You can learn about history from books, but that’s a long path, and quite likely not the one you took back in your school years. Or you did, and in that case, hats off to you!
Luckily, the internet is not only meant for endless scrolling, weakening our attention span and eating up these precious free hours we don’t even have. With educational social media channels getting more and more popular, we can expand our knowledge horizons with little effort.
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And this awesome Instagram page titled “History in Pictures” promises exactly that. Followed by 89.8K followers and counting, it offers a collection of the most brilliant, rare, and forgotten moments in the past captured on camera.
“Learn a little about a lot — one fact a day,” the description says and how can you not be down for it! Scroll down through our selection of the best posts below.
#1 After The Breakup Of The Ussr, The Lithuanian Basketball Team Couldn’t Afford To Participate In The 1992 Olympics
That’s when the not-at-all random but completely natural savior stepped in: the iconic rock band @gratefuldead. They funded the boys trip – and provided them a license to sell special Grateful Dead-Olympics merchandise, which proved massively popular with fans at the Olympics
Image credits: historyinpictures
#2 This Is How Marlene Dietrich Showed Up In Paris In 1933 After Being Told Not To Wear Pants Upon Arrival. Can’t Have A Woman Dressing Like A Man. What’s Next? Equal Rights? Lol
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#3 Life Advice: Be A Lot More Like Roger Moore On The Set Of The 1973 Bond Movie ’live & Let Die’ And Ignore All Your Emails Until Monday Morning
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#4 Hought Your Life Was Boring? Well, You Were Probably Right. Working As A Waitress In 1921, Lillian Boyer Was Invited By Customers To Go Flying
She climbed onto the wing her very first flight, and later performed in 352 shows until 1929 – when airplane safety regulations forced barnstormers into retirement and ruined all the fun
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#5 Behind Every Successful Woman Stands A Man Who… Well.. In Most Cases He Just Stands There For, You Know, Safety Reasons. Anyway, Here’s Brigitte Nielsen With Some Dude In 1986
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#6 The Door To The Dining Area Of The Alcobaca Monastery In Portugal Was Made Narrow So That Monks Who Got Too Fat Were Forced To Go Into Fasting
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#7 Even Rockstars Were Young Once
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#8 Did You Know That Food Delivery In Japan Started Over 300 Years Ago, During The Edo Period?
Anyway: Having Seen This Young Man Gloriously Deliver Ramen In 1935, The Dude From Doordash Must At Least Make It To My Actual Door To Be Worthy A Tip From Now On
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#9 Man Experiences Irony, 1966
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#10 In 1983, Freddy Heineken Was Kidnapped, Held To Ransom (€16 M) And Later Said “They Tortured Me For 3 Days, They Made Me Drink Carlsberg.”
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#11 In 1955, Playboy Ran A Story That Depicted A Future Where Homosexuality Was The Norm, Heterosexuality Was Outlawed And Anti-Straight Mobs Marched The Streets
Outraged Letters Poured In. Hefner Responded “If It Was Wrong To Persecute Heterosexuals In A Homosexual Society, Then The Reverse Was Wrong, Too.”
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#12 John Daly Sharing An Intimate Moment With His Wife After Winning The 1995 British Open
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#13 Some Nerds Caption: Crown Prince Wilhelm Of Germany Striking A Pose While Inspecting The Troops, Ca. 1915. My Caption: “..mein Milkshake Brings All Zhe Boys To Zhe Yard”
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#14 This Photo Taken By Dennis Hutchinson In The ’80s Reminds Me Of Our Relationship
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#15 The Miami Zoo Put 30 Flamingos In The Bathroom To Protect Them From Hurricane Andrew In 1992
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#16 Have You Ever Liked Your Car So Much You Stuck It On The Wall? Joakim Bonnier Did. He Drove This Brm V12 Powered Mclaren M5a To Sixth Place In The 1968 Italian Grand Prix
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#17 Ideator Defined: Whoever Decided To Bring This Porsche 911 To A Tiny Island Between Australia And New Zealand Using That Delivery Method In 1982
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#18 Your Periodic Reminder That All Of This Started Because One Tiny Bureaucrat Felt He Wasn’t Getting Enough Respect 30 Years Ago. Be Kind To Your Tiny Bureaucrats, Folks
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#19 Kharkiv Evacuation, 2022 (Uncolorized)
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#20 The Most Fascinating Man In The World? Maybe. Peter Freuchen (Here With His Wife Dagmar Freuchen-Gale)
Standing six feet seven inches, Freuchen was an arctic explorer, journalist, author, and anthropologist. He participated in several arctic journeys (including a 1000-mile dogsled trip across Greenland), starred in an Oscar-winning film, wrote more than a dozen books (novels and nonfiction, including his Famous Book of the Eskimos), had a peg leg (he lost his leg to frostbite in 1926; he amputated his gangrenous toes himself), was involved in the Danish resistance against Germany… [and] once escaped from a blizzard shelter by cutting his way out of it with a knife fashioned from his own feces.
