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# 5 Kisses That Made History

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<!-- video src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/g8XCEzQs.m3u8" -->
## Video: 5 Kisses That Made History

[Watch (HLS stream): 5 Kisses That Made History](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/g8XCEzQs.m3u8) (1:34)

![5 Kisses That Made History](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/g8XCEzQs/poster.jpg?width=720)

_Published 2017-02-14. From Auguste Rodin's The Kiss to V-J Day in Times Square._


---

Jul 27, 2023 9:29 PM UTC

---

## More From This Series

[All Videos](https://time.com/video/)

[V-J DAY KISSING SAILOR 70 YEARS LATER](/video/io4a1xEK/)

### V-J DAY KISSING SAILOR 70 YEARS LATER

[Kissing Scene](/video/bwtRYXl4/)

### Kissing Scene

[TIME's Favorite Movie Kisses](/video/bl2FyODa/)

### TIME's Favorite Movie Kisses

---


## Transcript

[ MUSIC ] This kiss commissioned in 1888 cemented Auguste Rodin's reputation at a time when he was struggling to get recognition. Its hundreds of bronze casts also made him rich. [ NOISE ] It was extremely controversial for Victorian audiences. When it came to the US in 1893 for the world's fair in Chicago, it had to be shown in a private room. And women were advised not to go see it. It was one of the most scandalous sculptures of its time, but went on to redefine what a kiss looks like, especially in art and film. Speaking of film, this kiss from Thomas Edison's film called The Kiss is considered the first movie kiss.

Actors May Irwin and John Rice share a 19 second smooch in this 1896 film shot by Edison's videoscope cinema projector Critics called it disgusting, but kissing in movies was here to stay. This kiss is technically called VJ day in Times Square. Alfred [ UNKNOWN ] took a photograph for Life magazine. It came to symbolize the relief and hope represented by the end of World War II. It has since provoked controversy over who the kissers where and what exactly was going on, but it is the most frequently reproduced picture of the 20th century. This kiss is actually an electrical worker trying to resuscitate his co- worker after an electrocution.

The 1968 photo by Rocco Morabito called kiss of life became the first spot news photo ever to win a Pulitzer Prize. Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and East German President Erich Honecker shared this fraternal Kremlin kiss in honor of the 30th anniversary of the German Democratic Republic in 1979. So just goes to show, whether or not it's romantic, one kiss can make all the difference.

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