Facts About 12 Famous Historical Photos We Can't Believe We Didn't Know

On his way to the South Vietnamese village of Trang Bang on June 8, 1972, photographer Nick Ut captured a heartbreaking image called “The Terror of War" that later went on to win a Pulitzer Prize. The native of Vietnam, working for The Associated Press, said he was met by "thousands of refugees coming down the road" from the village. He continued:

When I first saw the napalm explosion, I didn’t think there were any civilians in the village… Then I started to see people come out of the fireball and smoke. I picked up my [camera]... First there was a grandmother carrying a baby who died in front of my camera. Then I saw through the viewfinder… the… girl running. I thought, “Oh my God. What happened? The girl has no clothes."

Ut kept taking pictures and captured an image of that 9-year-old girl, Phan Thi Kim, as well as her brothers and cousins in one single image. He saw how burnt she was, and when her uncle asked Ut to take her to the hospital, he agreed:

I was sure she was going to die any minute in my car. When we arrived at the hospital in Cu Chi, nobody wanted to help her because there were so many wounded soldiers and civilians already there.

The hospital took the girl in and Ut left to develop his film. 

Kim was later transferred to a hospital in Saigon and spent nearly a year there. Ut recalled: 

After her picture came out on the front pages of so many newspapers, doctors from around the world volunteered to help her. It’s so lucky that she was photographed. If not, she would have died.

Kim admitted that Ut's photo changed her life, but the photographer himself saved her:

After he took the photo, he put his camera down, wrapped me in a blanket and whisked me off to get medical attention. I am forever thankful.

Known as "Tank Man," the individual who stood in front of a tank in Tiananmen Square on June 5, 1989, represented an entire protest movement. While no one knows who he was, Tank Man was photographed just one day after Chinese authorities violently dispersed protesters at Tiananmen Square, killing an untold number in the process. Large numbers of Chinese students had gathered to call for democratic reforms. 

Photographer Jeff Widener captured Tank Man's standoff from the balcony of his hotel room in Beijing. According to Widener: 

I was hit in the head by a protester rock the early morning of June 4, and I was also suffering from the flu… So I was quite ill and injured.

Widener looked on as the man climbed on top of the tank before fellow protestors pulled him to safety.

Efforts to identify Tank Man have been ongoing since the picture was taken - although in China, the entire event and the photograph have been scrubbed from history. Many believe Tank Man was captured and executed soon after the picture was taken, while others think he went into hiding. 

In 2019, former fellow protestor Yang Jianli said, "Only the Chinese regime knows what became of him."

The picture of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Albert Einstein sticking out his tongue is pretty well known. What isn't known, however, is the story behind it. 

Taken on March 14, 1951, Einstein's 72nd birthday, that image was born out of frustration. Photographer Arthur Sasse was one of many waiting for Einstein outside a birthday event held for him on Princeton University's campus.

While getting into a car with Frank Aydelotte, the former director of Princeton's Institute of Advanced Study, and Aydelotte's wife, Marie, Einstein reportedly told the paparazzi, "Enough is enough!" When one of the photographers called out for Einstein to smile, he offered his tongue instead. Only Sasse captured the moment on film. 

Einstein eventually took a liking to the photo and sent it to many of his friends. He also told his friend Johanna Fantova, “Sticking out my tongue reflects my political views.”

Tasked with taking a picture of Winston Churchill while the prime minister of Britain was in Canada in 1941, photographer Yousuf Karsh had to overcome numerous obstacles to make it happen. Churchill was unaware that Karsh would be taking his picture that day and only gave him permission to take one. Karsh also had a very short window of time within which to work.

When the prime minister posed for Karsh, he had a cigar in his mouth. Karsh offered Churchill an ashtray, but he refused to give up his characteristic stogie. Yousuf described the scene:

I went back to my camera and made sure that everything was all right technically. I waited; he continued to chomp vigorously at his cigar. I waited. Then I stepped toward him and, without premeditation, but ever so respectfully, I said, “Forgive me, sir,” and plucked [it] out of his mouth. 

By the time I got back to my camera, he looked so belligerent he could have devoured me. It was at that instant that I took the photograph.

The angry look on Churchill's face in the photo was genuine. After Karsh snapped his lone picture, however, Churchill told him, "You can certainly make a roaring lion stand still and be photographed."

This is why the photo is generally known as “The Roaring Lion.” 

As a series of photos that have become as controversial as they are well-known, Alfred Eisenstaedt's images of two people kissing in Times Square on V-J Day (August 14, 1945) have been a topic of conversation for decades. Eisenstaedt's photos weren't the only ones taken that day, but his images came to represent the enthusiasm for the end of WWII. This was especially true after one was printed in Life.

The identities of the man and woman kissing in the photos remains somewhat unclear, but the most likely candidates are George Mendonsa and Greta Zimmer Friedman. On the day the photos were taken, Mendonsa was actually on a date with another woman, Rita Petrie. When the news broke that the conflict was over, Mendonsa and Petrie had just seen the Rockettes and stepped out into the streets. At that point, Mendonsa grabbed a nurse [Friedman], which "didn't phase [Petry] a bit." Mendonsa explained:

No, no, didn't bother her. It all happened, the excitement of the war ended and probably a few drinks… 

Mendonsa, Petry, and Friedman were all unaware that photographers captured the moment, but in hindsight, Mendonsa commented, "It would have been a lot worse if I had pulled that scene if she wasn't with me, then I'd have some explaining."

Petry is visible in three of the four photos Eisenstaedt took that day, seen just behind the smooching pair. For her part, Friedman said about the kiss, "I felt that he was very strong. He was just holding me tight. I'm not sure about the kiss… it was just somebody celebrating… It wasn't a romantic event. It was just an event of 'thank god the war is over.'" 

Mendonsa and Petry were married in 1946, while Friedman (a dental assistant at the time of the kiss) went on to study fashion and worked in theater until she met her husband, Mischa, in 1956.

Mendonsa and Friedman reunited in 1980 in Times Square and remained in touch until their respective deaths in 2016 and 2019. 

“Earthrise” was taken by astronaut Bill Anders from the Apollo 8 spacecraft on Christmas Eve 1968. As Apollo 8 orbited the moon, Anders, Frank Borman, and Jim Lovell witnessed the Earth rise over the moon.

Their experience was a first for humanity, but the photo likely would not exist had it not been for Anders's quick thinking. As Borman turned Apollo 8, Anders marveled at the view of the Earth. He asked Lovell to find him some color film for his camera and they scrambled to frame the image:

Lovell: Bill, I got it framed, it's very clear right here!

[shutter click]

Lovell: Got it?

Anders: Yep.

Lovell: Take several, take several of 'em! Here, give it to me!

Anders: Wait a minute, just let me get the right setting here now, just calm down.

Lovell: Take -

Anders: Calm down, Lovell!

Lovell: Well, I got it right - aw, that's a beautiful shot…Two-fifty at f/11.

[shutter click]

Anders: Okay.

Anders took three pictures that day and commented, "We came all this way to explore the moon, and the most important thing is that we discovered the Earth." 

The picture taken from space sparked the environmental movement on Earth. Anders explained: “People realized that we lived on this fragile planet and that we needed to take care of it.”