Rare Historical Pictures Reveal A Different Side To The Past Than You Already Knew

By Lyra Radford | November 29, 2016

One would expect history to be a pretty solid subject after all isn’t it merely a retelling of what’s occurred? Yes and no. History is a retelling, but because it’s based on facts and new facts come to light every day, it can never be static.    

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50th anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg, Union and Confederate veterans shake hands. Source: Pinterest

History is always being written and rewritten. Just when you think you’ve got the story straight, it changes course, growing richer the deeper it’s probed. Unexpected, amusing, and shocking. Collected here are some rare photographs that captured snippets of history.  

Rain of mortar

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Source: Pinterest

Captured using a long exposure is what appears to be a beautiful light show. What’s really here is a nightmare. There are mortar rounds firing through the night sky and was taken in 1917, during World War I. The injuries sustained by survivors who took a mortar shell hit were pretty horrific and left scarce treatment options. What little could be done wouldn’t happen until out of the trenches, which often took days of suffering.