Surely you remember the mythical photograph taken in Times Square in New York of a sailor fervently kissing a nurse. It was taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt on August 14, 1945, when Japan definitively capitulated and ended World War II. When the news was known, hundreds of people took to the streets exulting with joy and the displays of fervor and joy were more than remarkable, including that mythical kiss.
However, despite being one of the most iconic images of the 20th century, there continues to be many intrigues about it. The first and foremost is who are the protagonists? But there was also the question of the exact time at which it had been taken. Well, thanks to the work of several researchers from Texas State University, the mystery of time has been solved: exactly at 5:51 p.m. local time on August 14, 1945 .
For this they have analyzed both the historical events and the physiognomy of the city and the meteorological conditions and the Sun.
Theoretically, the announcement of the news released by the White House appeared on the illuminated signs in Times Square at 7:03 p.m., however some witnesses point out this event much earlier. On the one hand, Gloria Bullard, who appears in the background in the photograph, stated in 2010 that the announcement of the end of the war appeared earlier, around 6:00 p.m. On the other hand, in 2012, the book “The kissing sailor” by Lawrence Verria and George Galdorisi, placed the event around 2:00 p.m.
The buildings function as large sundials that can be used to calculate the exact moment of the photograph. In this case, the scientists studied maps from the 1940s to understand the physiognomy of the city and identify the different surrounding buildings. And more precisely, the conclusive data to calculate the exact time has been the roof garden of the Astor building, since it projected an inverted L shadow essential to calculate the right moment.
Not content with it, scientists Donald Olson and Russell Doescher rebuilt the buildings in Times Square back in 1945 to scale and used a mirror to project the sun’s rays. Until the model perfectly matched the shadows of the photograph.
