Bruce Wilson Jr.

Images from Strange But True Stories
Sometimes you have to see history to believe it. Discover the strange side of the past with images from Strange But True Stories.

Born on a Tennessee plantation, Nat Love became a cowboy and rodeo star. "In those days on the great cattle ranges, there was no law but the law of might," Love wrote in his 1907 memoir.

A 1930 calendar from the Soviet Union shows color-coded five-day weeks. Workers were expected to show up every day except their designated rest day. The confusing system meant that Soviets did not have weekends for 11 years.

Violet Jessup became known as "Miss Unsinkable" after surviving the sinking of the Titanic and the Britannica.

Look closer––this necklace uses Brazilian beetles as a fashionable accessory. The 1900 drawing shows the trend for insect jewelry in the Victorian era.

The many different versions of early bicycles, including Drais's "running machine" and the penny-farthing.

Issued in 1862, the very first one dollar bill didn't carry George Washington's portrait. Instead, the single showed Salmon P. Chase, who was Secretary of the Treasury at the time.

The world's first skyscraper, the Home Insurance Building in Chicago, dates to 1885. Quickly, architects dwarfed the historic building with even taller skyscrapers

A 1375 map shows Marco Polo and other Venetian merchants crossing the Silk Road on a camel-led caravan.

One of the last photographs of Amelia Earhart, standing with the plane she would attempt to fly around the world in 1937.

Nikola Tesla revolutionized electricity and conducted critical experiments with generators and X-rays. He even built one of the first wirelessly controlled boats.

Although he was remembered as a frontiersman with a coonskin cap, Davy Crockett was a Congressman who also wore suits.

Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius considered himself a stoic in the Greek school. He ruled the Roman Empire from 161-180.

Fifteen years after accidentally discovering penicillin, the first antibiotic, Alexander Fleming helped create synthetic antibiotics to treat soldiers during World War II.

One of the earliest photographs ever taken dates to Oct. 1839. Robert Cornelius of Philadelphia captured a self-portrait outside his lamp and chandelier store. The first daguerreotypes sometimes required an exposure time of over ten minutes, so subjects had to hold incredibly still.

Before insulin, Type 1 diabetes was a death sentence. These photographs, taken four months apart, show how insulin treatments revolutionized treating diabetes.

Thomas Edison holding a lightbulb in 1883. Between 1879 and 1883, Edison figured out how to extend a single lightbulb's lifetime from 14.5 hours to 1,200 hours.

Horatio Nelson ignored a commander's order on purpose by holding a telescope to his blind eye and claiming he never saw the signal––giving us the phrase "turn a blind eye."

One of the earliest modern ice-breaker ships, the Yrmack. Built in 1898 for the Russian Imperial Navy, the Yrmack was the first polar icebreaker that could crush pack ice floating on polar waters.

A 1774 caricature of a man wearing an enormous wig. The style of important people wearing large wigs gave us the phrase "bigwig."

The first recorded use of "don't throw the baby out with the bathwater"––which dates all the way back to 1512––included this useful visual aid.

A still-life painting of a pineapple from c. 1800 shows the fruit on display, not for eating. Aristocrats would often surround a pineapple centerpiece with cheaper fruits so they could reuse the tropical fruit, which had become a status symbol.

The first European forks usually had only two tines, like this 15th-century Italian fork. Over time, forks began to have more tines.

In 1930, Popular Science published a photograph of an electric bread slicer in a St. Louis, Missouri bakery. These slicing machines quickly spread to every bakery.

A 14th-century Dutch miniature showing an eel. In the medieval period, some people paid their rent with eels and treated them like currency.

In 1893, a real estate developer named Orlando Ferguson designed a map of the flat Earth. Ferguson claimed the map aligned with scripture.

The Boston molasses disaster sent an eight-foot wave of molasses down a crowded city street. This 1919 photograph shows the aftermath of the disaster.

An 18th-century apothecary container selling "mumia," the name for ground mummies used in medical treatments.

Dr. Robert Liston performs an operation with a crowd of spectators. One of Liston's operations reportedly had a 300% mortality rate.

During dancing plagues, victims twisted and turned uncontrollably, claiming they could not stop. The artist Pieter Bruegel the Younger captured dancing mania in a 16th-century painting.

The Revigator promised to turn regular water radioactive–– which, according to the inventors, "both creates cellular energy and removes cellular poisons." Of course, radioactive water was a terrible idea.

The Amazons of Dahomey––a group of elite women warriors–– visited Paris in 1891 for this photograph. Barely a decade later, their kingdom collapsed under a French attack and became a colony.

In the 15th century BCE, the Egyptians depicted a delegation from Punt that brought gifts to the pharaoh.

