In the next few decades after Wright brothers’ first flight , women aviators became increasingly common and attracted an increasing amount of attention, culminating with Amelia Earhart’s flights in the 1920s and 1930s. With Earhart’s death in 1937, women aviators became less prominent but continued to contribute greatly to aviation, especially as auxiliary pilots during the Second World War. In 1784, Elisabeth Thible became the first woman to fly, as a passenger in a hot air balloon....

On June 19, 1942, the couple was married. The wedding was officiated by a minister, Norma Jeane wore an embroidered lace wedding dress with long sleeves and veil. Hollywood sex symbol Marilyn Monroe had her fair share of lovers, none of them stuck around long. She was divorced three times before dying of an overdose at age 36 in 1962. Marilyn’s first husband was James Dougherty, a Los Angeles police officer....

The first auto ad appeared in 1898 in the newspaper of Ohio. The title of the auto ad was very straightforward in terms of marketing. It included a call to action, “Dispense with a Horse”. The auto ad talked about the model and benefits of Winton Motor Carriage. The ad showed that it’s not costly to maintain, its speed is 20 mph, and it had no odor. In the end, the ad compared it with the horse saying that a horse would never be able to do these tasks....

“Kiss on the lips causes the maximum reaction, swings the needle to the end of the dial.” NYPD criminologist Roy Post invented his own version of a lie detector machine. Called the Postometer , the test theoretically detected not only criminal suspects, but also discovered the truth, or otherwise, of people’s reactions to emotional stimulus. The subjects of Post’s experiments placed their hands on a pair of metal plates. Their blood pressure and temperature generated a small electrical current, indicating an emotional change had occurred....

Pacific Southwest Airlines employee in mini-skirts and go-go boots. The flight attendant occupation took permanent shape in the 1930s as “women’s work,” that is, work not only predominately performed by women but also defined as embodying white, middle-class ideals of femininity. As the nascent commercial aviation industry sought to lure well-heeled travelers into the air, airline managers and stewardesses together defined the new field of in-flight passenger service around the social ideal of the “hostess....

David Rothman was in his work clothes and Albert Einstein was dressed for the beach when they posed on this rock at Horseshoe Cove in Nassau Point in the summer of 1939. Pictured here in September 1939, Einstein relaxes on the beach near his Long Island summer home with friend and local department store owner David Rothman. After some initial confusion in the store resulting from Einstein’s thickly accented request for a pair of “sundahls”, which Rothman interpreted as “sundial”, the scientist was able to successfully purchase the white sandals on his feet for $1....

Cheerleading has long been a fixture of American sports culture, combining energy, performance, and a sense of tradition. What began as simple chants from the stands gradually evolved into an organized activity that blended athleticism with entertainment. At its core, cheerleading was designed to rally players, excite the crowd, and showcase school or team spirit. Over time, it transformed into a sport of its own, carrying a rich history that reflects changing roles, styles, and cultural values....

His face is fairly handsome and pretty symmetrical. Death mask of Napoleon, taken a day and a half after he died on the island of St. Helena at age 51. His eyes are closed, lips slightly parted, and his shaven head is tilted backward, resting on a pillow garnished with a tassel at each corner. Napoleon’s original death mask was created on May 7, 1821. Surrounding his deathbed were doctors from France and Britain....

Dorothy Counts, 15, is taunted and harassed by white students as she makes her way from Harding High School in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Douglas Martin). Dorothy Counts made national news in September 1957, when at the age of 15, she became one of the first and, at the time, the only black student to enroll in the newly desegregated Harry Harding High School in Charlotte (North Carolina)....

East German soldier helps a little boy sneak across the Berlin Wall, August 13, 1961. This is a photograph of an East German soldier helping a little boy cross the newly erected Berlin Wall the day it was built. A boy who’d gotten left behind in the chaos of people fleeing and families caught on different sides of the border. The soldier is young, and his eyes, looking warily over his shoulder, are full of fear....

