Throughout history, mankind has lived and created memorable moments , worthy of being remembered forever through photos and videos.
As we know, until the middle of the 19th century there were no ways to immortalize important moments: this is why the invention of the camera radically changed our way of life. Suddenly, we had the opportunity to have concrete proofs of what we have witnessed and to show them, in all their objectivity, to those who were not present or even to posterity.
This is precisely one of the most revolutionary aspects of photography: all the inventions created from the mid-nineteenth century onwards , from the most common to the most particular, all the events, manifestations, events have been fixed in the historical memory forever.
Many images despite their particularity have not become famous: we decided to recover them and therefore we present 12 historical moments and related photos that will leave you speechless!
1) Woman with crinoline, London, 1860
The crinoline, a sort of rigid petticoat that served to keep the skirts of noble women fluffy and puffy, was created by the Frenchman M. Oudinot in about 1840 . The name of this accessory comes from the element that constitutes it: it was in fact made up of horsehair intertwined with linen or silk threads. The crinoline was water resistant, did not spoil easily and was more flexible than the wooden “cages” that were previously worn. The culmination of this accessory’s success came during the Victorian era : it seems to have been the Eugenia , wife of Napoleon III, to make this garment so desired by all European noblewomen. The decline of crinoline fashion began around 1860, thankfully!
2) Miss Lovely Eyes Contest, Florida, 1930
That is, Miss Beautiful Eyes . The girls participating in the competition had to wear a mask that covered the face, leaving only the eyes visible : this was necessary so that the jury was not distracted by the face as a whole. The result is a somewhat creepy photo and perhaps a way to… Silence women?
3) Operation Babylift, 1975
During the terrible invasion war of North Vietnam against the South, the city of Da Nang had fallen in March 1975 and Saigon was on the verge of collapse for good. On April 3 of the same year, Gerald Ford announced that the US government would start an evacuation operation of orphans in a series of 30 scheduled flights aboard C 5A aircraft. “Operation babylift “, so the evacuation was called . mass carried out between 4 and 19 April by American soldiers in South Vietnam. More than 3,000 childrenthey were transported overseas and adopted by families in the United States, Canada and Europe. However, there have been many accusations against what was considered a real kidnapping: were the children really all orphans? Were they saved or uprooted from their land?
4) Wooden swimwear, 1925
In the 1920s, a new fashion arrived to help those who wanted to learn to swim: the wooden bathing suit ! This material, due to its physical characteristics, would have helped the bather to float. The first to try it were obviously the women with a nice full swimsuit. But had no one thought about the splinters?
5) Beauty contest for ankles, 1930
If you thought you saw them all, you were wrong. After Miss Lovely Eyes , in which the participants were forced to wear a mask that left only the eye area uncovered, here is the ankle contest . Yes, the girls had to strictly show the ankle which was then judged by its lines. Here we see an example with a 1930 photo in which a police officer acted as a juror.
6) “Portable living room” – 1967
This was the first prototype of a portable living room, an innovative model that immediately aroused general hilarity. Designed by Austrian architect Walter Pichler , what has been called “portable lounge” is a white painted polyester helmet, with integrated TV. It was the time of the Cold War and this invention already represented a criticism of the isolation to which the media induce and the “bombardment” that these operate against the population.
7) Flood in Paris, 1924
The Seine is one of the main rivers of the state of France and measures 776 km . The low slope that the course of the Seine encounters in the valley between the Ile de France and Normandy has generated meanders over the centuries, i.e. areas of stagnation of water and accumulation of sediments. Precisely for this reason, these points correspond to a greater risk of flooding caused by the rising tide. Paris knows this phenomenon very well: the floods of the Seine follow one another with agonizing regularity, and the terrible floods of 1910 or 1924 are still vivid today . And precisely 1924 given the photo you see: surviving Parisians walk on an emergency passage created with outdoor chairsof the surrounding bars and, below them, meters of muddy water.
8) Dinasphere, 1932
In 1934 , the inventor John Archibald patented this vehicle with “natural” traction: it was in fact designed and built in such a way that it moved simply thanks to kinetic energy . Archibald, also known as JA, was inspired by the innovative and futuristic designs of Leonardo Da Vinci: when Archibald decided to try to build his personal dynasphere there were already more ancient prototypes, such as that of Alfred E. D’Harlingue of 1917 . Archibald argued that the dynasphere was an inexpensive means of transport (even in its construction), easy to use and that could be transformed into a brilliant alternative to fuel-powered vehicles.(which at the time barely reached 40 km per hour). He died for no apparent reason a few weeks after the patent was published. Coincidence?
9) Russian defense weapons, 1917
At the dawn of the First World War, this acoustic device was created in Russia capable of recognizing and amplifying the sounds emitted by German vehicles from miles away. The soldiers could hear the noises of a fleet of planes, an army on wheels or even on foot and, consequently, organize the defense plan, anticipating the moves of the enemies.
10) Pub at home, Normandy, 1945
Soldiers in war are subjected to constant stress: away from home, they face danger every day and are surrounded by the death of their comrades. From the most ancient times, however, there is a remedy for sorrows and fear: alcohol . For this reason, during the Second World War a section of the British military aviation was created dedicated only to the transport of barrels of beer destined for fighters in Normandy.
11) A Sea of Hats, New York, 1939
Interesting is the view from above of the Empire State Building in this black and white shot, dated 1934: not a single head can be seen without a hat. Just think of the cult films of those years, made up of gangsters, cigarette in mouth and revolver. The so-called borsalino can in fact be considered one of the symbols of both male and female fashion of the Thirties.
12) Salvador Dali walking with his pet, Barcelona, 1969
Only the eccentric and irresistible artist Salvador Dali could afford to walk around Barcelona on a leash, not a very ordinary dog, but an exotic anteater . In fact, it was later discovered that the anteater was only used for the unusual photo. However, Dali still had an ocelot (an ocelot) as a pet, which was called Babou.