20+ photos of unusual things to expand your horizons, which will again prove that the world is an amazing place

The past has the same meaning as the future, and not only for an individual person, but for all of humanity. How can we build our lives without looking back at the past? This is not possible for us. Therefore, in order to stir up memories and tell you something new, we have collected the most interesting historical photos that will prove that there was a lot of fascinating things in the past.

Yuri and Tatiana Nikulin, USSR, 1983

Fashion guy with a Wispa motorcycle, 1990s

First color photograph, 1861

Opening ceremony of the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow

Johnny Depp, 1969

Moscow, USSR, 1990

Marilyn Monroe, 1962

Marlene Dietrich detained at a train station in Paris for wearing men's trousers, 1933

The law prohibiting women from wearing trousers was in force in France until 2013 (of course, no one followed it in recent decades)

Samuel L. Jackson, John Travolta, Harvey Keitel and Quentin Tarantino on the set of Pulp Fiction, 1994

Construction of the London Underground, 1898

A tomb carved from a single giant stone nearly 2,000 years ago in Arabia

Single urinal. Paris, 1875

First IKEA store, Sweden, 1958

Tilda Swinton, 1988

Pistol duel used to be an Olympic sport, 1909

Jenny Joseph, 28, poses for the Columbia Pictures logo, 1992

Winona Ryder, 1990

A startled observer at the annual Sydney gay pride parade Mardi Gras, 1994

The last queen of Mongolia, Navaanluvsangiin Genenpil, who was shot in 1938 during the Stalinist repression by the decision of the Communist Party

Vladimir Putin during the celebration of the Tatar national holiday "Sabantuy" in Kazan, June 24, 2000

There are many ways to preserve memories, but photography is probably one of the most common and accessible of all. With the help of photography, you can stop time and capture a moment that, after years and centuries, descendants will be able to admire. However, very old photographs are only black and white and do not fully convey the beauty of the moment. But in this case, a digital artist comes to the rescue, Sebastian de Oliveira, who uses Photoshop to color old photographs and bring them back to life. 

Happy couple, 1948

Circus Girls in Sarasota, Florida, 1949

Wartime beach on the English coast, 1941

Audrey Hepburn, 1956

French women at the fair, Paris, 1935

A car and a girl, 1942

People resting on the beach, France, 1967

Actress Rita Hayworth, 1947

Marilyn Monroe resting on the set of the movie "The Misfits", 1960

Family Picnic by the River, Louisiana, July 4, 1940

Spectators at the horse races in Worthington, Maryland, 1941

On the set of the film "Casablanca" 1939

Waiting for the bus, 1943

 Father and son, 1946

Ava Gardner, 1944

Photo taken by photographer Georges Dambier, 1948

French soldier in a trench, 1916

Only a few of us can have the opportunity to communicate with a star. Many regularly attend concerts of their favorite performers, someone even got an autograph from a celebrity, but not everyone can boast that, for example, Bill Murray nursed you as a child. These "pearls" were shared by people from our article, boasting on the Internet of their meeting with a star.

“Bill Murray looked after me and my brother. Here is a photo of us in the late 1980s "

"My uncle tripped and fell in front of the Queen of England in 1987"

“My father and Elvis. He always told us that they hung out together, but before this photo we didn't believe him. "

"When I took a selfie, I told Samuel L. Jackson to show what he really thinks about these things."

“Today at work my mom was told to drive this 'bum' off the golf course. It turned out to be Bill Murray "

"My son looks more like Harry Potter than Harry Potter himself."

"My dad played against Michael Jordan in high school."

“My wife met Chris Pratt. Anna Faris did not approve of this "

"My wife's face on our wedding day compared to when she met Rob Lowe."

"My husband, when he was a little boy, with Alice Cooper in 1989"

"I got a little nervous when I met Morgan Freeman."

“Today my mom didn't answer my call. I sent her a message asking why she was so busy and she sent me this photo. "

"Chuck Norris admires my friend's father's cock in the 80s."

Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds are known to troll each other in a friendly way, and a Jackman fan decided to take advantage of this.

The girl put on a dress with the image of Reynolds in a wreath to meet the idol and he burst out laughing when he saw this. But for the sake of the photo, he showed anger on his face.

“I met Jim Carrey and he was really amazing! I never thought he would make faces with me, but he did a great job! "

"A friend of mine met Beyoncé in New Orleans and she said," Whatever face you make, I'll repeat it. "

“My brother and I met our favorite superhero (Hulk) when we were 4 years old. As you can see, we were a little disappointed because Lou Ferrigno was not green. "

“A buddy of mine met this weird dude in a dinosaur shirt and zebra print pants. Come on, just kidding, I know it's Jeff Goldblum. "

"My dad with Muhammad Ali, 1970s"

“I met David Hasselhoff at our local radio station in the early 80's. However, in this photo I don't look too impressed. "

If you had the opportunity to travel back in time, what century would you go? Of course, it is difficult to immediately answer this question, because in each era there was something exciting and interesting. Today we will be your time machine and will try to cover different eras and centuries, so that you feel like you've been in the past.

Beer bottle melted by an atomic bomb, Nagasaki, 1945

"Pulp Fiction" at the Cannes Film Festival, France, 1994

Kiev, USSR, hot summer 1958

18-year-old Brigitte Bardot dancing on the roof, 1952

Marilyn Monroe, 1950s

Metal stamps with embedded needles used by Nazi soldiers to tattoo Jewish prisoners at Auschwitz, 1941

Installation for the Day of Beer in Moscow at the Luzhniki stadium in 1998

Sandra Bullock, 1995

Ice Skating Dress, 1896

At an exhibition of beauty salon owners in New York, Ruth Scott modeled a mask that warms up the face and tones the skin. The onlays on her fingers were brass thimbles that protected the nail polish until it dries, March 1940

On October 6, 1889, the Ball Moulin Rouge cabaret opened in Paris on Montmartre. In the photo - his main asset

Oldest known wine: An ancient Roman 1.5-liter jar of wine found in the tomb of a Roman nobleman, dating back to the 4th century

Participants of the contest "Miss Universe" 1951

Soviet store, Ukrainian SSR, Zaporozhye, 1970s

Exquisite pocket watch, 1645

In the very first film of 1913, Fantômas looked like this

Italian actress Maria Grazia Cucinotta, Benevento, Italy, 1995 

Niagara Falls, 1885

Demonstration of the reliability and safety of London double-decker buses, 1933

Captain John "Wild Bill" Crump and his coyote Jeep, 1944

A border country located at the confluence of the EU and Russia, a former Soviet republic with a population of 46 million, independent since 1991, known abroad by stereotypes such as the "granary of the former USSR", the "Chernobyl catastrophe", "Gas crisis" or "orange revolution", Ukraine is trying to build an identity.

The difficulty in finding this identity stems from the fact that Ukraine has long been fragmented between the Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires, the current borders being drawn by Joseph Stalin. It is true that nationalist ideas took their place here in the nineteenth century, but it was only after the disintegration of the USSR that Ukraine became independent, except for a short period between 1917 and 1920.

You can read more interesting facts below.

1. If Russia, which is not entirely in Europe, is not taken into account, Ukraine is the state with the largest area on the "Old Continent". Ukraine has an area of ​​603,628 square kilometers;

2. Ukrainians celebrate National Day on August 24;

3. Arsenal in Kyiv is the deepest subway station in the world. It is located at a depth of 105 meters and was built in 1960 for military purposes. The reason? Threatening powerful states with nuclear bombs

4. Traditional Ukrainian food includes chicken, pork, beef, eggs, fish and mushrooms. Ukrainians also tend to eat a lot of fresh, pickled potatoes, cereals and vegetables. 

5. The most famous Ukrainian dish is borscht. While many Russians claim to be from their homeland, many Ukrainians are passionate about believing that they are the founders of this dish.

6. Ukraine was at the center of one of the greatest catastrophes of the 20th century. The Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded in April 1986. The blast was considered the worst accident in the history of nuclear power.

