There's a forum on reddit called History Porn and it showcases historically strange, fascinating, important...what have you...pictures from the earliest forms of the medium to the near present. I thought it would be cool to post anything of historical interest or importance that you find online.
I'll start with this in honor of my recent DC trip...the earliest known picture of the capitol building and white house. Taken in 1846 believe it or not.
Re: History Porn
Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2015 4:59 pm
by scumdevils86
Aerial photographs of Boston taken from a balloon in October 1860
Re: History Porn
Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2015 5:08 pm
by Longhorned
scumdevils86 wrote:Aerial photographs of Boston taken from a balloon in October 1860
What are all those things on the roofs that I'd otherwise think are HVAC units and solar panels?
Re: History Porn
Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2015 5:12 pm
by azgreg
Satellite dishes.
Re: History Porn
Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2015 8:24 pm
by scumdevils86
First picture of American war dead presented to the public in September 1943. It was taken during the battle of Buna in New Guinea in February 1943 in Life magazine. President Franklin D. Roosevelt approved its publication. President Roosevelt feared that the American public might be growing complacent about the war and its horrific toll.
To further show the potential diversity of this thread...here's a picture of Steve Buscemi from 1976 when he was a member of the FDNY.
Re: History Porn
Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2015 10:29 am
by scumdevils86
first photograph of the sun. a daguerreotype taken in 1845
Re: History Porn
Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2015 9:27 pm
by ASUHATER!
Re: History Porn
Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2015 9:57 pm
by JMarkJohns
I've been stockpiling pics for my science and psychology of photography class this June. As I organize and prep for the course I look forward to contributing to this thread.
Very cool. Looking it up 1,714,000 German soldiers went MIA. No doubt many ended up as tree fertilizer. I had a distant relative who ended up as a Russian POW, but made it back to Germany in the late 1940s. One of the very few. His home was turned over to the Poles so he ended up in Hamburg.
When I was in Okinawa in the late 1970s I could not believe the number of other GIs with metal detectors. Unexploded ordinance was found every day, often in old tombs. One time some military brats went exploring the old tombs and blew themselves up.
JMarkJohns wrote:In lieu of the weekend:
Bet Hitler was really pissed they spelled Adolf wrong.
Re: History Porn
Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2015 8:33 pm
by scumdevils86
Dozens of F4U Corsairs and F6F Hellcats sit unused in a Navy dirigible hangar waiting to be shipped to the Pacific Fleet circa 1944-45
Re: History Porn
Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2015 8:43 pm
by scumdevils86
Night scene (longer exposure) of the trenches of the western front circa 1917 take by a British photographer.
Re: History Porn
Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2015 8:58 pm
by scumdevils86
Original color pictures of San Francisco in 1906 taken 6 months after the quake. Fascinating.
Re: History Porn
Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2015 11:16 pm
by scumdevils86
A picture that says more than 1000 words. Marines during the Battle of Cape Gloucester on the island of New Britain, 1944. Posing with captured Japanese battle flags. That is the look of a group of guys who have seen a lot of shit and had to do and endure a lot of horrifying things.
Re: History Porn
Posted: Sun May 03, 2015 4:38 pm
by Merkin
Buffalo skulls. I imagine the meat was all left to rot after the fur was removed.
Re: History Porn
Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2017 7:29 am
by UAEebs86
Another good follow on Twitter. This woman does some amazing work with digital colorization:
Re: History Porn
Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2020 8:26 pm
by Longhorned
I have a lot of romanticism about us all rising to the occasion and beating this pandemic like the Greatest Generation emerged victorious from World War II and created further greatness. Then I saw this:
"What you got to say for yourself? Been drinking a lot of sodas?"
Maybe we should just quit now.
Re: History Porn
Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2024 7:40 pm
by Merkin
Thought we had a "this day in history" thread but couldn't find it.
Never seen a phenomena like the Beatles since.
Re: History Porn
Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2024 7:43 pm
by UAEebs86
Merkin wrote: ↑Fri Feb 09, 2024 7:40 pm
Thought we had a "this day in history" thread but couldn't find it.