15+ Historical Pics That Showed Us Parts Of The Past We Never Knew

This one, for instance, was a tilt table designed to uncover any heart defects she may not have known about.

As The New York Times reported, Cobb finished in the top two percentile of all those tested, but she was sadly blocked from going to space because she was a woman.

Although Congress held an inquiry to decide whether women could be astronauts in 1963, they apparently favored John Glenn's argument that "The fact that women are not in this field is a fact of our social order" over Cobb's argument that "We see, only, a place in our nation’s space future without discrimination."

According to the BBC, he was born to a well-educated family and was simply going to study law but both his older brother's execution and the radical thinking of some of his peers at university would obviously set him on a different path.

Such thinking would eventually get him expelled, but he nonetheless earned his law degree in 1891.

Here we can see him with his trainers, a father-son duo who shared the name Rantanen.

According to CNN, 4,000 U.S. military personnel had to have limbs amputated, while over 64,000 Germans were in the same boat.

This led both nations to develop mechanical limbs like the ones we see here. While American production was standardized around a model known as the Carnes arm, orthopedists, engineers and scientists in Germany came up with over 300 designs for artificial limbs.

For instance, it seems that at least one Los Angeles family during the 1910s saw nothing wrong with their young child playing with a congregation of small alligators.

As the New Yorker further outlined, this was the Windows on the World restaurant that was on the 107th floor of the World Trade Center's North Tower.

This restaurant could count Grace Kelly and Andy Warhol among its visitors and if men didn't wear a jacket like the gentlemen you see here, they couldn't be seated.

What we're looking at here is a Medium Tank M3 being driven in Detroit from the factory that built it to a place of service where it can get its main gun installed.

As F. Patrikeeff wrote, these men were members of the Asano Brigade, a force of predominantly Russian soldiers who served under the Imperial Japanese Army.

They were likely deployed to defend what was then known as the Empire of Manchuria, a state that Japan had previously invaded and that apparently had a sizable Russian community.

These are Mira Zigrin and Georges Skrigin of what was then known as Yugoslavia and they were members of the National Theater of Liberation. This performance was apparently part of the 2nd meeting of the Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia in 1943.

Skrigin would later write the book on how theater and politics can intermingle with War and Stage.

That's because it was actually a therapeutic trip for American soldiers who developed PTSD after fighting in World War I.

Of course, that was known as "shell shock" at the time.

After the final defeat of Napoleon the royal family of France would see its return as King Louis XVIII took the throne.

However, both he and his successor Charles X would have much more tumultuous reigns than their forebears and assassination attempts were fairly common.

Although Louis-Philippe came to power as the King of the French rather than the King of France to appeal to the nation's middle class, his reign was considered anachronistic and he developed a reputation for inactivity.

By 1848, he would be pushed out by yet another revolution and France would never be ruled by a king again.

We're apparently looking at a business owner and his secretary working from a Berlin pool in July.

Although a look at the temperatures of the time may not suggest this was necessary, it's not like those numbers would tell you how humid it was.

If you don't remember learning about this battle during your World War II unit in history class, that's because there was technically no enemy to fight.

As Smithsonian Magazine reported, a coastal radar system installed in California picked up a potential enemy aircraft approaching the city, which prompted the firing we see here.

However, there was no sign of any aircraft after the "battle," which likely meant they had just shelled a stray weather balloon.

As we can see, the centerpiece of that celebration is a large pyramid, but what isn't so obvious was that this structure was made entirely of captured German helmets.

This saw pilot Tony Jannus fly a businessman named Abram Pheil from St. Petersburg, Florida to Tampa in an hour-and-a-half.

The privilege of being the first person to fly this way was auctioned off, which meant that Pheil ended up paying $400 (over $8,500 in today's money) for his ticket.

As we can see from this one mowing the lawn of the U.S. Capitol at the time, they were powered by steam rather than gas or electricity.

As we can see, some castles went above and beyond the more primitive chamber pot and featured long shafts that gave the owner's waste a path to the ground.

