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#2

350 Year Old Pocket Watch Carved From A Single Colombian Emerald

Final score:

393points

POST

Stephanie Did It 3 years ago

And I thought they exaggerated in Romancing the Stone

81points

#3

In 1955, This Tiny Electric Narrow Gauge Train Was Installed In New York’s Holland Tunnel To Monitor Traffic Speed

Final score:

350points

POST

Brett 3 years ago

Slow down I the man in the toot toot command you to!

141points

Three decades ago, smartphones did not exist (the first phone of the "smart kind" was the Simon Personal Communicator, released in 1994,) while just over half a century ago (the first personal-use computer Altair was developed in 1974,) nobody had a computer in their home. Just let this sink in for a little. It feels like technology is accelerating at an immense pace.

According to Ray Kurzweil and his book “The Singularity Is Near,” technology’s quickening pace is not just a feeling, but actually real. It turns out, “the pace of technological progress—especially information technology—speeds up exponentially over time because there is a common force driving it forward.”

In other words, every generation of technology improves over the last as it achieves some kind of rate of progress.

#4

A British Couple Sleeps Inside A "Morrison Shelter” Used As Protection From Collapsing Homes During The WWII 'Blitz' Bombing Raids... March 1941

Final score:

339points

POST

Your Local Lizard 3 years ago

I would wake up and hit my head

137points

#5

Robo-Vac, A Self-Proppeled Vacuum Cleaner Part Of Whirlpool’s Miracle Kitchen Of The Future, A Display At The 1959 American National Exhibition In Moscow, 1959

Final score:

327points

POST

Brett 3 years ago

My roomba’s great grand father

294points

#6

This Car Is A French 'Delahaye 175s Roadster', Introduced At The Paris Motor Show In 1949. Only One Was Ever Made. It Was Recently Sold At Auction For Around Five Million Dollars.

Final score:

326points

POST

Sori 3 years ago

This is so sexy

107points

When taking two separate innovations from different eras, from the birth of the first modern car in 1886 to the beginning of the self-driving car era in 2012, every step of progress speeds up from one version to the next.

The Singularity Hub explains that the more effective technology is, the more attention it receives, and the more efficient flow of new resources it has. “Increased R&D budgets, recruiting top talent, etc. are directed to further improving the technology.”

With that in mind, we can suspect that technological innovation will look very different in a couple of decades' time from now. It may not be the flying cars as we’ve seen in retro-futuristic movies, but it may well be an AI friend who talks to you like a real person. Oh, wait, we don’t need to wait that long, since that already exists.

#7

Philco Predicta Television From The Late 1950s

Final score:

307points

POST

Bardhi's Dad 3 years ago

Nice design, though

144points

#8

The World's Oldest Surviving Diving Suit: The Old Gentleman, From 1860

Final score:

306points

POST

Brett 3 years ago (edited)

No thank you this looks like it came out of a horror movie

211points

#9

Motorola Vice President John F. Mitchell Showing Off The Dynatac Portable Radio Telephone In New York City In 1973

Final score:

293points

POST

Aleksandra Elias 3 years ago

And when it stops working, you can use it to put under an unsteady table or wardrobe

101points

#10

Kodak K-24 Camera, Used For Aerial Photography During Ww2 By The Americans

Final score:

284points

POST

Steve Barnett 3 years ago

He's so tiny.

189points

#11

The Old "Telefontornet" Telephone Tower In Stockholm, Sweden, With Approximately 5,500 Telephone Lines C. 1890

Final score:

272points

POST

Stephanie Did It 3 years ago (edited)

Imagine what that sounded like on a windy day!

135points

#12

A Rail Zeppelin And A Steam Train Near The Railway Platform. Berlin, Germany, 1931

Final score:

270points

POST

Bardhi's Dad 3 years ago

This looks pretty futuristic even for nowadays, though

132points

#13

Helen, An American Indian Telephone And Switchboard Operator, Montana, 1925

Final score:

259points

POST

Tabitha L 3 years ago

My Grammy was a switchboard operator. I wish I had a picture like this of her.

