Gandhi's funeral procession 

[Red Lead]

Children run into a candy store following the end of sweets rationing in 1953.

 

The Japanese War Tuba used to locate enemy aircraft before the invention of radar.

 

Ham the chimp returns to earth following his historic 16 minute space flight in 1961.

 

Lion in a sidecar on the Wall of Death: Revere, MA circa 1929

 

Kennedy family leaves the funeral of John F. Kennedy in 1963.

[The Acolyte]

Theres video of that on youtube, the sheer anguish and frustration in Purleys actions is heartbreaking. When he realises he can't get Williamson out by himself, he tries to flag down other drivers as they're the only other ones wearing flameproof suits, and could have helped. Marshalls weren't issued with that kind of gear then, but they were after this incident.

 

 

This may be up there with the saddest pictures I've ever seen. We can only imagine the levels of poverty that would drive someone to do something like this.

The reason the other drivers didn't stop is that they thought Purley was the driver of the car on fire. They had no idea the driver was still inside.

Theres video of that on youtube, the sheer anguish and frustration in Purleys actions is heartbreaking. When he realises he can't get Williamson out by himself, he tries to flag down other drivers as they're the only other ones wearing flameproof suits, and could have helped. Marshalls weren't issued with that kind of gear then, but they were after this incident.

 

 

This may be up there with the saddest pictures I've ever seen. We can only imagine the levels of poverty that would drive someone to do something like this.

[Boss]

 

An iraqi child jumps over the remains of victims found in a mass grave in Baghdad. The victims were killed by Saddam Hussein's government during a Shiite uprising following the first gulf war.

[Lee909]

Wild Bill Hickok

 

 

 

 

Annie Oakley

 

Dr John Henry (Doc) Holiday