Photos From History Thread

[AnthonyD1993]

Before:



After:

I wasn't planning on posting the post-explosion images, but since you did, I'll add a few notes regarding to the the disaster's impacts to the other reactors of the type that Chernobyl used. Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant didn't completely shut down until 2000. After Chernobyl Unit 4 exploded, the RBMK reactors (the type of reactor that Chernobyl was) were all taken offline and went through significant safety changes. Today, there are still 11 remaining operating RBMK reactors in the world- all of which are located in Russia.

 

[gnomefromnome]

...missed it by one day

*edit* one more

At 28th November of 1983, the ' TRS-80 Tandy 2000 Computer ' was released.

The Tandy 2000 was a personal computer introduced by American franchise of electronics retail stores, Radio Shack, which used the 8 MHz Intel 80186 microprocessor.

 

[Liquid]

Duke Of Windsor Meeting Adolf Hitler, 1937

Having abdicated just months prior, the former Edward VIII of the United Kingdom met with Adolf Hitler at the NSDAP leader's personal invitation.

Duke Of Windsor Inspecting An SS Squadron, 1937

The Duke was long suspected of being a sympathiser with Nazi Germany and was stationed in the Bahamas during the war as Governor-General to keep him as far away as possible. Under Operation Willi Germany tried to capture the Duke before he left for the Bahamas; their plan was to reinstate him on the British throne as a Nazi client in the event of a successful invasion of Britain.

Peace For Our Time, 1938

 

[Swagger897]

Duke Of Windsor Meeting Adolf Hitler, 1937

Having abdicated just months prior, the former Edward VIII of the United Kingdom met with Adolf Hitler at the NSDAP leader's personal invitation.

Duke Of Windsor Inspecting An SS Squadron, 1937

The Duke was long suspected of being a sympathiser with Nazi Germany and was stationed in the Bahamas during the war as Governor-General to keep him as far away as possible. Under Operation Willi Germany tried to capture the Duke before he left for the Bahamas; their plan was to reinstate him on the British throne as a Nazi client in the event of a successful invasion of Britain.

Peace For Our Time, 1939

Soooo many K98's!!! Why can't I just have one?!?!?!

 

[XS]

Auto Union Type C Streamliner with Bernd Rosemeyer driving, who famously lost his life at the wheel during a record attempt a short while later. On this particular day, however, on this track Bernd Rosemeyer set a record of an average speed of 171.78 MPH, a record which never fell.
This track is Avus, and this particular curve is the "Wall of Death".
The two other cars are an Auto Union Type C 6.0L, and a Mercedes W125, driven by Ernst von Delius and Dick Seaman, respectively.
More than the car, I find the tracks they raced on to be hugely fascinating!

 

[Liquid]

Window Tax

From 1696-1851 in England and Wales windows were under an additional form of property tax; a levy per house based on the number of windows the house had.

William III was looking to raise funds for his bankrupt court and army and the window tax was actually a secondary plan after such great opposition to the touted introduction of income tax. Members such as @Keef, @FoolKiller and @Danoff might be interested to hear that the English and Welsh were vehemently opposed to income tax in the 17th and 18th centuries as it was felt that disclosure of one's personal income was considered unacceptable Government intrusion into private matters and a threat to personal liberty.

As a compromise window tax was introduced on the basis of it being a fair tax relative to the prosperity of the taxpayer. When first introduced, the rates were as follow;

Flat rate - 2 shillings per household (£12 / €16 / US$19 adjusted for inflation)
10-20 windows - 4s per household (£24 / €30 / US$38)
20+ windows - 8s per household (£48 / €61 /US$76)

To avoid paying this tax many windows were bricked up to be reglazed at a later date but in many buildings across modern Britain one can still see remnants of 'daylight robbery'.

 

[Barra333]

That is up there on the arbitrary scale with taxing houses based on how wide they are.

 

[Liquid]

That is up there on the arbitrary scale with taxing houses based on how wide they are.

I agree. It's almost daringly caddish to even think of a window tax. As noted, this was in the days before income tax was introduced and it was actually a back-up plan because income tax was not feasible at that time. British income tax was a wartime tax in 1804 during the Napoleonic wars and wasn't a permanent tax until 1842.

I haven't read any primary resources on it but the window tax was repealled not only because the glass industry was suffering but the health of poor people was abominable due to squalid conditions hampered by a lack of daylight.

Has the width tax been repealled in Amsterdam or does it continue to this day?

 

[Barra333]

Has the width tax been repealled in Amsterdam or does it continue to this day?

Can't find anything definitive, but all references I can find to it list it in the past tense, so I assume they have moved onto something more sensible.

I find the 'you don't pay tax on it until it is finished' approach to housing quite amusing as well. Plenty of examples in South America of that one (Bolivia, Peru that I have personally seen).

 

[Touring Mars]

The Statue of Liberty in Paris, 1877-1885

 

[Keef]

Window Tax

Actually, this makes me wonder if it had ever been done here in the States. I've seen similar bricked window treatments before, always on old buildings, not necessarily abandoned, but I assumed it was done either because a real window was too expensive or was vulnerable to break-ins or for design symmetry. Very interesting.

 

[Liquid]

Atypical Photos Of Dictators Special!

