Photos That Captured the Most Chilling Moments in History

January 28, 1986

The last known photo of Challenger crew boarding the space shuttle. The crew consisted of five NASA astronauts and two payload specialists. The exact timing of the crew's death is unknown; several members of the crew are known to have survived the spacecraft's breakup, but there was no escape system, and the impact of the crew compartment at terminal velocity with the ocean surface was too violent for anyone to have survived.

Nuremberg Trials, 1945

German war criminals laugh at a translation error during the Nuremberg Trials. The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals held after WWII which uncovered the German leadership that supported the Nazi regime. Of the 177 defendants, 24 were sentenced to death, 20 to lifelong imprisonment, and 98 other prison sentences. 25 defendants were found not guilty.

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The More You Know

  • The needle at the top of the Empire State Building was originally intended as an anchor for blimps.
  • Albert Einstein was once offered the post of Presidency of Israel. He politely refrained.
  • Joseph Stalin used to have people removed from photos after they died or were removed from office.
  • Ancient Greeks came up with the idea of cyclops after they found a fossil of a mammoth, and had no idea what it was.
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Post originally appeared on Upbeat News.