Buzz
While it’s tempting to assume our modern era is defined by unparalleled progress and grandeur, history often surprises us with its capacity to leave us in awe. These photographs, showcasing both human-made marvels and natural wonders, encapsulate the profound feeling of being humbled by the sheer scale of the past.
10. The Enormous Lily Pads of Dr. Bahnson
Dr. George Frederic Bahnson was a multifaceted individual. Renowned as a top medical diagnostician of his era, a skilled Union sharpshooter during the Civil War, and a horticulturist who cultivated the largest lily pads ever seen in the United States, his legacy is as vast as his achievements.
The image above serves as a striking testament to what a man with a bit of gardening skill and a dash of madness can achieve. After the war, Bahnson and his wife dedicated themselves to nurturing the Victoria Regal water lily, a species native to the Amazon that can grow over 2.5 meters (8 ft) wide in its natural habitat. Remarkably, the Bahnsons became the first in the US to cultivate this plant without relying on a greenhouse. The pond that once held this extraordinary piece of history was eventually drained to accommodate the construction of the Salem College Fine Arts Center.
9. The Antarctic Snow Cruiser
By the 1940s, the world was gripped by Antarctic exploration fever. Inspired by the daring journeys of Shackleton, Falcon, and Charcot, people eagerly followed each new expedition into the icy southern wilderness. To match the era's adventurous spirit, cutting-edge technologies were developed to aid explorers in overcoming the harsh Antarctic conditions.
Among these groundbreaking inventions was the Antarctic Snow Cruiser. Conceived by Dr. Thomas C. Poulter, a seasoned Antarctic explorer who bore the scars of his adventures in the form of lung damage, the Cruiser was envisioned as the pinnacle of exploration technology. It featured unique treadless tires designed to traverse the vast crevasses that had previously hindered vehicle use in the region.
Following months of meticulous development, the Snow Cruiser made its Antarctic debut on January 15, 1940, at the Bay of Whales. For a fleeting, triumphant moment, it stood on the icy terrain like a formidable metallic penguin, only for its massive tires to sink into the snow and lose traction. Despite the crew's efforts to free it, the engines overheated just a short distance later, marking the start of one of the most exasperating chapters in Antarctic exploration history.
In the end, the expedition repurposed the Snow Cruiser as a makeshift shelter by covering it with timber. It was ultimately abandoned when the team departed Antarctica the following year.
8. American Lobsters
Most people think lobsters are just large enough to barely fit on a dinner plate. While we know intellectually that they can grow much larger than the ones sold in stores, this image drives that point home with striking clarity. Though not the largest ever recorded—that title belongs to a 20-kilogram (44 lb) specimen caught near Nova Scotia—the claws of these lobsters are larger than the boy’s torso, offering yet another reason to avoid New Jersey’s waters.
The American Northeast has long been home to formidable crustaceans. The rise of the lobster industry coincided with the development of canning technology in North America, and by the mid-19th century, demand for lobsters surged. Supply soon caught up, flooding the region with lobster meat to the extent that it was labeled a “poor man’s food.”
Today, that perception has shifted dramatically, yet global lobster fisheries continue to harvest over 200,000 tons of this prized decapod delicacy annually.
7. The Carving Of Rushmore
Captured in the late 1930s, this image showcases the construction of Mount Rushmore, a project nearing its completion in 1941. The undertaking was monumental, particularly given its timing during the aftermath of the Great Depression.
Resembling ants on a giant sculpture, workers spent 14 years meticulously shaping the facial features of America’s most revered presidents. Equipped with steel cables and powerful winches stationed at the mountain’s summit, a team of 30 men alternated between blasting and carving the granite. Dynamite was used to rough out the details to within 8 centimeters (3 in), followed by the intricate honeycomb method, where workers drilled closely spaced holes with jackhammers and chiseled away the excess.
The sole fatality during Mount Rushmore’s construction was its architect, Gutzon Borglum, who passed away from natural causes six months before the project’s completion.
