In order to be “aired”, they literally hung their babies out the window. 1937. Dangling “baby cages” came into vogue after they were invented in 1922, but their origins really began with the 1884 book The Care and Feeding of Children , by Dr. Luther Emmett Holt. In his book, Emmett carefully describes how babies need to be “aired”. “Fresh air is required to renew and purify the blood, and this is just as necessary for health and growth as proper food,” he wrote....

It looked more like a sculpture than a car—round, transparent, and impossibly modern for its time. L’Œuf électrique, or The Electric Egg, was unlike anything else on the roads of the early 1940s. Created by French designer Paul Arzens, this sleek, egg-shaped prototype wasn’t just about aesthetics—it was a futuristic vision of what personal transportation could look like in a more efficient, elegant future. Arzens, born in 1903, was a Parisian artist and industrial designer who studied at the prestigious École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts....

A group of convicts sentenced to hard labor. These photographs are taken by George Kennan, an American explorer noted for his travels in the Kamchatka and Caucasus regions of the Russian Empire. In 1864, he secured employment with the Russian–American Telegraph Company to survey a route for a proposed overland telegraph line through Siberia and across the Bering Strait. Having spent two years in the wilds of Kamchatka, he soon became well-known for his lectures, articles, and a book about his travels....

The full world map according to the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller, composed of 12 woodcuts. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller published the first known map to feature parts of the New World labeled “America”. The map was titled Universalis cosmographia secundum Ptholomaei traditionem et Americi Vespucii aliorumque lustrationes (A map of the whole world according to the tradition of Ptolemy and the explorations of Amerigo Vespucci and others)....

In the 1950s, the communist German Democratic Republic (GDR) – that part of Germany which had been the Soviet Occupation Zone in the post World War Two division of Germany – was threatening to bleed dry, as one in six people fled, usually in search of work under West Germany’s economic miracle (but in some cases fleeing political or religious persecution). The GDR desperately wanted to halt this so-called ‘brain-drain’, so in August 1961 the East German communists were given the go-ahead by Moscow to close the border and build a physical barrier....

Two American soldiers inspect a destroyed German King Tiger tank, Belgium, 1944. Two American soldiers inspect a destroyed German King Tiger tank and at the same time admire the three beautiful passing girls. Photo was taken near the village of Corenne, Belgium, 1944. The tank in the photo is Tiger II number 312, of the 3rd company 501 SS schwere Panzer Abteilung and 82nd Airborne Division troops. Most likely this tank ran out of gas....

Fashion in the Soviet Union during the 1960s and 1970s was influenced by the socio-political environment of the time. In an era characterized by political rigidity, the women of the Soviet Union found a remarkable way to infuse style with a distinct charm, creating a unique and surprisingly beautiful fashion. In previous generations, fashion had not been a focal point for Soviet ideologists and was often viewed as an “anomaly in socialism” by these circles....

These incredible black and white photographs document everyday life in New York City in the 1940s and offer a glimpse into a long-gone era. From street peddlers selling fish or fresh ears of corn, to cars stalled under mounds of snow, scenes are both familiar and nostalgic. The New York City that emerged from World War II was a dramatically different place than the city that had entered it four years before....

Edwardian fashion refers to the clothing that was in style between the late 1890s and 1914 or the beginning of the Great War. Also called La Belle Epoque (the Beautiful Era), and the Gilded Age, this was a time when women’s fashions took on a new opulence and extravagance, inspired by the hedonistic lifestyle of Britain’s King Edward VII. The design trends of the Edwardian era revolved around the S curve when corsets created an S-shaped female silhouette, a change from the Victorian hourglass figure....

Henry Ford was not the first to create the assembly line, but his car and moving assembly line were certainly the most successful and memorable. After creating his version of the automobile in 1896, Ford moved workshops first to Mack Avenue and later to Piquette Avenue in Detroit. These first two factories were small-scale structures for limited car production. Only in 1913 at Ford’s third factory at Highland Park did mass production begin on a truly large scale....

