theoddmentemporium: Harry Bensley: The Man in the Iron Mask. Harry Bensley had a very interesting episode in his life: He was reputedly a West-end playboy, a “bit of a rogue” and a womaniser. He had plenty of money, through investments in Russia, which allegedly earned him around £5,000 a year (a huge amount at the start of the 20th centurary). This particular story goes like this: At a dinner one evening in 1907, at his club “The National Sporting Club, London”, two gentlemen; John Pierpoint Morgan and Hugh Cecil Lowther Lonsdale (5th earl of Lonsdale and of whom boxing’s Lonsdale Belt is named after) were arguing whether it would be possible to walk around the world without being identified. Lonsdale said it could be done, where Morgan said it could not. Morgan put up a 100,000 dollar (then £21,000) challenge, and Harry, on hearing the argument, took it up. At that time, it was the largest ever recorded bet! Many conditions were also placed on the bet, including that he was never to be identified, he had to finance himself (starting off with only one pound sterling), only take a change of underclothes, and he had to find a wife on his journey, without letting her know who he was. A particular route was planned consisting of 169 English towns and cities, plus 125 others in 18 counties around the world. Morgan also financed an escort (often referred to as The Minder) to travel with him to ensure the terms of the wager were kept! FULL STORY.
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semioticapocalypse: Juggling rifles. Late 1800s. [::SemAp::]
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lostsplendor: Street Lamp Maintenance, 1910 (via Imgur)
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collectivehistory: A Pawnee family poses outside their earth lodge at Loup, Nebraska in 1871 (William Henry Jackson/Getty Images)
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itsjohnsen: A German shell strikes the Cathedral of Rheims. France, 1916. Underwood & Underwood
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collectivehistory: An unexploded German parachute mine in a Liverpool garden, 1940 (via Imgur) 
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m3zzaluna: a spot of december sun filtering onto the platform of victoria station, 1934 photographer unknown
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collectivehistory: The world’s first wheelie ca. 1936
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kingedwardviii: Profile pictures taken to put on coins. Edward preferred his left profile but I’d be inclined to disagree…
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collectivehistory: Men and equipment being parachuted to earth in an operation conducted by United Nations airborne units, Korea, Ca. 1951
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voxsart: F.D.R. Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the Stiff Collar Crowd.
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j-wolf-harding: Wehrmacht cavalry troops, basically showing off.
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collectivehistory: Some of the Oldest Oil Wells in Bibiheybat, Baku, Russian Empire, 1846
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centuriespast: Untitled Unknown Photographer c. 1900. Gelatin silver print MoMA
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ryanshistoryblog: A car that somehow fell between a wall and a house, Kansas City, 1934. From: The Dutch National Archives
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