Ranker Collection
Photographic Memories
Graveyard Shift4.3m views'Burst Of Joy' Shows A Vietnam Vet Reuniting With His Family - But There's No Happy Ending HereOn March 13, 1973, photographer Slava 'Sal' Veder captured the moment that Vietnam war veteran and POW Lt. Col. Robert Stirm was r...
Photos24.9k votersSeemingly Normal Pictures With Unsettling BackstoriesFrom notorious murderers sitting courtside at an NBA game to a photograph takes just seconds before mortal peril, these images mig...
Weird History4.3k votersWhat Happened To The People In Some Of History's Most Famous PhotographsSome photographs are indelibly fixed in the collective consciousness. While the figures in these images can be celebrities - Buzz ...
History724.2k viewsThis Image of A Slave Father Looking At His Daughter's Severed Hand And Foot Has Haunted GenerationsThe history of the Congo Free State is one of devastating genocide, ruthless colonialism, and massive greed, all on the part of on...
Weird History2.1m viewsPulitzer Prize-Winning Photographs And The Stories Behind ThemPhotographs provide provocative glimpses into people's lives. Stories behind photos - for individuals on both sides of the camera ...
Vietnam679.4k viewsThe Story Behind The Vietnam-Era Monk Self-Immolation PhotoIn 1963, a Vietnamese monk committed self-immolation in front of hundreds of people. While his primary motivation was protest, the...
Death2.1m viewsThe Story Behind Evelyn McHale And "The Most Beautiful Suicide"Since the completion of the Empire State Building in 1931, at least 36 people have sought out the top floors of the building to co...
Weird History1.3m viewsThe Tragic Story Behind The Photo Of Four Children Who Had To Be Sold To Escape Poverty In The 1940sAmerica in the 1940s was a tumultuous place to live. World War II raged through the first half of the decade, finally ending in 19...
Graveyard Shift239.3k viewsThat Famous VJ-Day Kiss Photo May Have Documented A Non-Consensual KissFew 20th-century photos are as famous as that of the the sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square on V-J Day in August, 1945. You on...
Depression483.4k viewsThe Story Behind This World-Famous Photo Is Even Sadder Than You Can ImagineThe famous Dorothea Lange depression-era photograph of a woman and her children portrays a seldom visible side of the Great Depres...
Weird History2.2m viewsThe Haunting Photograph of a Trapped 13-Year-Old Girl That Shocked The WorldOn November 13, 1985, the Nevado del Ruiz — a highly active volcano in Colombia — erupted, melting glaciers and sending torrents o...
Sad129.3k viewsHow One Heartbreaking Photo Captured The Inhumanity Of The Berlin WallOn August 13, 1961, the Berlin Wall was officially constructed, separating communist East Germany from capitalist West Germany. It...
Japan268.1k viewsThe Tragic Story Behind The Single Most Depressing Image Of WWIIThis photograph of a little boy at a cremation pyre following the U.S.'s attack on Nagasaki etches itself into the consciousness o...
AIDS330.4k viewsThe Devastating Photo That Single-Handedly Changed The Public Opinion On The AIDS CrisisThe 1980s AIDS crisis wasn't initially met with compassion. It was swept under the rug, regarded as a gay issue that didn't affect...
Historical Photos217.1k viewsDoctored Photos Of Old Movie Stars Photoshopped Before PhotoshopJust because Photoshop as we know it hadn't been invented yet, that doesn't mean that Old Hollywood starlets didn't get some work ...
Weird History92.4k viewsTragic Photos Of Child Miners That Will Make You Grateful For The GovernmentFor most children in the United States at the turn of the 20th century, life was not what you might call a cake walk. With no real...
Old Stuff338.1k viewsThese Photos Taken By A War Photographer Are The First Images Of Corpses On The BattlefieldFelice Beato was an Italian-British photographer who began his career taking the first-ever photographs of battle during the Crime...
Graveyard Shift62.3k viewsThis Photograph Captures The Moment Japanese Surrendered At Iwo JimaOn March 16, 1945, after over a year of persistent pressure, US Marines accomplished a sizable WWII feat – they conquered Iwo Jima...
Weird History142.5k viewsThe Shocking Moment A Women's Rights Activist Sacrificed Her Life By Horse StompingOn June 4, 1913, Emily Davison stepped onto the track at Epsom Downs Racecourse as a horse came barreling around the bend. The hor...
Paris43.2k viewsPhotos From The 1910 Paris Flood Are Oddly BeautifulIn 1910, the Seine River, which runs directly through Paris, France, ran over its banks – to the tune of a little over 26 feet bey...