Crowning of Emperor Jean-Bedel Bokassa

First serving as President (1966-72) and then President For Life (1972-1976) of the Central African Republic, Jean-Bedel Bokassa promoted himself to Emperor Jean-Bedel in December 1976. His cornoation ceremony cost $20,000,000 and bankrupted the country. The crown alone cost $5,000,000.

Bokassa was later deposed in 1979, "acquitted" of cannibalism in 1987, in gaol on other offences until 1993 and died in 1996.

The Lighter Side Of National Socialism With Adolf Hitler & Josef Goebbels

Josef Stalin Enjoying A Picnic

The famously agelastic Georgian-born Soviet dictator was known to actually be quite the party animal on occasions. Banquets of his favourite Georgian food would be consumed over a 6 hour period from 11pm-5am along with incredible amounts of drinking, games and dancing. It was considered rude to not last until the early hours of the morning.

Brezhnev Swimming

The man responsible for setting the Soviet Union back about 25 years doesn't look too comfortable taking a dip. There's also the infamous photo of him without his shirt on during a phone call, but it is not for the faint hearted.

 

[PeterJB]

Atypical Photos Of Dictators Special!

Crowning of Emperor Jean-Bedel Bokassa

First serving as President (1966-72) and then President For Life (1972-1976) of the Central African Republic, Jean-Bedel Bokassa promoted himself to Emperor Jean-Bedel in December 1976. His cornoation ceremony cost $20,000,000 and bankrupted the country. The crown alone cost $5,000,000.

Bokassa was later deposed in 1979, "acquitted" of cannibalism in 1987, in gaol on other offences until 1993 and died in 1996.

I don't think I've ever seen anyone dictate that hard before...

Anyway, here are Danish citizens celebrating liberation at the end of WW2:

 

[Bopop4]

Was going through some old photos, this is a picture of my great aunt sitting atop the 22,000lb grand slam bomb.
She was an armorer during WWII.

 

[carfanatic45]

Was doing stuff in World History class and looked up pictures of a B-25 and I discovered something very interesting. In 1945 a B-25 bomber crashed in the Empire State Building in New York City.

http://history1900s.about.com/od/1940s/a/empirecrash.htm
(More pictures in link)

 

[mister dog]

There's also the infamous photo of him without his shirt on during a phone call, but it is not for the faint hearted.

I found that as a postcard in the commie museum in Budapest and sent it to my mom

NY skyline 1970:

 

[Liquid]

Newspaper Clipping, 1917

--- --- --- --- ---

This is just brilliant;

The Long Walk

A British Army Ammunition Technician Officer approaches a suspected bomb device in Northern Ireland.

 

[JMoney]

German WWI soldier. Always thought it was a really cool photo.

 

[mister dog]

Seeing it's 100 years since millions lost their lives in WW1, and this wonderful thread needs a bump:

"Wire of death"; a wire fence build between the border of occupied Belgium and Neutral Holland by the Germans so people couldn't flee north. It was under 2000 volt electrical current so an estimated 500 people were electrocuted to their deaths, also including unfortunate instances of playing children as people weren't familiar with the whole concept.

 

[Wiegert]

Twin brothers clutching a pair of squirrel monkeys they ordered through a comic book advert in 1932. Ads for these ~$20 novelty pets gained more popularity during the 1950s and 60s.

 

[Lucas]

George Bush is informed by his chief of staff Andrew Card of the attacks on the World Trade Center during an early morning school reading event in Florida.

A cloud resulting from a nuclear bomb test can be seen on the sky near Las Vegas, in 1951.

Abraham Lincoln, delivering his second inaugural address on March 4th, 1865.

Near him, John Wilkes Booth, the man who would kill Lincoln a month later.

 

[Liquid]

Railway Derailment

Occurred during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake

Montparnasse, 1895

Train failed to stop at the buffers, ran through the concourse and crashed through the station facade. No fatalities.

 

[Dennisch]

A reunion at my high school in 1948:

The building itself is from 1903. Searching for pictures of that era as we speak.

Hilversum Central Station in 1920:

Website full of pictures of ye olde Hilversum

They even have a set of photos of the opening of a Shell station in 1973, where Gijs van Lennep came to sign autographs!

 

[PeterJB]

The former Corsham railway station in c1910:

Corsham High Street around the same time:

 

[Liquid]

A local landmark:

TSS Duke of Lancaster

A former cruise ship operated by British Railways, the 1956 built TSS Duke of Lancaster was beached near Mostyn Docks, Flintshire in 1979. It was later in use as 'the Funship' being converted into a nightclub. This was stopped in 1990 due to problems about emergency services having access to to ship; the only road leading to it passes under a railway bridge too short for emergency vehicles to go through.

Despite the rotting exterior the interior is apparently still in good condition. Since 2012 it has been covered in various graffito projects. Future plans involve turning it into an art gallery.

 

[Dennisch]

Seriously. This is by far one of the best threads on GTP.

 

[Liquid]

Seriously. This is by far one of the best threads on GTP.

Connah's Quay, Then And Now

1915

1937

2009

 

[Dennisch]

 

[Spacegoat]

Frozen Niagara Falls 1911.

 

[Mike Rotch]

Derp - links not working = /