Like most amazing things, it all started with one viral tweet. "Help, my students are referring to Joseph Stalin as Joseph the Stallion after I showed them pictures of young Stalin," a hapless 10th grade teacher Tweeted. Since then, Twitter has been in a frenzy sharing flashback photos of some of our favorite (and most hated) historical figures in their physical prime because, let's face it: many of those grey-haired, middle-aged men in our high school history textbooks were once… hot!. Here’s a compilation of the top-tier historical hotties that made us do a double-take:
1. "Joseph Thee Stallion"
Help, my students are referring to Joseph Stalin as Joseph the Stallion after I showed them pictures of young Stalin.
— FunctioningSadaholic (@JacobDisagrees) November 29, 2021
2. Charlie Chaplin
Alright, this tweet is exploding, it’s a historical hotties thread now, here’s Charlie Chaplin: pic.twitter.com/Ps0Cy6SjjU
— FunctioningSadaholic (@JacobDisagrees) November 30, 2021
3. Fidel Castro
Come on and get that Dick-tator: next up Fidel Castro pic.twitter.com/hcPx9W05E4
— fulana de tal (@unseeliebae) November 30, 2021
4. FDR Junior
Haven't seen young FDR make the thread yet pic.twitter.com/hQqjQFrPLV
— feral housewife (@tinypwrmouse) November 30, 2021
5. James Early Jones
Does voicing Darth Vader qualify young James Earl Jones for this Stalin thread?😏 pic.twitter.com/EoFyRbvKAW
— Caroline Collins, Ph.D. (@carolineimani) November 30, 2021
6. Lewis Thornton Powell
One of the guys in the Lincoln assassination plot
— Arianrhod (@Arianrh14052591) November 30, 2021
(I know his politics are repugnant.) pic.twitter.com/YtZcJfRXHO
7. President Joe Biden
Have they seen young Joe Biden yet? He brought wine. 👍 pic.twitter.com/LocfPKgm6Q
— Nathaniel Gardner 🇺🇸🏜️🏔️🎃 (@tkdcoach) November 30, 2021
8. Hermann Rorschach
Every semester, my students label Rorschach a thirst trap. pic.twitter.com/542Hg1meG2
— Professional Secret Keeper (@Brain_On_FireTX) November 29, 2021
9. Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon pic.twitter.com/EF2cg6aMkF
— Hsquared Studio. (@Hsquared_Studio) November 30, 2021
10. Dalai Lama
This is super sacrilegious but he has a good sense of humor, so... pic.twitter.com/yx094L8nVc
— sujatha baliga (@sujathabaliga) November 30, 2021
11. Anton Chekhov
Anton Chekov, I suffered through a few books and plays. Still don’t know what he was on about LOL but he was apparently a hottie. pic.twitter.com/Cg1jWCSfGK
— Luanne ☕️ 🇬🇧🇬🇷🇺🇸 (@CafeLatteLu) November 30, 2021
12. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Atatürk killed it with a beard when he was younger pic.twitter.com/L3BihBVUEG
— Ali Sarıbaş (@Ya_Ali03) November 30, 2021
13. Che Guevara
This guy…. pic.twitter.com/9scAj9SyVl
— Laureena (@laur_kerr) November 30, 2021
14. Czar Nicholas II & George V
You need to show them one of the pics of him with George V of the United Kingdom (their mothers were sisters). pic.twitter.com/YO6xUB81Ls
— David J. Hensley (@d_j_hensley) November 30, 2021
15. Zhou Enlai
Here's a young Zhou Enlai. He was considered really good looking, especially later in life. Women (or women I've met, anyway) especially had a thing for his eyebrows. pic.twitter.com/gYXMRPvHXn
— MFinChina (@MFinChina) November 30, 2021
Top Photo: Gaeneric / Wikimedia Commons
Elizabeth Safaryn is a fourth-year student at New York University, studying Media & Communications. She lives in the Lower East Side of Manhattan and enjoys learning/writing about feminist representation in cinema and social media. You can follow her at @lizsafaryn
