John Lennon
Truly a saddening image, John Lennon was signing autographs near his home in New York City. The guy standing behind Lennon is Mark David Chapman, his murderer. Ten minutes after this photo was taken Mark shoots and kills Lennon.
Columbine
In one of the most shocking events in US history, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold entered Columbine High School on April 20, 1999 and shot 12 students and one teacher. The man pictured here is William “Dave” Sanders, the one teacher who perished. He is shown here running to the cafeteria to warn students but was killed right after this photo was taken.
Air France Disaster
Air France Flight 4590 – The Concorde was on a scheduled international flight from Paris, France, to New York City, on 25 July 2000. During takeoff, it ran over debris on the runway that somehow punctured a tire causing a chain reaction that made its fuel tank catch fire. The plane quickly crashed into a nearby hotel, killing all 109 people on board.
Robin Williams
This is the final known image of comedic actor Robin Williams. This was taken a few days before he took his own life in 2014. While the media thought Williams suicide was because of his lifelong struggle with anxiety,depression and drugs, it was later revealed that he had Lewy Body Dementia and was recently diagnosed with cancer and Parkinson’s.
Bear Attack
What would you do if you saw a bear charging at you in the woods? In 2014, Darsh Patel, age 22 was faced with that exact situation. Instead of running, he took this picture of a bear that kept approaching him and the group of friends with whom he was hiking. He was killed just seconds after this photo was taken.
Glider Down
In 1943, The mayor of St. Louis Mayor William D. Becker (pictured here on the left), climbed onto an experimental military glider to take a publicity photo and a short flight. Just as they were reaching the desired altitude, the left wing collapsed sending the glider into a downward death spiral. Everyone on board died in the crash.
USS Titanic
The unsinkable Titanic. How ironic. This was the last photo snapped of the famous ship as it hauled out of New York on April 12th 1919. After the amazing ship hit an iceberg, it started the slow process of sinking, eventually killing 1,503 people including passengers and crew.
PSA Flight 182 Air Disaster
The PSA air disaster over San Diego in 1978 was the worst mid-air collision ever and still ranks as one of the deadliest US air disasters ever killing all 137 people on both aircraft and seven people on the ground in houses, including two children.
Paul Walker
Fast and Furious star Paul Walker is shown here getting into his beloved Porsche Carrera GT with his friend Roger Rodas. This was the last photo ever taken of Walker before the two men died after Rodas crashed into a tree while he lost control of the car at 100 mph. In the shocking video footage, you can see the men trying to escape the burning car while it was engulfed in flames.
Biggie Smalls
Oh Biggie…why! The greatest rapper of all time was gunned down just months after Tupac was killed in Las Vegas. This is the last photo ever taken of rapper Notorious B.I.G taken after he left a party in Los Angeles. Moments later he was gunned down and just like with Tupac, nobody was ever arrested for the crime.
Patrick Swayze
The always fit actor who starred in Roadhouse and Ghost was but a shadow of his former self as he battled pancreatic cancer when this photo was taken on September 14, 2009. This is the last known photo of Patrick Swayze taken just days before he died.
2003 R.I Nightclub
The band Great White was performing in a Rhode Island nightclub when the pyrotechnics malfunctioned. This malfunction caused an accidental fire to the sound insulation foam in the walls and ceiling of the nightclub. The photo above was taken right when the fire started as you can see in the back of the musicians. This tragic incident took the lives of 100 people enjoying the band’s performance.
Niagara Falls Claims Another Life
In 1995, A so-called “daredevil”named Robert Overacker tried to jet ski over Niagara Falls in order to raise awareness for a homeless charity. While his heart was in the right place, the execution went terribly wrong when his parachute failed to open. He drowned in the icy waters.
Malaysia Flight 17
This sad picture is of a family onboard Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 that was lost as it travelled from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. It is believed that the plane was deliberately shot down over Ukraine by a hand held rocket that launched a missile by pro-Russian insurgents. All 298 people on the plane lost their lives.