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#21 Czech It Out! Prague!
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#22 Pov: It’s 1970 And You’re Outside Nathan’s, Eagerly Waiting For Your Buddy To Finish His Hot Dog So That You Can Get Back Up On Your Chopper Bike (Which Has A Banana Seat) And Go Smoke Bubblegum Cigars In A Dubiously Constructed Tree House
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#23 If You Like To Travel The World, You Could Go Visit Ctesiphon, Which Was Once The Largest City In The World, Built By The Parthians (Known For Having Taken Over The World A Few Times Over The Course Of World History) And The The World’s Largest Single Span Unreinforced Brick Arch
And yes, the camera wouldn’t bless the world until thousands of years later, but that’s a reconstruction of what it MAY have looked like, much like how there are 3d functions in Google World, you otherwordly literate nerd
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#24 A Party You Wish You Hadn’t Missed. Noel And Liam Gallagher With Diego Maradona In Buenos Aires, 1998
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#25 His 1983 Letter Sold For $479,939 At An Auction Last Month
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#26 Salvador Dalí And His Anteater Having A Stroll Out Of The Paris Metro, 1969
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#27 In 1960, David Latimer Planted A Garden Inside Of A Giant Glass Bottle And Sealed It Shut. Latimer Only Opened The Bottle Once In 1972 To Add A Bit Of Water. The Self Contained Ecosystem Has Flourished For 60 Years
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#28 Nasa Trying Out A Spacesuit Intended For The Moon Landing, 1962. Unfortunately, Whatever Genius Invented This One Lost To Playtex Prototype (Yes, Armstrong’s Outfit Was Designed By A Bra Manufacturer)
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#29 Hate Your Life? It Could Be Worse, Spent In The Lower Dungeon Of Warwick Castle For Instance. An ‘Oubliette’, Where Prisoners Were Dropped And Forgotten About
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#30 Patient Zero. The One. Número Uno. The Dude Who Single-Handedly Started ’80s Fashion. Case Closed
It’s Mainly Thanks To My Solid Commitment, Hard Work, Dedication And Whatever Article In Which I Learned That Sleep Deprivation Is Really Cool (But Also Some Advances In Molecular Techniques And A Thermophysiological Scientist) He Was Tracked Down Once And For All.
