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Photographic manipulation long predates digital editing. Around 1860, Abraham Lincoln's head was placed on the body of John C. Calhoun. Other early examples include Gen. Francis P. Blair being added to a group portrait around 1865, Bo Gu being removed from a 1936 photograph with Mao Zedong, Joseph Goebbels being erased from a 1937 photograph with Adolf Hitler and a horse handler being removed from a 1942 image of Benito Mussolini.

Carlos Franqui was later erased from photographs after breaking with Fidel Castro in 1968. In a photograph taken at Kent State University on May 4, 1970, a fence post above Mary Ann Vecchio's head was removed for magazine publication. Soviet editors removed champagne bottles from a September 1971 photograph of Willy Brandt and Leonid Brezhnev in Crimea. The Gang of Four were removed from a September 1976 memorial photograph of Mao. Clement Hurd's cigarette was removed from a 2005 edition of "Goodnight Moon." A 1989 magazine cover placed Oprah Winfrey's head on Ann-Margret's body without permission.

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One of the most famous photograph of Abraham Lincoln in 1860. But only his head was real in the picture as the body belongs to someone called John Calhoun.

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See the difference between these 2 photos? The guy sitting on the right was General Francis Blair, who was apparently added only later (1865).

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The guy on the left quarreled with Mao Ze Dong and his picture was removed (1936).

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The guy missing seems to be called Goebbels in this photograph taken with Hitler. Reason is unknown (1937).

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Benito Mussolini sitting on a horse. I guess sitting on a horse by yourself - Cool! Sitting on a horse held by a handler - Not so Cool. (1942).

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The guy in the center is Carlos Franco, who apparently quarreled with Fidel Castro after Fidel supported the entry of Soviet troops in Czech Republic (1968). Thus he disappeared from the photo.

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This photographer, John Filo, won the Pulitzer Prize but was manipulated for the cover of the Life magazine to remove the rear fence. Don’t ask me why.

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This is a photograph of the negotiations between Chancellor Willy Brandt of Germany and Leonid Brezhnev.

Rumored has it that all of them were rather drunk during the meeting. You can see the disappearing wine bottles in the German press compared to the Soviet press on the top.

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The ‘gang of four’, a group of Chinese Communist Party leaders were sacked and arrested in 1976 after the death of Mao Zedong. Thus explains their disappearance from the photo.