Grand Historia Photography: Six Powerful and Emotional Acts of Disaster and Death

I remember a time back in elementary school when some of the astronauts from Challenger came to my school before the initial flight. As a child, it was easy to see these figures as inspirational and a symbol of what our country stood for.

It remains a mystery to me how the bravery of some of the most amazing individuals can affect an entire countries sense of honor.

However, when nature takes full control, the most unexpected events occur. Things that are unexpected that rock you to your core and make you question everything you ever believed as good and honorable.


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I was in fifth grade at the time Challenger fell out of the sky and as a child, it was easy to express emotion after we had met a few of the astronauts not long before it happened. It was the first time in my life that I had experienced a tragedy and the tears were overcoming. At 33 years of age, I can still picture what I was doing and where I was. I think many people can relate.

September 11th: Faces in the Smoke

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This was such a shock to the entire world that when I first heard of the news I didn't believe it. It was as though someone was playing a prank or it was a taped happening like "War of the Worlds" in 1938, which drew people to insanity thinking the world was ending and aliens would be taking over.

I took time to reflect since I had lost a dear friend I went to school with who was working in the tower. Til this day, it still seems like a bad dream or a major motion picture filled with excellent special affects.

Vietnam

To this day no one really knows why we were there.

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The US initially entered the war to prevent communism in South Vietnam, so they say. In the 1960's drones of us soldiers deployed to a country that was a walking land mine and hundreds upon thousands died for a reason unknown to the world.

From a perspective of a US soldier, this was his interpretation" Let them be and let them destroy themselves. Who are we to stop them!". This was of course the view of Vietnam in the 60's, especially for any counter culture youth at the time.

Holocaust

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Over 6 million human beings were murdered in cold blood by a country that still to this day turns their heads in vain to a happening they still don't believe ever happened. The truth is in the pictures and in the stories told by people that lived through these gruesome happenings.

Titanic

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With close to 1800 people that went into the freezing Arctic waters, the tales of Titanic are passed down from generation to generation. Unfortunately, the captain ignored early warnings of icebergs and foggy weather with the high hopes of reaching America earlier than expected. One decision steered this boat into the deep abyss and the bottom of the ocean is now a murky grave for passengers.

Hindenburg

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This major Airship disaster of the German Zepplin caught fire and crashed into the "dock of the Lakehurst Naval Air Station in Manchester, New Jersey in 1937". The cause of this disasterous event is still unknown and the remains of that day caused the use of airships to be a thing of the past.

Most Vicious and Cannibalistic Prehistoric Creatures

During the Pre-Historic Era, certain creatures and species were limited in their access to food supplies, and so they were forced to feed on their own kind, giving them the ability to sustain their lives a bit longer.

Majungatholus

 

In 1998, paleontologist/anatomist Scott Sampson from the New York College found a Majungatholus skull, making it the most well preserved dinosaur skull ever found. Sampson said, "It's the kind of face that only a mother could love. It had textured, convoluted bone all over the surface of the skull which probably had skin tightly adhering to it. It had this horn-like structure on the top of the head between the eyes and another projection at the back of the skull as well."

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Teeth marks along with serrated smaller notches were found embedded on the Majungatholus measuring the same width as the teeth on the dinosaur itself, implying that it may have been involved in a struggle with the same species.

Neanderthals

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Around 43,000 years ago, the Neanderthals were turning to cannibalism—even brain-eating. Discoveries of fossil remains suggest that these prehistoric humans looked entirely different from their northern counterparts. The Osteology of this species clearly suggests signs of dismemberment and skinning.

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Cannibalistic actions included cutting of the flesh, using small stone tools and smashing open the skull using larger tools to access the brain and marrow.

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“Reports of the Neandertals (often spelled "Neanderthals") ate their own kind, says paleoanthropologist Antonio Rosas of the National Museum of Natural Sciences in Madrid. Rosas is the lead researcher for the study, which is published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.”

Anasazi

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Around 900 AD in the Chaco Canyon, the Anasazi of the southwestern U.S. routinely "processed their colleagues . . . skinned them, roasted them . . . severed their joints . . . and put the pieces into pots. This gives an entire new meaning to vicious and bizarre." Unfortunately, history has continued to be a distressing chronicle of man's inhumanity to man. Today, Chaco Canyon is a Mecca for New Agers. They like to believe that Anasazi existed in full harmony with nature. However, the archaeological evidence is exceedingly “inconvenient for those who argue that man in his natural state was good and that civilization as we know it is evil.”

Cave Bears

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Scientists have always believed that these creatures were gentle, feeding solely on vegetables and fruits. However, bones were discovered in the Carpathians - the mountains where Dracula supposedly dwelt – suggesting that cave bears could have also been cannibals. Ongoing studies of their bones and other accessory organs suggest that only a certain cave bear, dwelling in the Carpathians were carnivorous. They had high levels of Nitrogen 15 in their bones, which was highly bizarre considering that cave bears normally had low levels of Nitrogen-15.

Ultimately, Cave bears died out around 20,000 years ago when the ice had dominated the earth.

Five End of the World Scenarios

Several years ago I was sitting in my Geology class and my professor was telling a tale of the world’s end. The basic scenarios consisted of a large tidal wave swallowing Florida; the earth bursting into flames; and polarity reversal which would leave the earth open to solar flares. Well, none of these stories were making me feel any better, but the truth it, these stories do exist, and predictions for these events exist as well. Are they true? I believe the stories exist to give scientists a answer for certain environmental events that have occurred and need some sort of explanation.

One of the most famous individuals in history to predict these happenings was Nostradamus. Nostradamus was said to decode the Bible, introducing prophecies that have outlined major world events, including the end of the world. He would use trance and meditation to arrive at certain predictions hidden in the words of the Bible.

However, since historians believe that the Bible is 6000 years old, and NASA and Astrophysicists date the earth to billions of years old, I hardly believe that the predictions made by Nostradamus about the Bible could be completely true.

Knowing

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The latest blockbuster natural disaster movie called “Knowing” is about solar flares that will penetrate the earth, destroying every life form in existence, except for the children that are transported to another planet by aliens that warned earthlings 50 years prior through a telepathic child named Ursala. Well, at least the solar flares are true.

Global Warming

Global warming is the same sort of scenario, yet humans are only 10% of the problem and what’s been done can not be changed. The glaciers, ice burgs, and caps will melt, and the depth of the ocean will rise causing flooding worldwide. In this event, will humans be able to survive an even warmer world?

Polarity Reversal

Every 200,000 years, the earth goes through a shift of polarity. If you pick up a compass at the time that this is happening, it will no longer point North. The idea behind this is, the magnetic shield around the earth is weakening when polarity reversal is taking place, leaving us open to the harsh solar winds and other strong atmospheric pressure and particles from space.

Mega Wave

Geologists have been studying models of previous eruptions and have come to an alarming discovery. If part of the mass structure of the volcano slides into the ocean, it will create a Mega-tsunami close to 900 m. high, moving 500 miles an hour, and measuring 1000 ft waves.

A Massive Meteor

This scenario is of no surprise considering it came from previous historical events of dinosaur extinction. People believe that it’s the will of the earth to start over, wiping out all species to create a new life form that will inherit the earth. It sounds bizarre I know, but if you follow the history of the earth, which is dated over 2 billion years old, you will see that catastrophic events have reshaped the planet overtime.

And so the theories of the end will remain unanswered, but one thing is certain. Life has evolved over time, and if it is the will of the earth to start over, there will be no way to stop it.