Time for a quick history question: what date did the Civil War start? And no Googling. Anyone? No? Come on, this is basic history–the stuff we all should know but don’t. It was April 12, 1861, which was 150 years ago on Tuesday.Like many wars in human history, it was well documented in numerous ways. But weirdly, this particular one was recorded using stereo photography, an early form of 3D that places two 2D images of the same picture, but from slightly different perspectives, side by side. This tricks the brain into an illusion of depth. Using either special glasses, or from just crossing your eyes, you were able to merge the images to create the 3D illusion. As you can imagine, like most newfangled ideas, it was pretty big back when it was invented in 1838. By the time civil war broke out on that fateful day at Fort Sumter, the technique was being used to record the carnage, the troops, and the apparatus of war.The Library of Congress, who holds this collection of stereo photos, has taken some of the original negatives (shown above) and used them to make modern digital anaglyphs, which can be viewed with those 80s favorite, red-green 3D glasses. Below are some from their Flickr page, but you can view more on the Center for Civil War Photography’s web site. Just like Sebastian Denz did with skateboarding, these guys are looking at civil war from a fresh new perspective.View from the Petersburg railroad depot, Richmond, Virginia, 1865.
Massaponax Church, Virginia “Council of War”: General Ulysses S. Grant examining map held by General George G. Meade, 1864.Centreville, Virginia. Stone church during the Civil War, 1862.[via Read Write Web.]
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