The Mountain Always Wins
Pictured here in 1924 at their camp at the base of Mt. Everest, George Mallory and Sandy Irvine are preparing to begin their ascent. It would become a journey from which they would never return. Some say they died before the reached the top and others say they perished on their way back down. Does it matter?
World Trade Center, September 11, 2001
One of the most tragic events in the history of humanity. A day that changed the modern era. On this sad morning 19 terrorist from Al-Quidea hijacked four airplanes with the goal of crashing them into public places. Two of those planes were crashed into the World Trade Center in New York. This photo was taken at the exact moment that the second airplane crashed into the South Tower. 2,996 innocent lives were killed on this day.
James Dean
1955 – Cars and favorite actors don’t always make for good bedfellows. Take for instance the beloved actor James Dean and his Porsche Spider. Here the Rebel Without a Cause star stands with his Porsche at a gas station just hours before his fatal crash.
Johnny Cash
This photo was taken at Johnny Cash’s last performance at The Carter Ranch in Hilton, located in Virginia. He was 71 years old at the time of the photo, only a few months later after this performance he passed away from complications due to diabetes.
Japan Airlines Flight 123
One of the worst air disasters happened August 12, 1985 when a Boeing 747 flying from Tokyo to Osaka had a sudden explosive decompression happen mid-flight. This photo was recovered after the plane crashed into Mount Takamagahara, killing 15 crew members and 505 of 509 passengers on board.
Joy Division
Ian Curtis a band member from the famous Joy Divison is pictured here with his young daughter. A few days after this photo was captured he took his own life, it was later known that Ian suffered from depression and epilepsy. Joy Division broke up after this tragedy and later formed the band New Order.
Hot Air Balloon Disaster
Hot air balloons have always terrified me. Mostly because of the height and the hot air component. Ive always thought that they could catch fire at anytime. In 2012, a scenic hot air balloon ride from Carterton, New Zealand, crashed into high voltage power lines resulting in a tragedy that claimed the lives of all twelve people on board. After the crash there were allegations that the pilot may have been under the influence at the time
A National Tragedy
In 1961, 18 members of U.S. figure skating team, along with their coaches and family members were on their way to Brussels to compete in the World Figure Skating Championships. They never made it. The all died when their plane crashed. It was such a disaster for the sport that the event was cancelled.
Ebola Outbreak
In 1976, the first widespread Ebola outbreak ever was reported in Africa. Mayinga N’Seka, the nurse pictured here looking at the camera died just a few days after this photo was taken. She succumbed to the horrible death after contracting it after the picture above was taken.
UP
Adelir Antônio de Carli was a Brazilian priest that attempted to break the world record flying under a cluster of 600 air balloons for over 19 hours. After he took off, nobody ever saw him again. Some people thought he may have crash landed and could still be alive but that was put to rest after parts of his body washed ashore two months later.
Tupac Shakur
The night the East vs. West coast rap battle took a deadly turn. Tupac Shakur was seen here after leaving the MGM Grand the night of the Mike Tyson fight. After a fight broke out in the lobby, Shakur and Knight were seen leaving. this is the last Photo taken of Tupac before the shooting. Las Vegas September 7, 1996
Murder or accident?
Tina and David Watson were just like the thousands of other newlyweds who have been excited to spend their honeymoon in Australia at the Great Barrier Reef. David told his new wife Tina he was certified in scuba diving and that they would have a great time. It turned out David was a liar. The story he told was that the currents became too much for Tina to handle and instead of attempting to rescue her, David swam back to the surface to ask for help. The picture of Tina in the background, lying on her side, is the final picture other divers took while she was (maybe) still alive. David was later arrested for murder as it turned out he planed to kill her and make it look like an accident.
9/10/01
The night before the attacks on the twin towers, Joe Kelly and his two sons took in a Yankee game. This is the last picture ever taken of Kelly. The next morning he drove into Manhattan to go to work on what seemed like just another day. It wasn’t. RIP Joe.
