Ranker Collection

Photographic Memories

4.4m 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...

Graveyard Shift

28.3k 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...

6.1k 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 ...

833.7k 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...

2.4m 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 ...

824.5k 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...

2.3m viewsThe Death Of Evelyn McHale And The Photo Of '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 ta...

1.4m views'4 Children For Sale': The Tragic Story Behind Lucille Chalifoux's Infamous SignThe '4 Children For Sale' sign is a haunting symbol of desperation and hardship from a bygone era in American history. The black-a...

289.7k 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...

687.5k 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...

2.3m 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...

233.7k 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...

Hiroshima and Nagasaki

553.8k 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...

402.4k 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...

265.4k 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 ...

134.9k 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...

1.8m 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...

125.8k 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...

184.7k 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...

100k 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...