7. Unlike many civilized states in Ukraine, wedding rings are worn on the ring finger of the right hand.

8. The "Love Tunnel" also exists in Ukraine. Near the town of Klevan in Ukraine there is a railway line that is covered with vaults formed by the branches of the nearby trees. It has become a favorite destination for thousands of lovers.

9. The geographical center of Europe is located in Ukraine. In 1886, the geographers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, using the technology of the time, established the geographical center of Europe in the village of Dilove.

10. The city of Druzhkivka in the Donetsk region is one of the few places in the world where fossilized trees are kept. The trees are almost 250 million years old and create an entire fossilized forest that covers an area of ​​1 hectare.

11. The first gas lamp in history was invented in the Ukrainian city of Lviv.

12. The Ukrainians, namely the Antonov Design Bureau, have developed an aircraft with the highest payload capacity in the world - the An-225 Mechta. At first it was designed to transport spacecraft. Now "Dream" carries out commercial cargo transportation.

13. The author of one of the first constitutions in the world is Ukrainian political and public figure Pylyp Orlyk. On April 5, 1710, he was elected hetman of the Zaporizhian army. On the same day, Pylyp Orlyk announced the "Constitution of the rights and freedoms of the Zaporizhian army." In the United States, the Constitution was adopted in 1787, in France and the Commonwealth - only in 1791. An interesting fact is that Pylyp Orlik was born on the territory of Belarus - in the village of Kosuta, Oshmyany Povet.

14. In recent years, Ukraine has confidently retained its place in the top three world leaders in honey production. Being several times ahead of European countries in terms of honey production, Ukraine is at the same time the first state in the world in honey production per capita (1.5 kg).

15. Ukraine has the world's largest reserves of manganese ore - 2.3 billion tons, or about 11% of the world's total reserves.

16. Only six monasteries in the world have the status of Lavra. Three of them are in Ukraine. These are the Holy Assumption Kiev-Pechersk Lavra in Kyiv, which received this status back in 1598, the Holy Assumption Lavra in the city of Pochaev and the Svyatogorsk Holy Assumption Lavra in the Donetsk region.

17. Ostroh Academy is the first higher educational institution in Eastern Europe, the oldest Ukrainian scientific and educational institution. In 1576, Prince Konstantin-Vasily of Ostrog founded the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy in Ostrog.

18. The first kerosene lamp was invented in Lvov by Ignaty Lukasiewicz and Jan Zekh in 1853, under the Golden Star pharmacy workers.In the same year, the first surgical operation was performed in the Lviv hospital under the illumination of a kerosene lamp. Subsequently, the kerosene lamp was presented at the international exhibition in Munich, the invention was awarded a special diploma there.

19. Monuments to the famous Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko have been erected in 1200 cities around the world.

20. The Ukrainian wind instrument trembita is the longest wind musical instrument in the world.

21. The shortest main street of all the capitals of the world, but at the same time one of the widest and most beautiful - Khreshchatyk in Kyiv. Its length is only 1225 m.

22. The oldest map known to scientists, as well as the oldest settlement of Homo Sapiens, were found in Ukraine: in the village. Mesopotamia of the Rivne region. They are about 14.5-15 thousand years old. The map is engraved on a mammoth bone.

23. The longest cave in Ukraine is called "Optimistic" and is located in Podolia. This is a gypsum cave at a depth of 20 m with a length of 216 km. The longest gypsum cave in the world and the second longest in general, it is second only to Mammoth Cave in the United States.

24. The geographical center of Europe (well, yes, we also have it :)). In Ukraine, near the town of Rakhiv, surrounded by the picturesque Carpathians, is the geographical center of Europe.

25. The oldest tree in Ukraine is considered to be a 1300-year-old oak in the Yuzefin tract, Rivne region.

26. The third most visited McDonald's in the world is located in Kyiv near the railway station. This establishment consistently ranks among the top five busiest McDonald's in the world.

