Awesome Galore

The Most Awesome Men's Entertainment Site On The Internet

History

Picture of the Day

Joan Trumpauer

Freedom Rider Joan Trumpauer Mulholland arrested June 8, 1961, Mississippi

Joan Trumpauer Mulholland, a recipient of the 2015 National Civil Rights Museum Freedom Award, is a Civil Rights Icon who participated in over 50 sit-ins and demonstrations by the time she was 23 years old. She was a Freedom Rider, participant in the Jackson Woolworth’s Sit-in, the March on Washington, the Meredith March and the Selma to Montgomery March.

For her actions she was disowned by her family, attacked, shot at, cursed at, put on death row and hunted down by the Klan for execution. Her path has crossed with some of the biggest names in the Civil Rights Movement: Martin Luther King, Medgar Evers, Fannie Lou Hamer, John Lewis, Diane Nash and Julian Bond.

[Read more…] about Picture of the Day

Picture of the Day

The Room in Which Hitler and Eva Braun Committed Suicide

On January 16, 1945, Hitler established his residence in the Führerbunker, which served as the hub of the Nazi regime until the final days of World War II in Europe. It was also the location of Hitler’s marriage to Eva Braun on April 29, 1945, less than two days before their suicides.

Following the war, the Soviets demolished both the old and new Chancellery buildings, while the underground complex remained mostly intact, despite some attempts at destruction. However, during the reconstruction of the surrounding area in Berlin in 1988-89, the excavated parts of the old bunker complex were largely destroyed. The site was left unmarked until 2006, when a small plaque with a schematic diagram was installed. Although some of the bunker’s corridors still exist, they are inaccessible to the public due to being sealed off.

Picture of the Day

joan of arc

19-year-old Joan of Arc is burned at the stake by an English tribunal. May 30, 1431

Joan of Arc, a peasant girl living in medieval France, believed that God had chosen her to lead France to victory in its long-running war with England.

With no military training, Joan convinced the embattled crown prince Charles of Valois to allow her to lead a French army to the besieged city of Orléans, where it achieved a momentous victory over the English and their French allies, the Burgundians.

After seeing the prince crowned King Charles VII, Joan was captured by Anglo-Burgundian forces, tried for witchcraft and heresy and burned at the stake in 1431, at the age of 19.

By the time she was officially canonized in 1920, the Maid of Orléans (as she was known) had long been considered one of history’s greatest saints, and an enduring symbol of French unity and nationalism.

Picture of the Day

Laika - Space Dog

Laika: The Soviet Space Dog Sent on a One-Way Trip into Orbit, 1957

During the early days of the Space Race, the Soviet Union aimed to establish its dominance in space exploration by launching Sputnik 2, a significant milestone in their pursuit. Onboard was Laika, a stray dog found wandering the streets of Moscow just a week before the launch, who became the first living creature to orbit the Earth.

[Read more…] about Picture of the Day

Picture of the Day

U.S. soldiers examine a famous painting, “Wintergarden,” by French Impressionist Edouard Manet, part of a collection of Reichbank wealth, SS loot and paintings removed by the Nazis from Berlin to a salt mine vault.

The courageous individuals known as the Monuments Men put their lives on the line to protect invaluable works of art from falling into the hands of the Nazis during World War II. Through their unwavering commitment to the preservation of cultural heritage, they made an indelible impact on the world of art and culture, safeguarding precious masterpieces for future generations to appreciate and cherish.

[Read more…] about Picture of the Day

Picture of the Day

bandits roost

Bandit’s Roost, at 59½ Mulberry Street (Mulberry Bend), was the most crime-ridden, dangerous part of all New York City.

The investigative journalist and self-taught photographer, Jacob August Riis, used the newly-invented flashgun to illuminate the darkest corners in and around Mulberry Street, one of the worst slums in Manhattan.

His images, which highlighted the plight of poor immigrants in the area, were published in his landmark work; How the Other Half Lives: Studies Among the Tenements of New York

[Read more…] about Picture of the Day

Picture of the Day

Takijiro Ōnishi seppeku

After WW2 the Japanese Admiral who invented the idea of kamikaze pilots committed ritual suicide, seppuku, as an apology. After cutting through his abdomen he refused the customary beheading, instead slowly dying over several hours

Takijirō Ōnishi committed ritual suicide (seppuku) in his quarters on 16 August 1945, following the unconditional surrender of Japan at the end of World War II. His suicide note apologized to the approximately 4,000 pilots whom he had sent to their deaths, and urged all young civilians who had survived the war to work towards rebuilding Japan and peace among nations. He also stated that he would offer his death as a penance to the kamikaze pilots and their families. Accordingly, he did not use a kaishakunin (a second who executes him by beheading), and died of self-inflicted injuries over a period of 15 hours.

Picture of the Day

This is a photo of the students at Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania, c. 1900.

The school was established in 1879 in order to forcibly assimilate Indigenous children into western society by stripping them of their native language, culture, traditions, and clothing. Physical, emotional and sexual abuse were rampant as was forced labor in these schools.

[Read more…] about Picture of the Day

Picture of the Day

marilyn monroe and jfk

The only known picture of President Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe together, 1962

This black and white image, taken by White House photographer Cecil Stoughton, is the only known photograph of JFK and Monroe together. Monroe is still wearing the infamously tight-fighting, sheer rhinestone-studded dress she wore when singing earlier at Madison Square Garden.

[Read more…] about Picture of the Day