Known to the world simply as "The Kiss", Alfred Eisenstaedt's black-and-white photograph of an unidentified sailor kissing nurse Edith Shain in 1945, marked the end of WWII. The photo was published in Life Magazine, and was made the most famous kiss in the world.
To commemorate the 65th anniversary of the U.S. victory over Japan (V-J Day), a 26 foot statue representing the image has been put on display at Times Square.
The first national day of remembrance for the Second World War generation was Saturday (August 14th, 2010) and in honor of that the world saw many Americans and even non Americans at the statue for a the massive "kiss-in".
This was a seen on Friday, before the "kiss-in".
So, who's who in this photo? Well this famous nurse is Edith Shain. Shain’s identity only became known in 1970 when Edith Shain herself wrote to the man who took the photo to say it was her and she had been working in Doctor’s hospital, New York City at the time.
Her Letter to Alfred Eisenstaedt.
Alfred Eisenstaedt, was photographing changing events that day (V-J Day) and didn't get time to take names, and because of that , several people wanted to take the claim to fame--Edith Shain, thought was the only one.
The Sailor, till this day--the world does not know and we may never know. There have been several men who have admitted to being that unknown sailor. Carl Muscarello and Glenn McDuffie are just two of the 10 men who have claimed to be the sailor that kissed Edith Shain.
Carl Muscarello
Glenn McDuffie
Shain died in June of this year at age 91 before she could see her campaign for the commemoration completed.
KISS -IN (Time Square)
Hundreds wore sailor hats and nurse's cap on Saturday to commemorate the 65th anniversary of V-J Day, by smooching.
The couple re-enacted the famous Life magazine photo of Edith Shain and the unknown sailor.