27. One of the largest historical transport routes ran through the territory of Ukraine (as well as through the territory of Belarus) - “the path from the Varangians to the Greeks” - a system of river routes and portages between them 3 thousand km long, connecting the northern lands of Ancient Russia with the southern Russian lands and the Baltic sea ​​with Black. Throughout ancient history, Ukraine has acted as a bridge between the worlds of Eastern Europe and the Ancient East, Antique, Byzantine and Latin Europe.

28. Ukraine ranks fourth in the world in terms of the number of citizens with higher education. The population of Ukraine is among the most educated, and the number of people with higher education per capita is higher than the average European level.

29. Ukraine, on its own initiative, abandoned the world's third largest arsenal of nuclear weapons. At the time of declaration of independence, more than a thousand nuclear warheads and missiles were located on the territory of Ukraine, the third largest nuclear potential after Russia and America. The warheads and missiles were handed over to Russia, the bunkers were destroyed. In response, Ukraine received money for disarmament, as well as security guarantees from nuclear powers (as we can see, these guarantees are not respected today).

30. The international Ukrainian anthem consists of only six lines (four in verse and two in the chorus). The remaining lines of the anthem are considered politically incorrect. (for example, "Stand, brother, in a crooked way from Xiang to Don" implies Ukraine's claims to the territory of Russia and Poland). The anthem was born in 1863, and adopted as a state anthem in 2003.

31.At the language beauty contest in Paris in 1934, the Ukrainian language took third place after French and Persian in terms of phonetics, vocabulary, phraseology, and sentence structure. And in terms of melodiousness, the Ukrainian language took second place after Italian.

32. Until the almost complete destruction in 1240 by the Mongol-Tatars, Kyiv was one of the largest cities in Europe, fifty times larger than London, ten times larger than Paris. It reached its peak under Yaroslav the Wise (1010 - 1054), who became related to the royal families of France, Norway, Romania and Poland. The population of today's capital of Ukraine was about 50,000 inhabitants. It took about 600 years to reach such demographic indicators again. Quite possibly, if it were not for the destruction of that time, Kyiv could have been the most developed largest city in Europe for many years.

33. Pablo Picasso was delighted with the works of the Ukrainian artist Kateryna Bilokur (1900-1961). When in 1954 he saw her works at an exhibition, he said that they were brilliant and compared Catherine with the world-famous artist Serafin Louis.

35. One of the most famous Christmas songs in the world is Shchedryk, a folk song recorded by Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych. The world knows her as Carol of the Bells or Ring Christmas Bells. On Youtube, various performances of "Shchedryk" are gaining millions of views.

36. During the Anglo-Boer War (South Africa) in 1899 - 1902. the commander of one of the detachments of the Boers, Ukrainian Yuriy Budyak, saved a young English journalist from execution. Subsequently, the latter helped Budyak enter Oxford University. In 1917, Yuriy worked in the government of the Ukrainian People's Republic. In 1943 Yuri Budyak died in a Soviet concentration camp. The English journalist's name was Winston Churchill…

37. At the time of independence, there were 19.4 million pigs in Ukraine. Today, there are half as many of them - 8.3 million. Despite the reputation of a salo-eater, the average Ukrainian eats only 18 kg of pork per year. This is three times less than an ordinary German.

38. In Ukraine, near Nikopol, on a spit near the river. Lapinki, on one of the branches of the Dnieper, you can see, or rather hear a phenomenon that is rare in the world - singing sands. The "singing" of these, perhaps, the strangest sands appears after rain, when the top layer sticks together and forms a fragile crust. Walking along it, you can hear sounds similar to the whistling of air released from a car chamber.

39. In the town of Berdychiv (Zhytomyr region) in the church of St. Barbara on March 14, 1850, the local beauty Evelina Ganskaya was married to Honore de Balzac. Frederic Chopin lived in the same town for a long time, who, in addition to writing music, also supervised the restoration of the local organ.

