Home World News/International The Impossibles: amazing bodily feats from the past – in pictures

World News/International

The Impossibles: amazing bodily feats from the past – in pictures

By

Somtribune Staff Writer

-

February 18, 2015

1861

A man stuck in an elephant’s mouth, an upside-down surfer, and a car parked on a stuntman’s stomach … meet the daredevils who stretched the limits of human endurance with these mind-boggling acts

2ad3034b-f07f-43e0-bb42-5b400a178ebe-2060x1515 — Joe Smith, a blacksmith strongman from Gloucester, picks up then balances a roadworks sign in his teeth, March 1936 Photograph: Fox Photos/Getty Images

5cb9cbc8-67a0-44c0-8df2-260b6de9fb48-2060x1571 — An elephant from Earl’s Court circus with a man in its mouth Photograph: Fox Photos/Getty Images

9a678786-771b-43ec-ba6a-6f406f5c0816-1476x2040 — Passersby stare as two members of the Bertram Mills circus walk along Hammersmith Broadway in London, one supporting the other on her head Photograph: Fred Ramage/Getty Images

25b75a8a-91bc-466d-aade-f0a4853d8450-1464x2040 — Sylvia Teron dangling from the roof of a skyscraper in Hamburg, 1950 Photograph: Keystone/Getty Images

53aa26be-2700-41bd-b567-7ff0e000641b-2060x1600 — Fakir Mirah Soumak bears the weight of a Citroen DS, plus passengers, as it drives over his stomach in the Grande Place, Brussels Photograph: Central Press/Getty Images

56f7e848-9794-4938-8193-80afd3691da8-2060x1614 — A White Russian Cossack rider hones his skills at Eynsford in Kent, December 1939. The famous troupe had just finished a tour of Britain when war was declared and six of them joined up, offering their services through the Foreign Office Photograph: William Vanderson/Getty Images

77cd1645-65a2-45bd-975f-28ccbb159777-1336x2040 — The aerial acrobat Schindler, notorious for his death-defying stunts, emerges from a Klemp plane piloted by Richard Perlia in 1927 Photograph: General Photographic Agency/Getty Images

342b6637-b677-42e5-b806-91bc633e5667-2016x2040 — Japanese acrobat Gyokusho Terajima interrupts a family dinner to perform an impromptu somersault over his brother’s head Photograph: Evans/Getty Images

411b27fb-9cc7-4e32-a71a-2ca41913219c-1994x2040 — Norberti, nephew of Grock, the celebrated Swiss clown, demonstrates his remarkable contortionist skills in 1955 Photograph: Russell Knight/Getty Images

739fcf59-26f7-41ea-a365-40bad9474f99-1591x2040 — Paul Remos and his sons feeding a giraffe at London Zoo in 1950 Photograph: General Photographic Agency/Getty Images

1243dc31-b243-4898-b871-dbb435c27214-1500x2040 — Stuntman Mr Brooks water-surfing upside down at Lake Tahoe, California, in September 1925 Photograph: Topical Press Agency/Getty Images

56878134-5a09-4bfd-95f6-0830dfc2001a-1634x2040 — Four men atop Brooklyn Bridge in New York City, part of the test for applicants who wanted a job painting the bridge Photograph: Topical Press Agency/Getty Images

c7a4332f-f120-4a8b-953a-dcef80a18670-1652x2040 — Contortionist Eddie Merky folds himself in half and peers round his legs, 1953 Photograph: John Sadovy/Getty Images

cfdfc335-d147-4a48-9517-2032b7f5d067-1205x2040 — A man balances a giant pumice rock on his legs, September 1921 Photograph: Lucius G Folsom/National Geographic/Corbis

e2c1541e-dc40-465c-8377-fa3d08110565-1557x2040 — A flexible flapper in 1925 Photograph: General Photographic Agency/Getty Images

f34815f8-c55c-46cf-9aba-bc1da6979f9d-1358x2040 — A street artiste balances a woman and a couple of children from each arm and his shoulders, 1890 Photograph: Balch Borton/Getty Images

fa7fcf5c-b9a2-45b3-865c-57743b61fa17-2060x1491 — Human cannonball Mary Connors being fired across the River Avon in Bristol, August 1974 Photograph: Central Press/Getty Images

fb73e66f-56b1-4343-9d49-43ce10697289-1520x2040 — 15-year-old Elsie Davis practising a balancing act above her garden with her father and brother, who left their jobs as miners to join a circus Photograph: Topical Press Agency/Getty Images

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