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US Marine Colonel Francis Fenton Conducting the Funeral of His Son Private First Class Mike Fenton, Okinawa, 1945

This picture depicts one of the most heart-wrenching moments to occur on Okinawa involved a family with a proud Marine heritage. Colonel (later Brigadier General) Francis I. Fenton enlisted in the Marine Corps in August 1917. He gradually rose through t…

The Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire in Historical Pictures

In the spring of 1906 San Francisco was a city boasting 410,000 inhabitants — a world-class metropolis whose citizens, at the dawn of a new century, looked forward with a sense of civic pride and growing confidence. San Francisco’s very existence was th…

Yang Kyoungjong,: The Only Known Soldier to Have Fought on Three Sides of a War, 1944

He was Korean – captured by the Japanese and pressed to fight the Soviets, captured by the Soviets and pressed to fight the Germans, captured by the Germans and pressed to defend Normandy, where he was captured by the Americans. This is the story of Yang K…

The Story of Berlin Wall in Historical Pictures From 1961-1989

Erected in the dead of night on August 13, 1961, the Berlin Wall (known as Berliner Mauer in German) was a physical division between West Berlin and East Germany. Its purpose was to keep disaffected East Germans from fleeing to the West. When the Berlin…

Grand Central Terminal in Rare Pictures From 1900s-1910s

New York Central's breathtaking Grand Central Terminal (or GCT) is a New York City landmark and world-famous station. It was built during the Golden Age of rail travel and exemplified the power and scope railroads wielded at that time. While the termina…

Operation Barbarossa in Rare Pictures, 1941

Operation Barbarossa (Unternehmen Barbarossa) was the German codename for Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II, which commenced on June 22, 1941. It was to be the turning point for the fortunes of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich, i…

The American Civil War in Historical Pictures (Part Two), 1861-1865

The second part of the American Civil War photo collection covers the people of the Civil War: the generals, slaves, civilians, politicians, and soldiers that lived through those turbulent years. For other parts: The American Civil War in pictures (part…

The American Civil War in Historical Pictures (Part One), 1861-1865

The Civil War was certainly the most catastrophic event in American history. More than 600,000 Northerners and Southerners died in the war, a greater number than all those who had died in all other American wars combined.  (The other parts of these…

The Tiananmen Square Protests in Rare Pictures, 1989

The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 culminating in the Tiananmen Square Massacre were a series of demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square in the People's Republic of China (PRC) between April 15 and June 4, 1989. They were mainly led by Beijing st…

Rescued Slaves Crowd the Deck of the HMS Daphne, 1868

Rescued East African slaves taken from a dhow aboard HMS Daphne, a British naval ship used to prevent the transportation of enslaved people. They were freed from Arab slave traders between November 1st and 4th of 1868. The HMS Daphne was sailing along t…

Attack on Pearl Harbor in Rare Historical Pictures, 1941

The Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor began just before 8 a.m. local time Sunday morning, December 7, 1941. For over an hour, in two waves, some 350 Japanese aircraft—having taken off from six aircraft carriers 230 miles north of Oahu—attacked th…

Battle of Britain in Rare Historical Pictures From 1940

In the summer and fall of 1940, German and British air forces clashed in the skies over the United Kingdom, locked in the largest sustained bombing campaign to that date. Victory for the Luftwaffe in the air battle would have exposed Great Britain to in…

The Soviet War in Afghanistan in Rare Historical Pictures, 1979-1989

The Soviet War in Afghanistan was a nine-year period involving the Soviet forces and the Mujahideen insurgents that were fighting to overthrow Afghanistan's Marxist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) government. The Soviet Union supported t…

German Invasion of Western Europe and the Fall of France Through Rare Pictures From 1940

In the spring of 1940, an emboldened Germany asserted itself as a modern conqueror of nations, successfully invading and occupying six countries in fewer than 100 days. On April 9, 1940, Germany invaded Denmark, which capitulated in a mere six hours. At…

Chinese Americans Labeling Themselves to Avoid Being Confused with the Hated Japanese Americans, 1941

World War II brought momentous change to America's Chinese community. For decades, the Chinese were vilified in America, especially in California, the center of the U.S.'s anti-Chinese feelings. The Chinese had initially come to California for the Gold …

One of the Last Cowboys of the Dying Old West Chilling in Texas, 1910

The most fascinating part about this picture is how it conveys the rapid social evolution from the era of the old west to the incredible technological advancement of the 20th century. You have to remember, this picture was taken only four years prior to Wo…

Tsarevich Nicholas (Future Tsar Nicholas II) at Nagasaki During His Eastern Journey, 1891

In the spring of 1891, the 23-year-old Russian prince Nicholas went to Far Eastern Russia for ceremonies in Vladivostok marking the start of the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railroad. On his way (by sea) he made an official visit to Japan. The Rus…

The Battle of the Somme in Historical Pictures

The Battle of the Somme, also known as the Somme Offensive, was one of the largest battles of the First World War. It was fought by the armies of the British and French empires against the German Empire and it took place between 1 July and 18 November 1…

Spyros Louis: The First Marathon Race Winner of the Modern Olympic Games, 1896

When the modern Olympics began in 1896, the initiators and organizers were looking for a great popularizing event, recalling the ancient glory of Greece. The idea of a marathon race was conceived by Michel Bréal based on the legend of Pheidippides. This…