History pictures

 Roald Amundsen was the first person to reach the South Pole. 

At approximately 3 p.m. on December 14, 1911,

Amundsen raised the flag of Norway at the South Pole
and named the spot Polheim Pole Home.

 In 1911, Bobby Leach survived a plunge over Niagara Falls in a 

steel barrel.  Fourteen years later, in New Zealand,
he slipped on an orange peel and died.

 Filming the MGM Logo.

 Chief Petty Officer Graham Jackson plays 'Going Home' as FDR's body is

borne past in Warm Springs, GA, where the President was scheduled to attend a barbecue on the day he died.  April, 1945.

 Sergeant Stubby (1916 or 1917 - April 4, 1926), 

was the most decorated war dog WWI and the only dog to be
promoted to sergeant through combat.  America's first war dog,
Stubby, served 18 months 'over there' and participated in

seventeen battles on the Western Front.
He saved his regiment from surprise mustard gas attacks,
found and comforted the wounded, and even once caught a

German spy by the seat of his pants (holding him there til American Soldiers found him).
Check out this post about Cairo the War Dog who cornered Osama Bin Laden.

 A Confederate and Union soldier shake hands during a celebration at Gettysburg in 1913.  Image from the Library of Congress, July 1-3, 2013, marks the 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg.

 Two Victorian sideshow performers boxing - the fat man and the thin man.

 Vintage Baked Potato Cart.  A legitimate fast food lunch 

option back in the day.

 Washington, D.C., circa 1919, "Walter Reed Hospital flu ward." 

One of the very few images in Washington-area photo archives documenting the influenza contagion of 1918-1919,

which killed over 500,000 Americans and tens of millions
around the globe. Most victims succumbed to bacterial pneumonia
following influenza virus infection.

Cyclists ride in the first running of the Tour de France, in 1903.