The 1990s stand as a defining decade in modern history, a period of transition that bridged the analog past with the digital future. Now, History Colorado’s new exhibit offers a nostalgic yet insightful look back at the events and cultural shifts that shaped the era. “The 90s: Last Decade Before the Future” invites visitors to relive the moments, both big and small, that captured the essence of a time marked by technological breakthroughs, political upheaval, and the rise of new cultural icons....

It seems that the guy on the left holding her up is enjoying the view. This photo shows Marlene Dietrich passionately kissing an American soldier as he arrives home from World War II. It seems that the guy on the left holding her up is enjoying the view. It was first published in Life Magazine with the caption: “While soldiers hold her up by her famous legs, Marlene Dietrich is kissed by a home-coming GI”....

American photographer Harry Whittier Frees created novelty postcards with his photographs of animals placed in human situations. This photo collection from the 1910s features bizarre but adorable animals dressed and posed as humans with props, often with captions; these can be seen as progenitors of modern lolcats. Though he began photographing cute animals in 1902, he did not begin dressing them in tiny human costumes until 1905. “The Nurse.”...

War photographer Robert Capa took this iconic photo of an American soldier shot and killed by a German sniper in the battle for Leipzig on 18 April 1945. The soldier became known as the ‘last man to die’ in WWII after the image appeared in Life magazine’s Victory issue. During the final days of the war, a platoon of machine gunners entered a Leipzig building looking for positions to set up covering fire points that would protect foot soldiers of the 2nd U....

A man standing on the first cables during the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge, with the Presidio and San Francisco in the background. 1935. The Golden Gate Bridge is unquestionably an American icon whose symbolism power rivals that of the Empire State Building and Statue of Liberty, in part through its representation of optimism, a distinctly American trait. Its visual linkage of form and nature, purpose and design, does not mark a boundary but instead symbolizes Western opportunities and Pacific possibilities....

Dina Sanichar’s life was one of tragedy and isolation. Discovered as a young boy in the Indian jungle, he had been raised by wolves and struggled to adapt to human society. Efforts to teach him language and social behavior were unsuccessful, and he never learned to speak or connect with others in a meaningful way. He died in 1895 at around 35 years old, leaving behind a haunting story that continues to captivate those who hear it....

At the end of 1950s a real sensation happened in Moscow: Christian Dior models came to visit the capital of the Soviet Union. Muscovites who wandered into GUM, the USSR’s premier department store, were treated to an extraordinary scene: a trio of willowy French models, dressed in vibrantly colored suits, greeting shoppers and posing for the photographers. Under the directorship of Yves Saint Laurent, the new head of Dior, the Parisian brand held a five-day fashion show featuring 12 models, at the House of Culture’s “Wings of the Soviets....

Facing the Death: Poles shot by Germans in Bydgoszcz, September 9, 1939. It’s interesting to see the range of emotions displayed by these men: anguish, defiance, stoicism, acceptance, and fear, the third one from the left is even smiling. The execution took place during the Bloody Sunday in Bydgoszcz, Poland, 1939. Bloody Sunday was a series of killings of members of the German minority that took place at the beginning of World War II....

As the United States expanded westward in the early 1800s, a booming trade in American Bison fur, skin, and meat flourished across the Great Plains. By the 1860s, these iconic animals had roamed the plains for millennia, their thunderous herds numbering in the tens of millions, a spectacle so awe-inspiring that it was dubbed the “Thunder of the Plains.” For generations, they had been the lifeblood of Native American tribes, providing not just food and clothing but also shelter and spiritual significance....

HMS Invincible returns to massive celebrations following the Falklands Conflict in 1982. Lined up on deck are Sea King helicopters from 820 Naval Air Squadron and Sea Harrier FRS1 aircraft from 800 Naval Air Squadron. HMS Invincible was launched on 3 May 1977 as the seventh ship to carry the name. She saw action in the Falklands War when she was deployed with HMS Hermes and took over as flagship of the British fleet when Hermes was sold to India....