Ancient Egyptian tomb workers did more than construction––they were also artisans who made luxury goods and painted the walls of tombs. And because they were one of the most respected groups in ancient Egypt, their labor strike had large consequences.

Ancient Rome was known for its public architecture, including public latrines. This example comes from Ostia Antica, Rome's port city.

The Airavatesvara Temple, built in the 12th century by the Chola emperor Rajaraja II, is one of hundreds of Chola-era Hindu temples that dot Southern India.

Three years before the arrival of Halley's Comet in 1910, a Kentucky newspaper worried that the comet might collide with Earth. The comet's appearance triggered a panic after a scientist warned that it could fill the atmosphere with deadly gas.

A depiction of a 17th-century blood transfusion, which shows the process. Physicians believed it was immoral to take blood from another human, since donors often died, so they used animals as donors.

A photograph of Marie Curie taken around the time she discovered two radioactive elements. Years later, exposure to radiation would kill the scientist.

Almost immediately after the discovery of X-rays, doctors began using them to treat patients. This 1904 image shows an X-ray of a hand.

Antoine Lavoisier and his wife Marie-Anne Paulze Lavoisier worked together. Because Antoine could not read English, his wife translated all his correspondence with Joseph Priestley and other British scientists. Marie-Anne also documented her husband's experiments.

In 2015, the New Horizons spacecraft sent back the highest- definition images of Pluto. Ironically, the spacecraft launched when Pluto was considered a planet but didn't reach the Kuiper Belt until after Pluto was downgraded to a dwarf planet.

Claudette Colvin was the first person arrested for refusing to move to the back of segregated buses in Montgomery, Alabama––nine months before Rosa Parks. And Claudette was only fifteen years old.

Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, became a hero in the Soviet Union. She was also a major in the Soviet Air Forces.

After single-handedly defeating the Nazis twice, Audie Murphy went to Hollywood. The decorated veteran had a long career in the movies.

In 1848, Ignaz Semmelweis asked his physician colleagues to wash their hands. He even proved how one simple change could save lives. But the doctors declined, saying a gentleman's hands were always clean.

Investigative journalist Nellie Bly went undercover at an insane asylum to write a shocking expose. Her series changed how mental health hospitals operated.

Today, James Garfield almost certainly would survive the assassination attempt that claimed his life in 1881. It wasn't the bullet that killed Garfield––it was likely infection from doctors attempting to remove the bullet without sanitizing their instruments.

Emperor Norton demanded equal treatment for Black and Chinese Americans––making him one of the most progressive "rulers" of the 1800s

In this c. 1899 photograph, the light fixture has been converted from gas-powered to electric. The White House requires regular upgrades to keep it modern.

John Leach, the New York City Deputy Police Commissioner, stands by as agents pour bootleg liquor into the sewer. Police raids could barely keep up with the flow of illegal alcohol during Prohibition.

First Lady Grace Coolidge holding Rebecca the Raccoon. The raccoon barely ranks in the top ten for strangest presidential pets.

In 1869, Harper's Weekly published an image of "Uncle Sam's Thanksgiving Dinner" that proclaimed "Free and Equal," and "Come one, Come All" with images of Americans of all races and backgrounds.

An 1870 engraving shows an American family decorating their Christmas tree with candles and toys. The mid-1800s were a turning point where Christmas trees became popular in America.

Candy canes were popular Christmas treats by the 1800s. Today's red and white, peppermint flavored candy cane took over the market by 1900.

The tradition of dressing in costumes predates trick-or-treating, which wasn't common until the 1950s.

A 1902 cartoon shows Uncle Sam telling a worried Lady Peace, "It's all right. There's no fighting. The noise you hear is just my family celebrating!"

From 1951-1957, Lucille Ball starred in "I Love Lucy." And for the rest of her life, Ball ran a production company that produced mega-hits like "Mission: Impossible" and "Star Trek."

Hollywood history buffs might recognize actress Hedy Lamarr. But few know that she's also known as the "mother of Wi-Fi."

Leonardo da Vinci sketched many views of Tuscany and the Arno Valley. He also teamed up with Niccolo Machiavelli to reroute the Arno River and steal it from Florence's great rival, Pisa.

When John Singer Sargent painted his famous portrait Madame X, one of the subject's straps hung from her shoulder. The scandal forced the artist to change his painting.

Actress Clara Bow became the embodiment of the flapper era. But behind the scenes, she described her life as a tragedy.

At eighteen years old, the future Queen Elizabeth II trained as an auto mechanic. Princess Elizabeth learned how to drive ambulances and repair army vehicles.

Tug-of-war used to be an Olympic sport. At the tug-of-war finals during the 1900 Olympics, the Scandinavians battled the French for gold.