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#31 Actress Tippi Hedren Would Later Confess It Was “Stupid Beyond Belief” To Treat A 400lb Beast Like A Domestic Pet At Their La Home During The 70s
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#32 Every Dude The First Friday After Getting Their Second 5g Chip Installed By Pfizer… Or Frank Gorshin As ”the Riddler” In The Batman TV Series In ’66
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#33 Not Only Were The Tallest And Shortest Players In History Active In The Nba At The Same Time
During the 1987-88 season, Manute Bol and Muggsy Bogues even played on the same team: The Washington Bullets. And thus, this fantastic picture – which I’ve placed right next to my high school junior photo at mom’s place – was born
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#34 Iran In The Good Ole’ Days
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#35 In The Early 1980s, Infamous Drug Lord Pablo Escobar Created A Family Zoo Full Of Exotic Animals In Colombia
When Escobar’s empire crashed in the ’90s, the animals were relocated to zoos — except for the four hippos, now considered an invasive species whose waste is wreaking havoc on the Colombian aquatic ecosystem
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#36 A Photographer Captures The Exact Moment An Ira Car Bomb Explodes Outside The Old Bailey, London On The 8th March 1973
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#37 Ince The 19th-Century Guy Who Was The Actual Inspiration For The Character Of Mowgli Looked Far Less Cute On Photo (Google ’dina Sanichar’ At Your Own Risk), Let’s Look At Tippi Degre’s Childhood Gallery From The ’90s Instead
Born In Namibia To French Wildlife Photography Parents, She Got To Call A Five-Ton Elephant Her ”brother,” Chill With Cheetahs And Hug Giant Bullfrogs As If They Were Her Teddy Bears
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#38 An Iconic Chicago Image Of Some Southside Boys, Taken In 1941. They’d Be In Their Late 80’s Or Early 90’s Today
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#39 Suddam Hussein Once Burned His Son Uday’s Car Collection, Consisting Of Hundreds Of Rare, Luxury Cars, As Punishment For Uday’s Shooting At A Dinner Party, Which Killed Several People And Injured Saddam’s Half-Brother
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#40 Sunbathing Like A Chimp, 1949
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#41 Some 40 Years Ago, In October Of 1981, Sweden Woke Up To Find A Soviet Whiskey Class Submarine Stuck On A Rock
No, Russians never knew how to navigate the democratic waters. Yes, the incident became known as “Whiskey on the rocks”
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#42 The World’s Last Stone Age Tribe Lives On North Sentinel Island In The Indian Ocean, And They Are Known For Defending Their Island Against All Visitors
Having enjoyed quarantine life for the past 60,000 years, there is genetically a direct line between them and their pre-Neolithic ancestors. In 1991, however, they did accept some coconuts in what is considered the only ‘friendly’ encounter between the Sentinelese and outsiders
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#43 Jimmy Walker, Who Was The 97th Mayor Of NYC (Which You Obviously Knew Already), Seen Chilling With Members Of The Blackfeet Nation Tribe In ’27
Contrary to popular belief, this photograph did *not* get him cancelled
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#44 If You Ever Spot Someone With The Letters ‘Acab’ Written On Their Neck, It’s Fairly Safe To Assume They’re Either: 1) Associated With Criminal Activity, Or 2) Have Seen This 1922 Photo Of New York City Cops Dumping Alcohol Into The Gutter During Prohibition
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#45 Sean Connery Between Takes On The Set Of The 1971 James Bond Film
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#46 May I Present Citroën Karin, The Most Beautiful Ugly Piece Of Sh*t I’ve Ever Seen?
Having no new models to reveal at the Paris Motor Show in 1980, Citroën stylist Trevor Fiore was given the go ahead to build a model (not a driveable car) for display. Straddling a line between genius and imbecile I couldn’t have conceived in my wildest pipe dream, it still looks futuristic 41 years later
#47 In 1987, Pope John Paul II Spread His Faith In God To The People Of San Antonio.. From Behind 3 Inches Of Bulletproof Glass On Top Of 2.5 Tonnes Of Precision Custom German Engineering
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#48 Summer Interns (Commonly Referred To As ”hey You!” By Colleagues), At Wall Street In 1987
Since Powerpoint and Adderal wouldn’t be invented until many years later, the two actually had time for a lunch break. And as if -eating interns wasn’t confusing enough, imagine how this level of detail was captured by an 8×10 view camera. Joel Sternfeld, the photographer who was hiding under the sheet when using that giant old tripod mounted camera, later published it in his book ’Stranger Passing’.