We can also see that it was somebody's job to shovel it.

However, most of the workers we're seeing here were likely from Italy, as the governments of Belgium and Italy reached an agreement that was supposed to have Italy send over masons and other skilled craftsmen.

However, the workers who arrived were apparently less skilled than promised, so they were instead put to work in coal mines.

The Germans offered Lepa a way to avoid being executed, saying she could go if she gave them the identities of the groups' leaders and other members.

She replied saying she was not a traitor and that her comrades would reveal themselves when they avenged her death.

On the right is her sister, Anna Katarina, who remained a farmer's wife. Anna was 16 years older than her sister, which aids in them looking so wildly different but the wealth gap is evident regardless.

This photo was taken in 1900.

I always find it fascinating to see what clothes would be considered provocative in the past given what people wear today. Skirts just above the knee, two-piece bathing suits, and tank tops, oh my!

The focus in his gaze is almost mesmerizing but I'm also impressed that he painted in a full suit. That's a confident man.

It was the longest bus route in the world, run by Albert Tours, and it went like this: UK - Belgium - Germany - Austria - Yugoslavia -Bulgaria - Turkey - Iran - Afghanistan - Pakistan -India.

They were the most decorated unit for its size and length of service in the history of American warfare, earning 18,143 awards in less than two years, including 21 medals of honor.

Princess Louise was Kaiser Wilhelm’s only daughter and her wedding to Prince Ernest Augustus of Hanover is said to be one of the last great social events of European royalty before WWI.

The sheepskin was likely used for warmth but there's no denying it gives them a sort of furry, monstrous look.

Captured by photographer Kyōichi Sawada, he would go on to win the 1966 Pulitzer Prize for photography for this exact picture, titled 'Flight to Safety.'

He was killed in Cambodia in 1970, making him one of 135 photographers that would lose their lives during the Vietnam war.

The photo was taken in Belgium during the invasion of France, and as you can see the cat was sat up in a boot for the rather silly photo. Good to know funny cat pics has always been a cultural staple.

When someone asked why they added the word 'heroic' before 'naval academy', the uploader returned to answer, "In Mexico, the title 'Heroic' is given to City-states or military units for acts of bravery in war situations, in this case the Heroic [in front of] naval academy was given because of their participation in the U.S. invasion of Veracruz in [April] of 1914."

A loss of beautiful architecture, many of the reasons for demolishing it were that it wasn't originally built to be a library.

It was designed to be an opera house first, but when that fell through it became a library, which led to some issues like poor ventilation that resulted in rapid disrepair of the building.

To think where this simple demonstration took us. From building upon it until full human flight was possible, to the ability for us to go gliding as a hobby today rather than it being a singular feat of human innovation.

Someone in the comments gave a transcription of the brilliant sign at the front, which reads, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

If of African descent tear off this corner."

A powder monkey was a boy, anywhere between eight and fourteen years old, who would carry gunpowder to a ship's various artillery.

They were picked for the job based on speed and height, needing to be short and fast so they could move through the ship efficiently.

Seeing as he was exiled not long after, I think we can all take an educated guess as to which way he voted.

There's something about his dead straight look forward that's undeniably funny. A great costume too!

According to the NME, this would have given them ownership over the island of Leslo and the four smaller islands that surrounded it.

Although they did actually purchase the islands for for the equivalent of $122,415, it only took a few months before they got bored and sold them to somebody else.

At least 5 soccer stars have risen above stardom and inspired astronomers over the years, including Josef 'Pepi' Bican, Arsène Wenger, and Hungarian Ferenc Puskás (pictured).

In the examination of her life, it became known that Frida would often embrace her masculinity and challenge gender norms. These photos were also taken by her father, who clearly supported her endeavors.

Though profitable for some, the gold rush was a dangerous gamble. I was likely to either coming back empty-handed or worse, falling victim to one of the many avalanches or simply the elements.

The statue was completed in Paris, France in 1884, which means it had to be dismantled and shipped to America. It came apart into 350 pieces, which were shipped by boat in 214 separate crates.