40. It would be possible to collect a dictionary of Ukrainian surnames, distorted in the course of Russification by Russian officials. So, the Ukrainian clan Chekhov in the 19th century became Chekhov for some reason. Chekhov's grandfather was still a Czech. Anton Pavlovich himself wrote that his grandfather was a Ukrainian. Quite funny, the Deineks turned into Denikins. Cossacks Rozuma became Razumovsky, Chaikas become Tchaikovsky. The grandfather of Pyotr Tchaikovsky, the great composer - Pyotr Chaika - graduated from the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, and as a physician, the Russian government sent him as a head physician to Vyatka. 

41. Probably, the Ukrainian atmosphere in the Tchaikovsky family was preserved much better than that of the Chekhovs, because from the age of 24, the future composer lived in Ukraine almost every year for several months, where he wrote more than 30 works, including the opera Blacksmith Vakula (Cherevichki ”), “Mazepa”, song-romance “Cherry Garden of Haiti”, duet “On the Novgorod near the Ford” to the words of T. Shevchenko. In the cruel times of the empire's offensive against the Ukrainian language, he sought the production of "Taras Bulba" by N. Lysenko (the famous Ukrainian composer), used many Ukrainian folk songs in his works.

42. The great writer Fyodor Dostoevsky was Ukrainian by origin, because the Dostoevsky family came from the village of Dostoev near Pinsk (Ukrainian-Belarusian border), so Belarusians can also consider him their fellow countryman. One of the Dostoevskys becomes a hieromonk of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra and in 1647 takes part in the election of the next metropolitan. It is interesting that among the Dostoevskys who lived in Podolia, most of all were representatives of the clergy. Andrei Dostoevsky was a priest of the Ukrainian Uniate Church. 

43. He was the grandfather of the writer F. Dostoevsky. Andrei's son quarreled with his father and brother and went to Moscow. His name was Mikhail, and as a memory of his family and Ukraine, he took with him, preserved and passed on to his sons his own Ukrainian poems. The daughter of Fyodor Mikhailovich recalls: "... poetic abilities were already in the Ukrainian family of my father, and were not given only through my Muscovite mother, as Dostoevsky's literary friends suggest." It is a pity that F. Dostoevsky did not join the defense of Ukraine.

44. This, in principle, cannot be said about V. Mayakovsky. The poet sharply criticized the “Muscovites”: “Comrade Muscovite, don’t joke about Ukraine.” He also reminded that Russians from the history of Ukraine know only Shevchenko, Taras Bulba, borscht and lard (“Russians have a shallow thickness of knowledge”). 

45. By the way, he wrote about himself: "I am a Cossack from my grandfather, on the other - a Sich." Researchers point out that the Ukrainian clans of Mayakovsky went, probably, from those Cossacks who stood guard over the barrows, at the lighthouses that were set on fire during the Tatar attacks.

46. Unfortunately, the Ukrainians of Ripa turned into Repins. Although Ilya Repin, who was born in the Kharkiv region, still retained his sense of belonging to the Ukrainians and painted himself as a Cossack leaning on a cannon. “It's time to think about the Ukrainian style in art,” the artist noted. But he not only spoke, but also created many works on Ukrainian themes, for example, “The Cossacks write a letter to the Turkish Sultan” - he wrote two versions of this picture.

47. In 1931, there were more Ukrainians in the USSR than Russians. In six years, 55 million disappeared ... This figure is indicated in the book "At the Great Construction Site", published in 1931 in Leningrad. The same data are presented in the first Soviet encyclopedia of 1926. Neither this encyclopedia nor the book is available in any library in Ukraine. We managed to find "At the Great Construction Site" in Moscow. 

48. The figures of 81 million are clearly visible in these copies. It should be noted that the population of Ukrainian Galicia, which was part of Poland, was not taken into account here. Already the next census of 1937 indicates that only 26 million Ukrainians remained in the USSR. Where did all the rest go? Knowing such figures, the repressions of the 1930s seem even more terrible.

49. Freedom Square in Kharkov is the largest square in Europe.

50. The longest embankment in Europe is located in Dnepropetrovsk. Its length is 30 km.