Aline Johnson de Menocal meeting with her personal staff to plan a party. 1946. Cuba’s reputation as an exotic and permissive playground came to light in the 1920s, when the country became a favorite destination for robber barons and bohemians. Hotels, restaurants, night clubs, golf clubs and casinos sprung up in Havana catering to the rich jet-setters seeking luxury. Socialites, debutantes, celebrities like Ava Gardner and Frank Sinatra, and American mobsters came to play in the Cuban paradise....

A tree protrudes from a house tossed by the flood. The South Fork Dam was built between 1838 and 1853 by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to provide water for the operation of the Western Division of the Pennsylvania Mainline Canal between Johnstown and Pittsburgh. Though the dam had been built according to accepted engineering practices, the canal system was obsolete by the time the dam was completed in 1853....

The photo pushed forward the idea of the stoic British continuing on with their normal lives. The appearance of German bombers in the skies over London introduced a new weapon of terror and destruction in the arsenal of twentieth-century warfare. This concentrated direct bombing of industrial targets and civilian centers began on 7 September 1940, with heavy raids on London. It was the beginning of the Blitz – a period of intense bombing of London and other cities in Great Britain that continued until the following May....

In the mid-1970s, an unusual product burst onto the scene, capturing the attention of millions of people across the United States. The Pet Rock, a simple rock with googly eyes glued on and nestled in a cardboard box with a bed of straw, became an instant sensation and cultural phenomenon. Despite its humble origins, the Pet Rock became a symbol of the absurdity and excess of the era, as well as a testament to the power of clever marketing and the fickle nature of popular culture....

A woman IRA volunteer on active service in West Belfast with an AR18 assault rifle. The photo was taken by the Irish photographer Colman Doyle. The original caption: “A woman IRA volunteer on active service in West Belfast with an AR18 assault rifle”. The IRA regularly conducted “show of arms” displays, showing off their modern and numerous weapons. The gun the girl is showing is ArmaLite AR-18. It was obtained by the IRA from the US in the early 1970s and became an emotive symbol of the IRA armed campaign....

As the consequences of the Great Depression, unemployment, poverty, and the effects of the Dust Bowl ravaged the country in the 1930s, government programs such as the Farm Security Administration (FSA) were established. American photographers were employed to document the dire conditions. In these poignant photos, the FSA photographers Dorothea Lange, Ben Shahn, and Russell Lee capture the acute anxiety and stasis of impoverished agricultural laborers as they wait in line for the emergency aids that will keep their families fed for another few days....

At the heart of 1920s bathroom design was the exhilarating Art Deco movement. Characterized by its bold geometric patterns, sumptuous materials, and an air of modern luxury, Art Deco exerted a profound influence on every corner of the design. In bathrooms, this influence was unmistakably visible through the use of intricate mosaic tiles that adorned floors and walls. These tiles, often in bold monochromatic or contrasting color schemes, brought an element of drama and grandeur, transforming the bathroom into a veritable work of art....

On 12 October 1960, the 17-year-old extreme right-wing student Otoya Yamaguchi kills the socialist politician Inejiro Asanuma with a sword during a speech in Tokyo. The photo was taken directly after Yamaguchi stabbed Asanuma and is seen here attempting a second stab though he is restrained before that happens. Otoya Yamaguchi was a member of a right-wing ultranationalist Japanese group. Inejiro Asanuma was the leader of the socialist party in Japan....

It’s quite fascinating to read the vintage magazine adverts because nothing gets old faster than technology news and ads. In this article, we’ve collected some retro computer ads to give you a hands-on look into what made the tech headlines before the age of smartphones, tablets, and high-end laptops. It’s amazing how far we’ve come. Do you know that your phone already has way more processing power than all the Apollo 11 computers in the Lunar Lander that put humankind on the moon?...

Kniefall von Warschau (German for “Warsaw Genuflection”) refers to a gesture of humility and penance by German Chancellor Willy Brandt towards the victims of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Those who witnessed the scene were awe-struck: a politician actually displayed his emotions by confessing to guilt and begging for forgiveness. With his head bowed low, he froze in this position for twenty or thirty seconds. “I have been often asked what the gesture was all about....

Historically, dog-drawn carts were a common sight in Belgium and the Netherlands, employed for the transportation of milk, bread, and other goods. These vehicles, typically pulled by a pair or more of canines, were a practical and efficient mode of delivery in their time. In the early Victorian era, Britain also witnessed the use of dog carts, primarily associated with bakeries. However, when dog-drawn carts were used on pedestrian areas, they were deemed a nuisance, leading to their prohibition in London in 1840....

Ronald Reagan poses for a sculpture class at the University of Southern California. 1940. He was the 40th president of the United States, but first, he juggled monkeys for Hollywood. Ronald Reagan started his career in show business in Des Moines, Iowa as a radio announcer for baseball games. In 1937, while in Southern California to cover the Chicago Cubs’ spring training season, Ronald Reagan did a screen test for the Warner Brothers movie studio....

Long before Hedy Lamarr became a household name in Hollywood, she was already turning heads in Europe—not just for her beauty, but for her captivating screen presence and sharp intellect. Born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler in Vienna, Austria, in 1914, Lamarr’s journey from the grand salons of pre-war Europe to the bright lights of Hollywood was anything but ordinary. Her story is one of reinvention, courage, and brilliance—both on and off the screen....

Stella Stevens, born Estelle Eggleston, was an American actress, director, and producer who played in numerous films and television shows throughout her career. She was born on October 1, 1938, in Yazoo City, Mississippi, and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. Stevens attended Memphis State University for a short time before dropping out to pursue a career in modeling. Stevens started her career as a pin-up model and was featured in magazines like Playboy and Modern Man....

Turkish official teasing starved Armenian children by showing bread during the Armenian Genocide, 1915 In 2005 Oxford University Press published Donald Bloxham’s The Great Game of Genocide. Imperialism, Nationalism, and the Destruction of the Ottoman Armenians . The book included nine photographs printed on glossy paper. Eight of the photographs were credited. One is not. It shows a man wearing a tie and an unbuttoned jacket standing in front of a circle of ragged children and one apparent adult with something in his hand....

In 1982 Agnes Denes cultivated, grew, and harvested a two-acre wheatfield in downtown Manhattan. Before the high-rises, condos and financial centers of Battery Park City, the area behind the Twin Towers was a landfill. In 1982, artist Agnes Denes was commissioned by the Public Art Fund to create one of the most significant pieces of public work Manhattan has ever seen. Instead of a sculpture, Denes planted a beautiful golden wheat field, right next to the gleaming silver towers of the World Trade....

The picture was created for propaganda purpose, hence the use of a really small woman as the guard to make the captured airman look more unheroic. Downed U.S. airman Dewey Waddell was taken captive by Vietnamese communist fighters in 1967, and he was released in 1973. The photo, taken by GDR war correspondent Thomas Billhardt, features a female guerrilla holding an American soldier captive and escorting him on a country road....

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This was a way for testing helmets back in 1912. In professional football, the only line of defense against head injury is the helmet. But the earliest football helmet looked more like a padded aviator cap than the high-tech crash-tested helmet used by today’s players. It is not certain who invented the football helmet. In 1896 Lafayette College halfback George “Rose” Barclay began to use straps and earpieces to protect his ears....

In the year 1927, a new chapter was written in the history of human flight. In a time when aviation was still a fledgling endeavor, Charles Lindbergh dared to imagine and achieve what had long eluded even the most intrepid pilots. Setting off from Roosevelt Field in New York, his world’s first solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean to Paris was not merely a journey of physical distance, but a testament to the relentless pursuit of human progress....