13points

#14

A Thin TV Screen (Only 4 Inches Thick) With An Automatic Timing Device To Record TV Programs For Later Viewing Is The Wave Of The Future As Shown At The Home Furnishings Market In Chicago, Illinois, On June 21, 1961

A Thin TV Screen (Only 4 Inches Thick) With An Automatic Timing Device To Record TV Programs For Later Viewing Is The Wave Of The Future As Shown At The Home Furnishings Market In Chicago, Illinois, On June 21, 1961

Final score:

256points

POST

Stephanie Did It 3 years ago

They weren't wrong!

72points

#15

Soviet Peasants Listen To The Radio For The First Time, 1928

Final score:

242points

POST

Saint Thomas 3 years ago

That's the original "What sorcery is this"-stare right here !

205points

#16

Motorized Roller-Skate Salesman In California, 1961

Final score:

240points

POST

Whovian 3 years ago

Imagine skating normally when the fuel finished...... so slow

65points

Marcellus the Third 3 years ago

Plus the constant gasoline smell.

21points

Sawdust 3 years ago

Was he selling motorized roller-skates or did he just use them in his job (injury insurance, say)?

9points

Marta Dyrgała 3 years ago

I can't focus on anything in this picture besides gasoline pump being shocked and touching it's face. Anyone? Just me? Ok. 😂

3points

Katrina Hunt 3 years ago

Nooo!! I scrolled through specifically to see if I was the only one! Hes all 😱

2points

VeryDarkMatter 3 years ago

Inspector Gadget .. 😆

3points

MantisKeeper 3 years ago

basically a grounded jetpack

2points

Zophra 3 years ago

Wouldn't this also be at the time where everybody smoked? Seems dangerous in light of that.

2points

Mary Peace 3 years ago

In light of that, ha ha! But you're right.

1point

Iris 3 years ago

What could go wrong ?? 😂

2points

BusLady 3 years ago

I wonder how many he actually sold.

2points

Amanda Hunter 3 years ago

I'd have loved to have seen him going like the clappers down the road!

1point

tuzdayschild 3 years ago

That just seems like way more trouble than it's worth.

1point

Monika Soffronow 3 years ago

No Smoking, please!

1point

Mama Panda 3 years ago

Imagine cruising along at 34 mph on these beauties and hitting a small rock! Yeah I bet the road rash would be brutal.

1point

BoredPanda is awesome 3 years ago

I thought the thing on his back was a propeller like a jetpack

1point

Gabriel Proulx-Jalbert 3 years ago

From the pic, it was the during the same time that fuel had lead in it. Double danger!

1point

Sasha Kuleshov 3 years ago

This is just a disaster waiting to happen :P

1point

Monika Soffronow 3 years ago

So are cars

0points

Horror Hero13 3 years ago

Is it bad that I want some now??

1point

Luther von Wolfen 3 years ago

I assume tragedy followed.

1point

unicorn spinach 3 years ago

i want this!!!!

0points

Glynna Bowood 3 years ago

This is beyond stupid...

0points

Pat Reagan 3 years ago

Looks convenient and safe!

0points

Del Buell 3 years ago

LOL!!

0points

Thomas Ewing 3 years ago

The motor 'way up by your ears! Noisy!

0points

Eglė Bukauskaitė 3 years ago

Such a swagger, that grandpa

0points

Patricia Brown 3 years ago

that's just funny

0points

Quazmodic 3 years ago

.... and then we discovered electric motors"

0points

Collin Edward 3 years ago

ROCKET BOOTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

0points

Telmo Belo 3 years ago

Why did we stop doing this?

0points

Oskar vanZandt 3 years ago

Looks like he's wearing a petrol-powered strimmer on his back...

0points

M O'Connell 3 years ago

That's because he is. The skates receive power from a flexible shaft drive, just like a string trimmer.

0points

James Bordenkircher 3 years ago

Doubles as emergency back warmer.

0points

Sue Sue 3 years ago

Not dangerous at all!! 😳😳😳

0points

Jessica Parker 3 years ago

Nothing says safety like a container of gasoline strapped to your back!

