BONJOUR MES AMIS: A Different View of Moments that Shaped the World

A Different View of Moments that Shaped the World

History is filled with defining moments. Some are all encompassing, some only touch few individuals in the beginning. Eventually though, these moments impact us all. Sometimes, though, it’s great to look at those historical moments from a slightly different angle.

The Terra Nova Expedition to the South Pole, 1912

Officially known as the “British Antarctic Expedition” and led by Robert Falcon Scott, the primary objective was to perform scientific experiments, observations and gathering of specimens with a secondary objective of being the first to reach the geographical South Pole. When the team arrived at the pole on 17 January 1912, they discovered that a Norwegian team had already reached the pole 33 days earlier. On their way back from the pole, all of the members of the team perished. Eight months later, a search party discovered some of their bodies, journals, and photographs.

The photoshoot for the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

The eighth studio album by the Beatles was Released on 1 June 1967 and became an immediate success. Hailed by Time magazine as "a historic departure in the progress of music". It won four Grammy Awards in 1968.

A Native American, looking at the transcontinental railroad, 1868

The First Transcontinental Railroad (originally: "Pacific Railroad"), constructed 1863-1869 across the western United States to connect the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. The new transcontinental transportation network revolutionized the economy and brought the western states and territories firmly and profitably into the "Union", while making transportation quicker, cheaper, and more flexible.

The original Hollywood sign originally read “Hollywoodland”, 1923

The name "Hollywood" was coined by H. J. Whitley, the "Father of Hollywood". On February 1, 1887, Harvey. H. Wilcox filed a deed and map of property he sold with the Los Angeles County Recorder's office, named "Hollywood, California". By 1900, the region had a post office, newspaper, hotel, and two markets.

The last pictures taken of the Titanic above water, 1912

The RMS Titanic, a British passenger liner, sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in 15 April 1912. The Titanic, the largest ship at the time, deemed an “unsinkable ship”, sank after colliding with an iceberg. The sinking of Titanic was one of the deadliest maritime disasters in modern history.

Officials try to remove Kathrine Switzer from the Boston Marathon

While attending college, Switzer entered and completed the race in 1967. She registered under the gender-neutral "K. V. Switzer", which she insists was not done in an attempt to mislead the officials. Race official Jock Semple attempted to physically remove her from the race. Switzer's boyfriend, who was running with her, shoved Semple aside and sent him flying. The photographs taken of the incident made world headlines

Salvador Dali, after finishing the portrait of Raquel Welch, 1965

Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, 1st Marqués de Dalí de Pubol (May 11, 1904 – January 23, 1989), known as Salvador Dalí, was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Spain. A known womanizer and eccentric, he also owned a pet anteater and an ocelot.

The first game in the World Series, 1912

The World Series is an annual championship series of North American Major League Baseball, played since 1903. This image is of the first game in the series between the New York Giants and the Boston Red Sox on October 8, 1912 .

The First Ever Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, 1931

The unofficial tradition began during the Depression-era construction of Rockefeller Center. Workers decided to decorate a 20 feet (6.1 m) balsam fir tree with "strings of cranberries, garlands of paper, and even a few tin cans" on Christmas Eve (December 24, 1931).

Neil Armstrong after his historical walk on the moon, 1969

The first humans on the Moon (Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin) landed as part of the Apollo 11 mission, on July 20, 1969. Armstrong became the first to step onto the lunar surface and spent about two and a half hours outside the spacecraft.

The first Saturday after the unification of East and West Germany, 1989

The German reunification was the process in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany and formed what is now modern-day Germany, with Berlin reunited into a single city.

“Tank Man” in Tiananmen Square, China, 1989

A different angle of the famous picture from the 1989 Tiananmen Square protest’s, in which a man believed to be Wang Weilin (white shirt, left of the buldozer), stood in front of a column of tanks, obstructing their way. The incident was filmed and made headlines across the world.

A view from above of Kennedy’s funeral in the Capitol building, 1963

John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), was an American politician who served as the 35th President of the United States from January 1961 until he was assassinated in November 1963.

The Models for the famous American Gothic painting, 1930

American Gothic by Grant Wood, one of the most familiar images in 20th-century American art, shows a farmer standing beside his spinster daughter - modeled by the artist's sister and their dentist.

The streets of New York, a day after the WWII victory celebrations, 1945

After news of the Japanese acceptance Americans began celebrating. In the Garment District of New York, workers threw out cloth scraps and ticker tape, leaving a pile five inches deep on the streets.

Thousands gathering to mourn the death of Abraham Lincoln, 1865

United States President Abraham Lincoln was shot on April 14, 1865, while attending a play. Lincoln was the first American president to be assassinated. His assassination had a long-lasting impact upon the United States, and he was mourned throughout the country in both the North and South.

The opening of the Golden Gate Bridge, 1937

The Golden Gate Bridge spans the Golden Gate strait, a channel between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The bridge links the city of San Francisco with Marin County, bridging both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1 across the strait. It is one of the most recognized symbols of San Francisco, California, and the United States. The day before vehicle traffic was allowed, 200,000 people crossed the Golden Gate Bridge by foot and roller skates.

A different angle of Martin Luther King Jr’s “I have a dream” speech, 1963

"I Have a Dream" - a speech calling to end racism in the United States, delivered by civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr. on August 28, 1963. Over 250,000 civil rights supporters gathered at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to hear the speech that became a defining moment of the American Civil Rights Movement.

The first mechanical flight over the Statue of Liberty, 1909

During New York City's Hudson-Fulton celebrations, Wilbur Wright flew the famous Model-A plane, and circled the Statue of Liberty as part of a 33-minute flight up and down the Hudson River. This flight was observed by over a million New-Yorkers.

The filming of the famous MGM Lion, 1929

Slats the lion, was the first lion used for the MGM logo. Born at the Dublin Zoo in 1919, Slats was used on all black-and-white MGM films between 1924 and 1928.

The signing of the treaty of Versailles, 1918

The Treaty of Versailles ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers and was signed on 28 June 1919.

The Washington Monument during the construction halt, 1857

The Washington Monument is an obelisk on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington. The monument is the world's tallest stone structure and the world's tallest obelisk, standing 555 feet 5 1⁄8 inches (169.294 m) tall. Construction began in 1848, but was halted from 1854 to 1877 due to a lack of funds and the beginning of the American Civil War. It was finally completed in 1884.