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#49 The Opening Of McDonald’s In Moscow In 1990 Was A Defining Moment In The History Of The Soviet Union, Coming A Year Before Its Collapse
An estimated 38,000 Soviets lined up for hours for what they might have heard of but never tasted: a McDonald’s
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#50 Taking A Knee Before It Was Popular. West German Chancellor Willy Brandt In Front Of The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Memorial In 1970
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#51 A Story About Walmart From 1962
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#52 Australian Golfer Joe Kirkwood Teeing Off From A Caddy’s Mouth In 1930
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#53 Hillary Clinton Playing Game Boy In 1993. She Picked Up Tetris In The Hospital While At The Bedside Of Her Terminal Father
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#54 Lufthansa Serving Pork And Draft Beer On Planes In The 1960s
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#55 It’s October 26th, 2000. The Day Has Finally Arrived. After Six Years Of Playstation Reigning Supreme, The Playstation 2 Is About To Become The New Hero
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#56 Russia Just Dropped A Bomb On A Building Of A Drama Theatre, Where About A Thousand People (Children Included) Were Sheltering
The number of casualties is unknown, but one thing we know for sure: Russia is willing to do a lot of weird s**t in their mission to ”save” the ”freedom” of Ukrainian lives
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#57 Millennials Childhood Summed In One Photo: Macaulay Culkin In An Rl Polo And Reebok Pump Twilight Zones While Leaning On The Delorean
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#58 Five Years Into The Occupation, Poles Were So Tired Of The Germans, Their War And Weird Way Of Talking (Last One Just Being A Guess), They Started The Largest Ever Uprising In A German-Occupied Territory
Before having heard about the rebellion, H̶i̶t̶l.. the angry moustache guy knew that the city would fall into Allied hands in a matter of months anyway . But what followed the failed Warsaw Uprising would prove how little he gave a shit about that detail. In fact, the angry little man cared so little, he ordered the destruction of Warsaw. If you were to visit this sexy beast of a capital city today, however, it’d be hard to tell that soldiers armed with flamethrowers and explosives once systematically razed nearly every building in the city to the ground.
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#59 Whoever Invented These Winter Sunbathing Cabins Could’ve Been Filthy Rich Today. If He Wasn’t 38 Years Too Early… And Didn’t Do It In A Communist Country
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#60 In 1990, The United Arab Emirates’ Total Gdp Was $50.7 Billion. Today, It’s More Than $420 Billion
#61 17-Year-Old Shaquille O’neal With His High School Basketball Team In 1989… And An Honorable Mention To The Other 14 Players And The Coach Who Was Constantly Telling Them To ‘Just Get It To Shaq.’
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#62 22 Years Ago, Palm Was Worth More Than Apple And Amazon Combined
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#63 Tsar Nicholas II. Looks Like A Selfie Stick But He Was Probably Just Checking The Camera When It Went Off
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#64 Hong Kong Has Been Good At Refining Its Soil, But Worse At Preserving Our Sky
Air pollution is affecting resident health, causing expats to abandon ship for Singapore and often sinking the city into a haze of smog reminiscent of Victorian London. Ask the government who to blame and they’ll point you in the direction of the factories in the Guangdong area, and while this is true to an extent, it doesn’t really tell the full story. Hong Kong has the world’s highest traffic density as well as coal-burning power plants which contribute an estimated 50% to the total level of pollution. That being said, the worst days of air pollution are usually caused by wind blowing the smog in from China.
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#65 French Journalist Victor Noir Was Murdered In Paris In 1870. Today, The Sculpture On His Grave Is Believed To Give Women A Blessed Sex Life If They Kiss Noir On His Lips Or Rub His Tool
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#66 Normally, There Wouldn’t Be Anything Special About A Place Left Behind In Search Of Work And A Better Life Elsewhere
But unlike Detroit, the abandoned village of Houtouwan looks like something straight out of a fairytale. What was the home to an active fishing community until the 1990s – when it couldn’t keep up with competition in nearby Shanghai anymore – is now a green gem
Image credits: historyinpictures
#67 Your Tinder Picture Might Never Look As Good As Emerson Fittipaldi Did Posing With $1 Million In Cash After Winning The ’89 Indy 500
But compared to his financial situation, yours probably look far better already. The two-time world champion would later find himself in serious trouble: bankrupt, in deep debt and with 145 lawsuits against him. On the bright side, however, some people claim he actually lives a good — even luxurious — life in the United States (by avoiding his financial obligations with the help of shell companies).