775 confirmed kills in one picture, 1945 Female snipers of the 3rd Shock Army, 1st Belorussian Front. The ‘Shock’ armies were created with the specific structure to engage and destroy significant enemy forces and were reinforced with more armored and artillery assets than other combined arms armies. Where necessary the Shock armies were reinforced with mechanized, tank, and cavalry formations and units. The snipers in the picture: First row – Guard Staff Sergeant, VN Stepanova: 20 kills, Guard Sgt JP Belousova: 80 kills, Guard Sgt AE Vinogradova: 83 kills....

New York City in the 1970s and 1980s was marked by serious challenges to everyday life—graffiti-covered subways, rampant vandalism, piles of uncollected garbage, and high crime rates. Noise, drugs, and other social issues added to the city’s struggles, making the streets chaotic and unpredictable. Sidewalks were often littered with dog waste, waiting to catch both unsuspecting visitors and seasoned New Yorkers who happened to lose focus for a moment. It was a rough, gritty time, far from the image of a thriving metropolis....

Night fishing in Hawaii, 1948. Hawaiians used spears to fish in shallows or along rocky ledges, or underwater to catch rock fishes. Hard woods like kauila , oa, koaie , and uhiuhi were favored for spears. Finished spears were six or seven feet long, slim and sharply pointed at one end. Night spear fishing inside the reef was done by the light of kukui-nut torches as the bright light attracted fish in shallow waters....

Bedouin, derived from the Arabic badawī, a generic name for a desert-dweller, is a term generally applied to Arab nomadic pastoralist groups. These rare photos from the end of the 19th century capture a range of Bedouins at a time of change. As modern governments projected their power into previously ungovernable tracts of the desert, many Bedouins chose or were forced to abandon a purely nomadic lifestyle and transitioned to a semi-nomadic or sedentary urban way of life....

Known as the “Master of Suspense”, Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 feature films, many of which are still widely watched and studied today. Hitchcock grew up in London’s East End in a milieu once haunted by the notorious serial killer known as Jack the Ripper, talk of whom was still current in Hitchcock’s youth two decades later....

The Forestry Building in 1956. Dubbed by the media as the “world’s largest log cabin,” (actually, second largest), the Forestry Building was constructed as part of Portland’s Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition of 1905. The cabin was an enormous structure, measuring 206 feet long (62m), 102 feet wide (31m), and 72 feet high (22 meters, approximately 7 stories). A full million board feet of lumber went into it. Its construction was said to have cost approximately $30,000 (about $950,00 today)....

These photos, taken from a book on phrenology, are packed with strange theories and a whole host of strange illustrations. Published by Chicago phrenologist L.A. Vaught in 1902, the book lays out the 42 known elements of human nature (including Acquisitiveness, Benevolence, Amativeness, Weight) and how they’re made manifest in people’s heads, noses, ears, and chins. The author confidently states in his Preface: The purpose of this book is to acquaint all with the elements of human nature and enable them to read these elements in all men, women and children in all countries....

At the time of its bombing, Hiroshima was a city of both industrial and military significance. A number of military units were located nearby, the most important of which was the headquarters of Field Marshal Shunroku Hata’s Second General Army, which commanded the defense of all of southern Japan, and was located in Hiroshima Castle. Hata’s command consisted of some 400,000 men, most of whom were on Kyushu where an Allied invasion was correctly anticipated....

A Boeing P-26A fighter mounted in the 30 x 60 Full Scale Tunnel. Nicknamed the “Peashooter,” it was the first Army fighter to be constructed entirely of metal and to employ the low-wing monoplane configuration. 1934. All NASA craft must undergo complete testing through one of the administration’s 42 major wind tunnels and it’s cleared for liftoff once all the parameters are reached. These wind tunnels range from just a few inches wide to cavernous enough to test full-sized aircraft....

When the Germans and their allies invaded Southeastern Europe, a large number of civilians (over 40,000) escaped from their homelands. Many fled all the way across the Mediterranean, hopping from island to island in search of shelter and safety. The British came up with the idea of settling hundreds of thousands of refugees, mainly women, and children, from Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Turkey, and the former Yugoslavia, in Egypt, Syria, and Palestine....