6. Wreckage Of A Zeppelin
The Hindenburg disaster cemented the early hydrogen-filled Zeppelins as symbols of fiery catastrophe. During World War I, Germany constructed 84 Zeppelins for military use. Of these, 60 were destroyed, with nearly half of the losses attributed to accidents rather than enemy action.
Following numerous bombing raids that often caused minimal damage, the European countryside became littered with the charred remains of these colossal airships. The image above captures one such wreck in Mison, France, from 1918. Today, the closest comparison to these massive ruins would likely be underwater shipwrecks, though even those seldom match the scale of the largest airships of that time.
5. The Redwood Loggers
The oldest known giant sequoia (giant redwood) lived for 3,500 years. Its age was determined by counting its trunk rings, a process that required the tree to be felled.
California’s giant redwoods are a quintessential symbol of American heritage, rivaled only by the sight of trucks hauling logs so massive they dwarf the vehicles themselves. A single truck could transport 16,500 meters (54,000 ft) of lumber in raw form.
Before the 1850 California gold rush, the state’s redwood forests remained untouched and pristine. Since then, more than 95 percent of the ancient forests have been harvested. These trees had coexisted with California’s wildfires for so long that they evolved a symbiotic relationship with the flames. The redwood’s fire-resistant bark allows it to survive with little damage, while competing species are often eradicated.
4. The Mark Twain
Even a picture of 3-meter-wide (10 ft) redwood logs piled on a truck fails to convey the enormity of these trees as effectively as this ground-level shot of the “Mark Twain” redwood being felled in 1891. This tree was a trophy, symbolizing settlers’ triumph over the untamed wilderness of the American West. Many such images appeared on postcards of the era, often featuring men with axes striking nonchalant poses.
Because giant sequoias often shattered upon falling, the loggers who brought down Mark Twain spent eight days digging a trench and lining it with feathers to cushion its impact. Two cross-sections from the base were preserved for museums, while the remainder was used for fence posts.
3. Building The Nagarjuna Sagar Dam
In an era dominated by machinery and automation, the significance of human effort is often overshadowed by technological advancements. Yet, the seemingly disorganized wooden scaffolding and bustling workforce in the image above were integral to the meticulously orchestrated construction of the world’s largest masonry dam.
Situated on India’s Krishna River, the Nagarjuna Sagar Dam stretches 1.6 kilometers (1 mi) and rises 150 meters (490 ft) high, creating one of the planet’s largest artificial lakes—all achieved through manual labor. Recognized as one of India’s “modern temples,” the dam aimed to reduce the nation’s reliance on foreign imports. Over its 12-year construction period, no fewer than 50,000 workers were involved at any given time, a testament to its monumental scale.
2. The Alaska State Fair
Cabbages wider than wheelbarrows, pumpkins so massive they collapse under their own weight—giant vegetables exude a quiet arrogance, as if they’ve claimed space they shouldn’t occupy. In the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, nestled in the Land of the Midnight Sun, these oversized crops are a cherished tradition, fiercely guarded by local farmers.
The Alaska State Fair is the epicenter of this festive spectacle, showcasing 210-centimeter (89 in) gourds, 500-kilogram (1,100 lb) pumpkins, and the world’s largest cabbages. Their extraordinary size is largely due to geography: With up to 20 hours of sunlight daily during summer, the vegetables thrive in the perpetual daylight of Alaska’s unique environment.
1. Iraq’s Roman Arch
This stone arch in present-day Iraq is undeniably large—impressive, perhaps, but not necessarily awe-inspiring. What’s truly remarkable, however, is how something so massive and seemingly fragile has endured for nearly 1,500 years.
Photographed by archaeologist Max von Oppenheim, it is identified as a Roman bridge over the Wadi Al-Murr, likely constructed during the rule of Emperor Justinian I. The Wadi Al-Murr flows through Iraq’s Ninawa Province, near the Turkish border. In the sixth century, Justinian commissioned a network of bridges and dams in the area to mitigate flooding in the Mesopotamian city of Dara.
Though most of these structures were far grander, this solitary arch remains one of the few intact remnants of Roman presence in Iraq. As of 2006, it still stood, a testament to its enduring legacy.
