20 fascinating historical photos that you'll find shocking

Ever since the first cameras were invented, humans have been capturing the absurdity of our world for future generations to remember. Here are 20 fascinating historical pictures that you might find shocking, you'll have to guess which two are last.

Before the United States went to war with the Nazis, the country had its very own Nazi party. Run by far-right political activist George Lincoln Rockwell, The American Nazi Party still survives today in some form...

It's difficult to believe that when World War I kicked off the French were still sporting vibrant blue uniforms that included bright red pants. This image is one of the few color photos we have that show us exactly what France's troops looked like in the first months of the war.

Kathrine Switzer was the first woman to officially take part in the Boston marathon. But the race official Jock Semple didn't want women in his marathon and attempted to remove Switzer's bib, which would have disqualified her.

Fashion at the turn of the century was vastly different from what we wear today. Clothing was often made at home and far more modest than what you'd leave your house in today...

Desperate civilians crowded the gates of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon as they attempt to flee with American troops. This scene is reminiscent of 2021's fall of Kabul, where tens of thousands of Afghan civilians attempted to flee as American troops withdrew from the country.

When American and coalition forces were sent to assist Kuwait and push back Iraqi forces in 1991, they were supplied with modern gas masks for fear Saddam Hussein would use his store of chemical weapons against allied troops.

A group of children who survived the Auschwitz death camp posed for a picture by Captain Alexander Vorontsov after the camp was liberated by the Soviet Union's Red Army.

On August 06, 1945, Hiroshima was the first city to be bombed with a nuclear weapon. There was nothing left after the explosion.

Archeologist Howard Carter and an Egyptian worker reveal King Tutankhamun to the world. Shortly after this image was taken Carter would die of lymphoma, leading to stories that King Tut's tomb was cursed.

A vast army of Terracotta warriors belonging to China's first emperor Qin Shi Huang was discovered in 1974. It was one of the greatest archeological discoveries of the century, more than 8000 life-sized clay statues have been discovered to date.

This image was allegedly taken during a Ku Klux Klan induction ceremony in 1915. The KKK still exists today and is a harsh reminder of America's terrible founding sin, slavery.

The Fall of the Berlin wall was one of the twentieth-centuries most memorable moments. The man in this photo would have been killed if he attempted to break through the wall just one-day earlier.

Even more than a century ago, Manhattan's skyline was dotted with buildings that stretched to the clouds.

Over a century ago, the world suffered a pandemic that was even more dangerous than that of Covid-19. Populations at that time were also forced to wear masks and they were just as unhappy about it as we were...

There was once a time in history when women weren't allowed to vote. In America, an organized group of brave women called the Suffragettes worked to earn the right to vote for women at the turn of the century.

One of the most critical points of World War II was the successful opening of a second European front against Adolf Hitler's Nazis. The brave men in this photo were some of the first to land on Omaha beach, where fighting was some of the most difficult and deadly.

Prior to the development of a vaccine, some polio patients were forced to live their lives in a giant metal container called an "iron lung." This machine allowed people with polio to survive, though their quality of life obviously wasn't great...

Long before people traveled by plane through the skies, they traveled via airships. Well, until the Hindenburg zeppelin exploded in 1937.

A lone New York City firefighter walks through the ruins of downtown Manhattan shortly after the September 11th attacks.

A Mujahideen guerilla holds a U.S.-supplied stinger missile, which was given to Afghanistan's rebel forces during the Soviet Union's invasion of the country during its civil war.