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#68 The (Party) Princess Birgitta Of Sweden In The ’60s
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#69 Whoever Wore This Yugoslavian ’80s Merch Certainly Is Celebrating 4th Of July
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#70 Midsummer!
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#71 The Dc-9 Is Perhaps One Of The Most Iconic Aircraft Of The Late 1960s
But no single model was quite as recognizable as that which belonged to Playboy legend Hugh Hefner. His sleek, black private jet, complete with the seminal white bunny on the tail, was essentially the Playboy Mansion at 35,000 feet. But most importantly: it had a custom-made waterbed covered in soft Tasmanian possum fur
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#72 I Know, The First Five Days After The Weekend Are Always The Hardest, But Just Keep Hustling. It Worked Out Well For Long John At The 1992 British Open
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#73 One Small Step For Aviation History, But A Giant Leap For Mankind!
When United Airlines just announced their purchase of supersonic passenger jets, they made them sound like something new and fancy. And sure, yeah, they’re fancy – but not new! So while we’re waiting for them to roll out (2025), fly (2026) and carry passengers (2029), let’s take this moment to remember a true beauty from ahead of her time. First flown in 1969, Concorde entered service in 1976 and operated for 27 years. With a cruising speed twice the speed of sound, it could take you from NYC to London in 3 ½ hours. If you were a cult leader, international drug lord, startup nerd or just rich in general, that is: because a ticket for London cost $7574 in ’96
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#74 Chilling In Tromsø In The ’60s
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#75 Political World Leaders Watching – And Reacting To Sport
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#76 Björn Borg And John Mcenroe Back To Where It All Started
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#77 Having Worked Round The Clock, Seven Days A Week, For Nine Years; The Statue Of Liberty Was Complete In 1885 ? Similarily To What They Do At IKEA, They Disassembled This Thing Into 350 Pieces, Shipped To New York City, And Reassembled It In Accordance To The Attached Instruction
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#78 Pov: You’re A Ballsy Journalist In 1931 Taking Photos Of Mobsters At The Al Capone Trial
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#79 This Is What Somebody Who Knew What A Computer Was In The ’80s Looked Like. The Mullet Was Mandatory, The Tie Was Rare
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#80 A Romanian Sub-Officer Gives The Victory Sign On New Year’s Eve 1989 In The Aftermath Of The Revolution. He Has Removed The Insignia Of Communist Romania From His Ushanka. And No, It’s Not Philip Jennings From The Americans
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#81 Ronald Reagan. Chainsaw. America
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#82 Martin Scorsese & Robert De Niro’s 1979 Vacay
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#83 In 1993, Barbra Streisand Hospitably Welcomed @archdigest To Her $100 Million-, 10,485-Square-Foot-, Eight Bedroom-, 11 Bathrooms Home (Or Compound?) In Malibu
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#84 “I Went To Mcdonald’s Three Or Four Times A Day. To Me, They Always Had The Best Fountain Drinks. I Don’t Like Water. I Can’t Stand Drinking Water. I Used To Be Able To Eat Two Big Macs, Two Or Three Cheeseburgers, Chocolate Shake, Regular Coke Back Then, In A Sitting Pretty Easily.” – John Daly
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#85 In 1995, Elon Musk Performed The Great Feat Of Looking Like Someone Who’d Use Turn Signals In Parking Lots While Simultaneously Giving The Outward Appearance Of Being The Guy To Trust When In Need Of Getting A Ski Slope Smuggled Out Of Mexico Using Only A Dilapidated Bmw
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#86 Never Thought You’d Get To See Fidel Castro In A Pair Of Converse, Huh? Well, Watch Him Play Basketball Against Students During A Visit To Poland In ’72!
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#87 Debra Tate, Johnny Crawford, Natassja Kinski And Myself Being Silly Back In ’76
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#88 Spice Girls In 1997
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#89 While You Nerds Need To Wake Up At 3.25 A.m Every Morning To Slavishly Succeed In Your Pursuit To Embrace The “10 Habits Of Successful Ceos,” At Least I Know I Smoke Like An Olympian
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#90 If You Wanna Be My Lover, You Gotta Get With My Friends
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Source: boredpanda.com