15 Amazing Photos Showing Drug-Addled Men and Women Lying in the Opium Dens in 19th Century America

Reclining on bunk beds while sucking on opium pipes, these haunting photos provide a rare glimpse into life in America’s 19th century opium dens that prompted the country’s first crackdown on drugs. Established by the Chinese and arriving in the US via ships, the first opium dens sprung up in San Francisco’s Chinatown during theContinue reading “15 Amazing Photos Showing Drug-Addled Men and Women Lying in the Opium Dens in 19th Century America”

he Story of the Patty Hearst’s Kidnapping Through Pictures in the 1970s

Patricia Campbell Hearst (born February 20, 1954) is an American author and actress, and granddaughter of American publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst. She first became known for the events following her 1974 kidnapping by the Symbionese Liberation Army. She was found and arrested 19 months after being abducted, by which time she was a fugitiveContinue reading “he Story of the Patty Hearst’s Kidnapping Through Pictures in the 1970s”

The Ovitz Family: Extraordinary Story and Amazing Vintage Photos of the Seven Dwarfs of Auschwitz

They were known as the Seven Dwarfs of Auschwitz and subjected to sick genetic experiments by Nazi doctor Josef Mengele. But, miraculously, all seven members of the Jewish Ovitz family survived their horrifying ordeal at Hitler’s infamous death camp. The Ovitz family was a family of Romanian Jewish actors/traveling musicians who survived imprisonment at theContinue reading “The Ovitz Family: Extraordinary Story and Amazing Vintage Photos of the Seven Dwarfs of Auschwitz”

Pancho Villa Expedition: 25 Rare and Amazing Photos From the 1916 Mexican Border Campaign

At 2:30 on 9 March 1916, several hundred troops under the command of Francisco “Pancho” Villa crossed the border separating the United States and Mexico and attacked the small Army garrison at Columbus, New Mexico. The raid was a surprise to the still sleeping men of the 13th Cavalry, who were responsible for patrolling theContinue reading “Pancho Villa Expedition: 25 Rare and Amazing Photos From the 1916 Mexican Border Campaign”

Portraits of Peg Entwistle, the Young Actress Who Committed Suicide by Jumping Off the Hollywood Sign in 1932

“I am afraid, I am a coward. I am sorry for everything. If I had done this a long time ago, it would have saved a lot of pain. P.E.”In 1932, Peg Entwistle, a New York stage actress, became the symbol of the dark side of the Hollywood dream. Emboldened by her Broadway success, theContinue reading “Portraits of Peg Entwistle, the Young Actress Who Committed Suicide by Jumping Off the Hollywood Sign in 1932”

Rare Photographs Capture the Moment Some of the Nazis’ Most Notorious Murderers Were Brought to Justice, 1945

These rare photos show some of the world’s most infamous monsters just moments after their reign of terror came to an end. The pictures, which form part of a stunning group of previously unseen snaps documenting the Second World War, were found in an old suitcase belonging to a former Spitfire pilot. Nazi killers FranzContinue reading “Rare Photographs Capture the Moment Some of the Nazis’ Most Notorious Murderers Were Brought to Justice, 1945”

10 Sad and Strange Facts About Victorian Post-Mortem Photography

The invention of the daguerreotype in 1839 made portraiture much more commonplace, as many of those who were unable to afford the commission of a painted portrait could afford to sit for a photography session. This cheaper and quicker method also provided the middle class with a means for memorializing dead loved ones. Post-mortem photographyContinue reading “10 Sad and Strange Facts About Victorian Post-Mortem Photography”

125 Reasons You Could End Up in a Lunatic Asylum in the 19th Century

Reasons for admission into the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in West Virginia from 1864 to 1889 included laziness, egotism, disappointed love, female disease, mental excitement, cold, snuff, greediness, imaginary female trouble, “gathering in the head,” exposure and quackery, jealousy, religion, asthma, masturbation, and bad habits. Spouses used lunacy laws to rid themselves of their partners andContinue reading “125 Reasons You Could End Up in a Lunatic Asylum in the 19th Century”