Dale Earnhardt Sr.
Dale Earnhardt was Nascar’s greatest hero and competitor. As Earnhardt was coming into a turn in the Daytona 500 in 2001, he lost control of his car and got tangled up in a three-car collision sending him hurtling into the corner at 175 miles an hour. While the crash doesn’t look all that bad, Earnhardt died instantly. This is one of the last images ever taken of him before he got into his legendary #3 black race car.
Frozen
worldlifetyle
The British explorer, Lt. Col. Henry Worsley died on January 2016 while attempted to complete the first solo, unaided crossing of the Antarctic. That means he tried to walk across the coldest part of earth with nothing but the clothes on his back. While he almost made it, walking 913 miles in 69 days, he radioed for help just 30 miles short of his final destination. However, he went into organ failure caused by severe dehydration and exhaustion and just after he took this last selfie in his tent, he slipped into a coma and died.
Rangoon Bombing
The bombings in Rangoon, Burma in 1983 was an attempted assassination of South Korea President, Chun Doo-hwan. Three North Korean bombers attacked the President at a memorial event, killing 21 people including four South Korean top officials. The only reason that President Chun was saved was because he car was late due to bad traffic.
Darwinism
Pavel Kashin was a noted “free runner” and Parkour enthusiast who died when he was trying to back flip and lost his balance falling 16 stories to his death. His friends captured the image you see here.
Granite Mountain
The “Granite Mountain Hotshots” were an offshoot group of highly trained Prescott, Arizona fire fighters who specifically fought wildfires in hard to reach places. On June 28, 2013 They went to fight a massive wildfire but were quickly overtaken and 19 of the 20 members lost their lives. It was the greatest loss of firefighters since September 11th.
The IRA
In 1998, the terrorist group called the IRA placed a car bomb in Omagh, Ireland in the red car pictured here. The bomb blast was tremendous and killed 31 people. The father and son in the picture survived, but the photographer did not.
Chicago Massacre
On May 30, 1937, the Chicago Police Department chased down a group of striking workers and began shooting at the unarmed steel workers and their families. The group was within their rights to protest who as they marching toward the steel mill when the shooting began. Ten people lost their lives and 30 were injured.
Water Tower Death
Elisa Lam was a college student who disappeared in Los Angeles in 2013. After weeks of missing her body was eventually found in a water tank at the top of the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles only after people complained about the smell and taste of the water coming out of the tap. In shocking elevator surveillance footage of her final moments alive, she was filmed getting on and off the elevator, talking to herself, and seemingly hiding from someone. How she ended up in the water tank is still a mystery.
A sad ending
A woman named Heather Price Papayoti (blond woman) stands on the Hoover Dam bypass bridge on January 16, 2014. The photographer thought nothing of taking this generic photo of the bridge. Just moments later, Price jumped over the railing and ended her own life making this the last image of her taken alive.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN on April 3rd, 1968 waving at a small crowd of supporters. Just moments after this photo was taken, he was gunned down by James Earl Ray. Here King is pictured with civil rights leaders Hosea Williams, Jesse Jackson, and Ralph Abernathy.
TransAsia Airways Flight 235
The actual dash-cam footage of this event is stunning. After the TransAsia flight took of from the airport in Taiwan, one of its engines suffered a flame-out, causing the flight to topple in midair, crashing into the Keelung River. Hundreds of eyewitnesses watched as the plane crashed killing 42 of the 58 people on board.
Budd Dwyer Suicide on Live TV
Robert “Budd” Dwyer was accused of receiving a bribe in exchange for over-withholding taxes on every state employee’s income.Knowing he was going to be caught in a huge scandal that would ruin his name, Dwyer did the unthinkable. During a live news conference he pulled a revolver out of a manila envelope, put it in his mouth, and pulled the trigger on live television. The clip is so disturbing that we will not show it here.