The two main characters in the photo are Greta Friedman, who was a dentistry student at the time, and sailor George Mendonsa. At first glance, the scene depicts their romantic kiss. Well, nothing could be further from the truth – Greta did not know George until that moment. When the surrender of Japan was announced, the sailor was in Times Square on a date with his future wife Rita.
Source: wikimedia.org, Photo: Alfred Eisenstaedt
Happy about the end of the war and having already had a few drinks, George grabbed a stranger student standing close to him and stole a long kiss from her. As the head of the photo later recalled, she was actually not too happy about the whole situation and did not reciprocate the kiss (she reportedly even slapped the sailor).
Source: Josh23, Wikimedia Commons
For decades, the identity of Greta and George remained undetermined, and in addition, many people falsely identified themselves as one of the people in the photo. It was not until the 1980s that the names of the kissing couple were confirmed with the help of scientific analysis of the photograph. Similarly, attempts were made to determine the exact time the photo was taken, as Eisenstaedt could not remember when exactly he captured it. Scientist Donald W. Olson, based on the alignment of the sun’s rays in the frame, determined the moment the photograph was taken to be 5:51 pm.
Source: Prayitno, flickr.com
George and Greta later met many times, mostly at parades and other celebrations to which they were invited. 67 years after the memorable photo was taken, they reappeared in Times Square. A series of memorials, called Unconditional Surrender, were created in their honor. Greta Friedman died on September 8, 2016 in Richmond, Virginia. George Mendonsa died on February 17, 2019, two days before his 96th birthday.