0points

Candice Strevig 3 years ago

Did it work like hoverboards do now?

0points

Definitely not a person 3 years ago

Dinosaur roller shoes

0points

Full of Giggles 3 years ago

That's one way to quit smoking.

-1point

#17

FBI's Fingerprint Files, 1944.

Final score:

237points

POST

Stephanie Did It 3 years ago

How long did it take to find a match??

135points

#18

The Open Side View Of An Old Calculator

Final score:

228points

POST

Brett 3 years ago

Oh I thought that was mark zuckerberg‘s face with out its fleshy mask

229points

#19

One-Wheel Motorcycle, Germany, 1925

Final score:

228points

POST

Brett 3 years ago

How do you get out without tipping over?

80points

#20

The Hindenburg Takes Shape, 1932

Final score:

204points

POST

Brett 3 years ago

I would not trust those wheel ladders I’d be like nope I’m out

91points

#21

The First Public Demonstration Of A Computer Mouse, Graphical User Interface, Windowed Computing, Hypertext And Word Processing, 1968

Final score:

197points

POST

Bardhi's Dad 3 years ago

Looks very cool to me

31points

#22

TV Glasses Decades Before Google Glass, 1960s

Final score:

192points

POST

Brett 3 years ago

og virtual reality

64points

#23

Orgone Accumulator, A Device Sold In The 1950s To Allow A Person Sitting Inside To Attract Orgone, A Massless 'Healing Energy'. The Fda Noted That One Purchaser, A College Professor, Knew It Was "Phony" But Found It "Helpful Because His Wife Sat Quietly In It For Four Hours Every Day."

Orgone Accumulator, A Device Sold In The 1950s To Allow A Person Sitting Inside To Attract Orgone, A Massless 'Healing Energy'. The Fda Noted That One Purchaser, A College Professor, Knew It Was "Phony" But Found It "Helpful Because His Wife Sat Quietly In It For Four Hours Every Day."

Final score:

183points

POST

Brett 3 years ago

Four hours?! “Honey sit down in this box while I got to the bar here is some books to keep you entertained”

99points

#24

Bikes For Your Feet

Final score:

170points

POST

Brett 3 years ago (edited)

How to be the coolest kid on the block Step one: get a pair of these bad boys Step two: there is no step two

101points

#25

Jay Ohrberg's 'Double Wide' Limousine. Built By The Man Who Also Created The 'American Dream' Superlimo

Final score:

170points

POST

Cip IESAN 3 years ago

If it rains it becomes a "pool-on-wheels"! You can also put some sand inside, to keep the kids quiet.

137points

#26

A 5mb Hard Disk Drive Being Loaded Onto A Plane, In 1956

Final score:

167points

POST

wandile dludlu 3 years ago

I take a single picture that is more than 5mbs now

76points

#27

The 'Isolator' , By Hugo Gernsback: A Helmet For Insulating The Senses Against Distraction; From The Journal Science And Invention, Vol. 13, No. 3, July 1925

Final score:

157points

POST

Radar Doi 3 years ago

looks like a good tool for open offices nowadays :))))

83points

#28

Using A Two-Horn Listening Device At Bolling Field In Washington, D.c., In 1921 Before The Invention Of Radar, To Listen For Distant Aircraft

Final score:

153points

POST

Caffeinated Hedgehog 3 years ago

And then his friend would prank him by farting in front of the device.

139points

#29

1911: Chester Mcduffee And His Ads Diving Suit, Aluminum Alloy Weighing 485 Lbs/200 Kg

Final score:

148points

POST

Brett 3 years ago

Steam punk before steam punk was cool

88points

#30

A Man With A Punt Gun, A Type Of Large Shotgun Used For Duck Hunting. It Could Kill Over 50 Birds At Once And Was Banned In The Late 1860s

Final score:

131points

POST

plush n puppet shenanigans 3 years ago

punt guns were so powerful that they had to be shot from a boat called a punt hence the name punt gun to absorb the recoil, they were usually 2 gauge in caliber and they were used for putting food on the table (though not necessarily your table as it was used to supply large amounts of birds to markets)

132points