The man's pose has nothing to do with the activity he was engaged in before dying, according to a volcanologist who studies the Pompeii victims.

-

The man's pose has nothing to do with the activity he was engaged in before dying, according to a volcanologist who studies the Pompeii victims.



"The individual in the photo is an adult man, killed by the hot pyroclastic surge (hot gas and ash cloud which killed most of the population living around Mount Vesuvius), with both arms and legs flexed due to the heat," Pier Paolo Petrone told the Daily Dot.

Petrone told the Daily Dot that “most of the human victims found in Pompeii often show ‘strange’ position of arms and legs, due to the contraction of limbs as a consequence of the heat effect on their bodies after death occurred.”

But even without a masturbatory caption, people couldn't help but imagine something else going on in the photo. "I'm sure he had a good eruption before the end," said one commenter on Instagram.

A few weeks later, a black and white version of the image was tweeted by @PersianRose1 with the false caption. It instantly began making the rounds. The viral photo Twitter account @HistoryFlick copied the tweet:


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"At first light they attacked… [swinging] their swords and battle-axes without mercy until they stood ankle-deep in blood. Few of the victims escaped with their lives."

-
Image
 "At first light they attacked… [swinging] their swords and battle-axes without mercy until they stood ankle-deep in blood. Few of the victims escaped with their lives." For more than 300 years starting in the 10th century, the Eastern Roman Empire's secret weapon was the bloodthirsty Varangian Guard.  Mercenaries hired to act as the bodyguards, secret police, and personal army of the emperor, the Varangian Guard was made up of the most savage and uncontrollable Viking warriors who were shipped east by their overlords in Scandinavia.  One Byzantine chronicler characterized them as "frightening both in appearance and in equipment," adding that "they attacked with reckless rage and neither cared about losing blood nor their wounds."  And throughout their reign, the Varangian Guard insisted on using their own Viking axes in battle, leading to their most common nickname: "axe-bearing barbarians." 
Read more

Philippines Major Isabelo 'Belong' Abaya and the Igorot Freedom Fighters

-
Image
 On March 25, 1898, Major Frederico Isabelo 'Belong' Abaya, led the so called "Ikkis ti Kandon" (Cry of Candon), drove away the Spaniards from the town and beheaded the Spanish parish priest (Fr Rafael Redondo) and two visiting friars.  He served in the Philippine Army under Gen Manuel Trinio, and later became guerilla commander in southern Ilocos under Col Juan Villamor of Bangued, Abra Province. He commanded the Igorot warriors from the Cordilleras of northern Luzon to fight the Americans in Caloocan. He and 10men were at the mountain village of Guilong, Galimuyod, 11 miles east of Candon, when they encountered a 30-man patrol of Company G, 33rd Infantry of United States Volunteers, led by 2Lt Donald McClelland. Abaya died (May 3, 1900) with two of his men and three were captured. Guilong has been renamed "Abaya" in honor of the hero. The Igorots soon fell out with the Philippine Army and became U.S. allies, acting as guides for American troops in the rugg...
Read more

On September 16, 1976, world-champion finswimmer Shavarsh Karapetyan was finishing a 13-mile training run in Armenia when he suddenly heard a disturbing sound.

-
Image
 On September 16, 1976, world-champion finswimmer Shavarsh Karapetyan was finishing a 13-mile training run in Armenia when he suddenly heard a disturbing sound.  A trolleybus had fallen over a dam wall and plunged into Yerevan Lake.  The 23-year-old immediately sprinted to the scene, stripped down, and dove into the sewage-strewn water to save as many people as possible.⁠ Despite near-zero visibility, Karapetyan swam 15 feet down to reach the trolleybus only to discover there was no open window. So, he decided to kick the rear window out, lacerating his legs in the process.  Over the next 20 minutes, Karapetyan managed to bring 37 people to the surface, 20 of whom survived. Another nine escaped on their own through the window he'd broken open.⁠ ⁠ Karapetyan's heroism left him with permanently-scarred lungs after he developed pneumonia, and he spent the next three weeks in a hospital bed before he could walk again.  But the following year, he p...
Read more