Joseph Goebbels awards the 16-year old Hitler Youth member Willi Hübner the Iron Cross for the defense of Lauban. March 9, 1945. Joseph Goebbels awards the 16-year old Hitler Youth member Willi Hübner the Iron Cross for the defense of Lauban, photo taken on March 1945. Despite the extremely limited nature of the victory, the recapture of Lauban was presented as a great success by German propaganda, with Joseph Goebbels visiting the town on 9 March to give a speech on the battle....

Harold Agnew on Tinian in 1945, carrying the plutonium core of the Nagasaki Fat Man bomb. A somewhat odd photo and not terribly exciting unless you are aware of the details. Harold Agnew’s smile sort of disconnects the viewer from the reality of the situation. That box is the direct cause of the deaths of approximately 70,000 people. That little box will change the course of history, and he’s holding it like it’s his lunch....

During the Victorian era, mothers weren’t striving for social media-worthy pictures, but they did put in effort to capture the images they desired. The antiquated cameras of that time necessitated extended exposure times, making it essential for mothers to keep their young children still for significant durations. One technique was for the mother—sometimes the father, a nanny, or the photographer’s assistant—to be hidden within the frame, often behind curtains, under cloaks, or disguised as chairs....

A camp leader rings the dinner bell for refugees at the Dovercourt holiday camp, 1939. (Photo by Reg Speller). Imagine getting on a train and leaving your parents and your family behind. Imagine arriving in a new place, where you don’t speak the language and where everything is different. People wear clothes that seem strange; the food is different too. Imagine feeling that great danger looms and threatens those you love most, yet you have no idea what might be happening to your family back home....

Marine boot camp hygiene inspection, 1951. Drill instructors perform a hygiene inspection to ensure recruits have adequately showered, shaved, and have no medical issues. This was done to make sure that recruits had no health problems that can affect them from training. Back then the recruits had full body naked inspections called hygiene inspections to make sure they didn’t have ingrown hairs, staph, etc. It was really weird, 200 guys all standing naked at attention, and then the company commander would come through to take a look at everyone, all the recruits had to spin around like a ballerina so the commander could inspect the whole body, and all of this is done in front of everyone....

Four Nazi troops sing in front of the Berlin branch of the Woolworth Co. store during the movement to boycott Jewish presence in Germany, March 1, 1933. Within days of taking power, the Nazis called for Germany to boycott all Jewish businesses. This surprised many people as they had not expected the Nazis to act on their anti-Jewish ideas. This is the start of years of anti-Jewish propaganda. Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels arranged for a boycott of Jewish-owned businesses....

On 9 September 1942, though, something happened that had never happened before: an enemy plane bombed the contiguous United States. There had been rumors of bombers over Los Angeles the previous December, but those were ultimately proven false. And, of course, U.S. territory in one form or another was bombed in Guam, Hawaii, Alaska, and a few other areas in the Pacific, but those were not part of the continental US....

When it opened in 1909, the Queensboro Bridge featured the two longest steel cantilever spans globally at the time—spanning 1,182 feet from Manhattan to Blackwell’s Island and 984 feet from Blackwell’s Island to Queens. These impressive spans held the record as the longest cantilever spans in the world until the Quebec Bridge was completed in 1917. The bridge itself stretches over an impressive total length of 3,724.5 feet. In its original design, the Queensboro Bridge accommodated two elevated railway lines, two trolley lines, six lanes for carriages, and two pedestrian walkways....

A pilot at Fairlop airfield in Essex has a haircut during a break between sweeps. A Supermarine Spitfire is in the background. 1942. A Royal Air Force pilot getting a haircut and reading Greenmantle by John Buchan. There are so many interesting things about this photo, the colors, the apparent calmness of these two gents during wartime, the young pilot smoking a pipe, and also the fact that he’s reading a book set in the First World War, during the Second World War....

“Kind of Rope Dancing.” After centuries of isolation and several unsuccessful attempts by the Western nations at opening Japan to international relations and trade, the United States Navy sent Commodore C. Perry in 1853 with a letter from President Millard Fillmore to the Emperor of Japan asking for trade relations, care for shipwrecked sailors, and a place to store coal for steam ships. On July 8, 1853, the “black ships of evil mein” billowing smoke and riding without oar or sail were first seen off of Edo harbor....