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The purpose of this thread is to present a photograph of historical significance and invite members to guess who or what is shown in the photo and comment on the historical significance.

 

Ready?  Here's the first one...

 

Microsoft-Staff-1978.jpg

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I'm guessing by some of the funky hairstyles and beards/moustaches its from the 70s.

 

I think it's the Microsoft team.  The young guy front left looks like pics I've seen of Bill Gates when he was younger, and front right looks like Paul Allen.

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I'm guessing by some of the funky hairstyles and beards/moustaches its from the 70s.

 

I think it's the Microsoft team.  The young guy front left looks like pics I've seen of Bill Gates when he was younger, and front right looks like Paul Allen.

 

Andy is correct.  The guy at the left front is a real giveaway.  Who knew then that he would one day be the world's richest person?

 

The picture is of the entire Microsoft staff on December 7, 1978.

 

Does anyone have additional comments?

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Yeah, I knew - right click the pic and all is revealed .... :P

 

Bummer...

 

<p style="text-align:center;"><span rel='lightbox'><img class='bbc_img' src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5e/Microsoft-Staff-1978.jpg" alt="Microsoft-Staff-1978.jpg"></span></p> 

 

I shall be more selective in the future.

Edited by MikeL
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Bummer...

 

<p style="text-align:center;"><span rel='lightbox'><img class='bbc_img' src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5e/Microsoft-Staff-1978.jpg" alt="Microsoft-Staff-1978.jpg"></span></p> 

 

I shall be more selective in the future.

 

Nothing can be done Mike, I'm afraid :( We'll just have to agree not to right click the pics :P

 

So while we wait for podga's poser ...

 

Stuart+Sutcliffe.jpg

 

Clue: this guy was very much loved by his closest friend [good job I check read - I'd typed "closet" :P] who was distraught when he died.

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River Phoenix?

 

Definitely not, but I have no idea who  :unsure2:

 

I'm looking for photos of ancient Greeks (as children) to put up but so far haven't been having any luck.  :P  So I'm happy the Undead took over for me.

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OK, Zombie.  I think we have suffered long enough.  I know who it is, but had to do a lot of research to figure it out so I won't reveal what I know.  Not many GA members are going to recognize the picture of someone who died more than fifty years ago.  He was not the most famous of his lot.

 

I'm ready with another historic picture.

Edited by MikeL
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Heheh, I'm intrigued how you worked him out.

OK .... to put folks out of their misery, it's .... Stuart Sutcliffe.

Who????

Well, he played a small but influential part in The Beatles' early history during their important and formative period in Hamburg. It seems pretty clear John Lennon had an exceptionally close relationship with Stuart - who can blame him :P - and Paul McCartney was very jealous of their relationship. Stuart's sister has said it went much further than just friendship. Stuart wasn't the best guitar player and his real talent was art, which is why he left the group to become an artist. Sadly he died of a brain haemorrage soon after.

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Stuart Sutcliffe was the Beatles' original bassist.

 

I figured it out with a guess that the hairstyle was possibly one that the Fab Four might have worn.  Searching Wikipedia for "Beatles" located a page which mentioned "Stu Sutcliffe" as a close friend of John Lennon.  A further search for "Stuart Sutcliffe" yielded a number of web pages about him, including one which contained the following photo of one of his artistic endeavors:

 

elvis2_large.jpg

 

The piece is titled Homage to Elvis.  See: http://www.stuartsutcliffe.org

 

I will post another challenge shortly.

Edited by MikeL
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OK.  Who are these people?

 

The best response will be the one which identifies each person and answers these additional questions.  Where was the picture taken?  When was it taken?  Why were they gathered together?

 

Good luck.

 

gallery_2598_968_66835.jpg

Edited by MikeL
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Oooohhh! I know this one!

 

Nine Kings of Europe - the photo was at some point in the early 1900s, when they gathered for the funeral of Edward the somethingth (7th?). The King sitting in the armchair is King George V of the United Kingdom, and the King standing second from the right is King George I of Greece. Standing over George V is Emperor Wilhelm of Germany.

 

I think the rest are from Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, Spain and Bulgaria.

 

*takes a bow*

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Oooohhh! I know this one!

 

Nine Kings of Europe - the photo was at some point in the early 1900s, when they gathered for the funeral of Edward the somethingth (7th?). The King sitting in the armchair is King George V of the United Kingdom, and the King standing second from the right is King George I of Greece. Standing over George V is Emperor Wilhelm of Germany.

 

I think the rest are from Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, Spain and Bulgaria.

 

*takes a bow*

You are probably right Podga, but I don't see a Swedish king in the picture..

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Yes, beyond recognizing the big three :P and knowing that the pic must have been taken before 1913, because that's when George I of Greece died, the rest is from memory. So if I've got Sweden wrong, then it must be another of the kingdoms that were around in Europe at the time.

 

Since Mike is giving extra credit for being as specific as possible, we'll see if someone else can come in with more detail. And if he's grading on a curve, I'm hoping for an A-  :)

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Oooohhh! I know this one!

 

Nine Kings of Europe - the photo was at some point in the early 1900s, when they gathered for the funeral of Edward the somethingth (7th?). The King sitting in the armchair is King George V of the United Kingdom, and the King standing second from the right is King George I of Greece. Standing over George V is Emperor Wilhelm of Germany.

 

I think the rest are from Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, Spain and Bulgaria.

 

*takes a bow*

 

Very good, Podga!

 

The nine European Monarchs were gathered at Windsor Castle on May 20, 1910 for the funeral of King Edward VII of the UK.

 

 

gallery_2598_968_66835.jpg

 

Standing, from left to right: King Haakon VII of Norway, King Ferdinand of Bulgaria, King Manuel of Portugal, Kaiser Wilhelm II of the German Empire, King George I of The Hellenes (Greece) and King Albert I of the Belgians (Belgium). Seated, from left to right: King Alfonso XIII of Spain, King-Emperor George V of Great Britain and King Frederick VIII of Denmark.

 

 

Numerous other dignitaries participated in the funeral procession, including princes and princesses, dukes and duchesses, and prominent commoners such as former President Theodore Roosevelt of the US.

 

The picture is historically significant because it is the last such gathering that ever occurred.  By 1918, many of the crown heads had lost their kingdoms as a result of the Great War (World War I).  By 1945 and the end of World War II, the few remaining monarchs found themselves in purely ceremonial offices.  All of the kings pictured were related to King Edward VII by blood or by marriage or by both.

 

While the UK still has its Monarch, the outbreak of World War I in 1914 brought a break for the Royal Family from its German heritage.  They changed their name from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor.  The horses which pulled the funeral hearse, a gift to Edward VII from his nephew, Kaiser Wilhelm II, were destroyed on account of their Germanic bloodlines.

 

Being king is not what it once was.

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