Joe O'Donnell, the man who took this photo at Nagasaki, was sent by the U.S. military to document the damage inflicted on the Japanese homeland caused by air raids of firebombs and atomic bombs. Over the next seven months starting September 1945, he tra…
Taken in 1967 by Rocco Morabito, this photo called "The Kiss of Life" shows a utility worker named J.D. Thompson giving mouth-to-mouth to co-worker Randall G. Champion after he went unconscious following contact with a low voltage line. They h…
This photograph shows a sailor removing the manacle from a newly freed slave. The picture is part of a small collection donated by Samuel Chidwick to the Royal Naval Museum in Portsmouth. His father Able Seaman Joseph Chidwick, born in 1881, was se…
Yakov Dzhugashvili, Stalin's elder son, served in the Red Army during the Second World War, and was captured, or surrendered, in the initial stages of the German invasion of the USSR. There are still many contradictory legends in circulation about the d…
Towards the end of World War II, U.S. intelligence officials were afraid that the German dictator would flee Germany by assuming a disguise. By 1944 the world identified the man largely by his trademark toothbrush mustache and oily side-slicked hair, so…
French women who befriended the Nazis, through coerced, forced, or voluntary relationships, were singled out for shameful retribution following the liberation of France. The woman photographed here, believed to have been a prostitute who serviced German…
This powerful photo taken by Robert C. Wiles was published as a full-page image in the 12 May 1947 issue of Life Magazine. It ran with the caption: “At the bottom of the Empire State Building the body of Evelyn McHale reposes calmly in grotesque bier, h…
Roza Shanina was a Soviet sniper during World War II who was credited with fifty-nine confirmed kills, including twelve soldiers during the Battle of Vilnius. Shanina volunteered for the military after the death of her brother in 1941 and chose to be a …
This is one of the first batches of bananas that was sent to Norway. It had a weight of 3,000 kilos and came in crates/boxes. One of the people in this picture is Christian Mathiessen, the founder of Norway's biggest fruit importer, Bama. Norway was the…
A dramatic overhead shot by Neil Leifer, generally regarded as one of the greatest sporting images of all time, features the prostrate form of Cleveland Williams while Muhammad Ali strikes a victory pose during a knockdown in their 1966 title fight. As …
A somewhat odd photo and not terribly exciting unless you are aware of the details. Harold Agnew’s smile sort of disconnects the viewer from the reality of the situation. That box is the direct cause of the deaths of approximately 70,000 people. That li…
This is troopship Queen Elisabeth. Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary were used as troop transports during the Second World War. Their high speeds allowed them to outrun hazards, principally German U-boats, usually allowing them to travel without a convoy. …
A Soviet spy laughs at his executioner in a picture taken in Rukajärvi, in East Karelia, in November 1942. It has been thought within the Finnish Defence Forces that the decision to withhold pictures of the fate of Russian prisoners of war and spies may…
Bobby Fischer is considered by many to be the greatest chess player who ever lived. In this particular simultaneous exhibition, he won 47 of the matches, drew 2, and lost 1. He lost to Donn Rogosin, not a well-known player. Fischer was 21 in this pictur…
The short-barreled version of the Thompson was Winston's personal favorite weapon of all time. He looks like a gangster from an old Hollywood movie. This photo was taken during an inspection of invasion defenses near Hartlepool, on July 21, 1940. The in…
This photo at first was regarded by many editors as too disturbing to print, but later became one of the most famous images of the first Gulf War. This photo was taken by Ken Jarecke, his quote: "If I don’t photograph this, people like my mom will think…
Heinrich Himmler looks at a young Soviet prisoner of war during an official visit to Shirokaya Street Concentration Camp in Minsk, Belarus, on or about August 15, 1941. You had to be a hard man to look Himmler in the face like that. This is standing for…
In New York City, funeral services for the 28 Germans who lost their lives in the Hindenburg disaster are held on the Hamburg-American pier, on May 11, 1937. About 10,000 members of German organizations lined the pier. Seems to be a mixture of Nazi Germ…
This Soviet partisan is remarkably well equipped for the average partisan, he’s armed to the teeth: a PPSH-41 submachine gun, 1 RGD-33 grenade, 1 RPG-40 anti-tank grenade, 3 F1 grenades, a German Stielhandgranate 24, a belt of 7.62 ammunition, and 2 M1895 …
The Japanese treatment of prisoners of war in World War II was barbaric. The men shown in the above picture are part of the Sikh Regiment of the British Indian Army. All of them are sitting in the traditional cross-legged prayer position. They’re probab…