World War I caused the death of millions of combatants and civilians, while countless soldiers suffered from injury and disfigurement. Perhaps the most disheartening were facial injuries, as soldiers had to not only deal with the physical loss, but also the constant psychological stress of wondering how people would react to their changed appearance. These men worried about their homecoming — how would strangers react, but more importantly how they would be treated by friends and family....

‘The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly’ (the original title in Italian: Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo ), is an Italian western film, released in 1966, and was the third and arguably best installment in director Sergio Leone’s Dollars trilogy, which starred Clint Eastwood as “the Good”, Lee Van Cleef as “the Bad”, and Eli Wallach as “the Ugly”. The movie is widely regarded as the definitive “spaghetti western....

As the 20th century unfolded, photographers were on a mission to capture the world’s evolution. They snapped away at everything from the chaos of war to the birth of new inventions, as well as the everyday weird and wonderful sights. Think about Boston’s Great Molasses Flood or Los Angeles’ strange alligator picnics. These are just a few examples of the oddities that sprinkle our history. Whether it’s a photo of an unusually large vase or a failed attempt at an amphibious bicycle, these snapshots piqued the interest of both casual viewers and serious historians....

In 1984, The Terminator hit theaters and redefined the science fiction genre, blending relentless action with a dystopian vision of artificial intelligence. At the heart of the film’s success was Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose portrayal of the unstoppable cyborg assassin became one of the most iconic roles in cinema history. Directed by James Cameron on a modest budget, the movie defied expectations, becoming a global phenomenon that launched a franchise and cemented Schwarzenegger as a Hollywood superstar....

The condemned Lincoln conspirators on the scaffold, 1865. This set of pictures from 1865 shows the hanging execution of the four Lincoln conspirators: David Herold, Lewis Powell, George Atzerodt, and Mary Surratt. Their deaths were a culmination of sorts of a nation ravaged by war, bitter conflict, and the death of the nation’s commander-in-chief, Abraham Lincoln. Scottish photographer Alexander Gardner captured the macabre scene, including pictures of the condemned seen moments before they walked to the 12-foot gallows, specially constructed for the executions....

New York Central’s breathtaking Grand Central Terminal (or GCT) is a New York City landmark and world-famous station. It was built during the Golden Age of rail travel and exemplified the power and scope railroads wielded at that time. While the terminal was a masterpiece of architecture and engineering, described as a gift to New York and a monument to the New York Central, it also had a very functional purpose....

Street minstrel, Gose. In this article, we’ve collected a few rare photographs from the 1870s taken by Shinichi Suzuki (1835-1918) who photographed Japan for a foreign newsmagazine called The Far East. After his lumber family business was destroyed by a tsunami in 1854, Suzuki traveled to Yokohama where he became an established photographer. Many of his photographs were hand-colored, which is why they appear more realistic and modern than the black and white photos of that era....

The Seattle area was inhabited by Native Americans for at least 4,000 years before the first permanent European settlers. Arthur A. Denny and his group of travelers, subsequently known as the Denny Party, arrived from Illinois via Portland, Oregon, on the schooner Exact at Alki Point on November 13, 1851. The settlement was moved to the eastern shore of Elliott Bay in 1852 and named “Seattle” in honor of Native American Chief Si’ahl of the local Duwamish and Suquamish tribes....

Flappers were a subculture of young Western women who emerged after World War I and became prominent throughout the 1920s. Known for their distinctive style, they wore knee-length skirts, bobbed their hair, and embraced jazz music. Flappers boldly challenged societal norms by wearing makeup, drinking alcohol, smoking in public, driving cars, and having a casual attitude towards sex. This behavior, seen as rebellious, allowed them greater freedom of movement and privacy, especially with the increased availability of automobiles....

In 1907, Joseph “Alligator Joe” Campbell and Francis Victor Earnest Sr. relocated an alligator farm in Hot Springs, Arkansas, to a Los Angeles location adjacent to the Selig Zoo and Motion Picture Studio in Los Angeles. The Alligator farm rented reptiles to the motion picture industry. The farm moved to Buena Park in Orange County in May 1953 and continued to operate as California Alligator Farm until 1984, when its lease was not renewed....