The history of proto mobile phones goes back to 1908 when a US Patent was issued in Kentucky for a wireless telephone. Mobile phones were invented as early as the 1940s when engineers working at AT&T developed cells for mobile phone base stations. The very first mobile phones were not really mobile phones at all. They were two-way radios that allowed people like taxi drivers and emergency services to communicate....
The samurai were a class of people who served the aristocracy with arms. The word first appeared in a document of the Heian period; before that time such people had been called mono-no-fu or bushi . Mono means ‘thing’ and fu means ‘man’; that is, men who deal with things – ‘things’ in this case meaning weapons. The word bushi means “man of arms.’ Another document from the Heian period, listing various professions, includes bushi along with other specialists such as men of letters, doctors, singers, dancers, and others....
Simon Perris (Ali Mahmud): The only black soldier in the Hungarian army throughout Hungarian history. According to news reports of the time, Simon Perris (also known as Ali Mahmud ) was born in either Congo or Senegal and came to Hungary when he was a little boy. Originally he was a servant for a Turkish man who lived in Budapest. After his master’s death, he worked as a porter at a cinema in Nagyvárad (now Oradea) and spoke fluently Hungarian, reportedly very skillful at using colorful insults....
“Three dead Americans lie on the beach at Buna”. Due to the number of dead bodies on the beach, the Allies nicknamed it “Maggot Beach”. At a time when censors used a heavy hand to keep the American public from knowing and seeing the carnage in the Pacific during World War II, this ground-breaking photograph of dead American soldiers confronted the American public for the first time with the real face of the war....
Stanley Park in Vancouver is one of the most renowned urban parks in the world, attracting visitors from all over the globe. With its lush forests, stunning views, and diverse wildlife, the park has become a beloved landmark of the city. This article shows old photos of Stanley Park, providing an unprecedented glimpse into the park’s history. Stanley Park has a long history. The land was originally used by Indigenous peoples for thousands of years before British Columbia was colonized by the British during the 1858 Fraser Canyon Gold Rush and was one of the first areas to be explored in the city....
In the 1920s, Western fashion underwent a dramatic transformation. Women’s clothing shifted away from the elaborate and restrictive styles of the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Instead, fashion embraced looser, more comfortable garments that revealed more of the arms and legs. This shift had started about a decade earlier, with hemlines rising to the ankle and the move from the S-bend corset to the simpler, columnar silhouettes of the 1910s. Men’s fashion also became less formal in everyday wear....
Parenting has always been a rollercoaster ride, right? Sometimes, parents stumble upon the weirdest advice or goof up along the way. But when you take a stroll down memory lane, you uncover some seriously wild ways people used to handle the whole parenting gig. We all treasure those precious snapshots of our little ones having a blast at the beach or having a grand time in the park. But take a gander at your parents’ old photo albums—guaranteed giggles await as you discover the old-school antics they were up to....
The captured U-boat SM UC-5 is prepared for display in Central Park. The so-called “Liberty Day” was a holiday invented by the federal government to finance the massive effort of entering World War I. One-third of the war’s funding would come from the imposition of progressive new taxes, while two-thirds would come from selling “Liberty Bonds” to the American people. On October 25th, 1917, Liberty Day was held in New York and the authorities started an unprecedented publicity campaign to convince the public to buy the bonds....
In Chicago, a woman is being arrested for defying a Chicago edict banning “abbreviated bathing suits” on beaches. 1922. Dressed in what would look to us like very conservative swimwear today, the women were being arrested for defying a ban on wearing their ‘brief swimsuits’ in public. In the early 1900s, modesty laws were very strict and required most women to wear long one-piece garments as well as stockings....
A couple of warriors holding hands, Vietnam, 1971. This picture is a demonstration of the soldier as a human. They’re using WWII-era Russian equipment: Mosin Nagants and a helmet. They’re not part of the People’s Army of Vietnam judging by their civilian clothing. The photo was taken by German photojournalist Thomas Billhardt. Looking further into Billhardt’s photograph, it seems that he spent most of his time in North Vietnam (with occasional trips to actual fighting ground)....
“No one is born racist”. A white child and a black State Trooper during a KKK protest, 1992. The Trooper is black. Standing in front of him and touching his shield is a curious little boy dressed in a KKK hood and robe. In this picture, innocence is mixed with hate, the irony of a black man protecting the right of white people to assemble in protest against him....
Guardian Angels on the New York City subway, 1980 Guardian Angels first made an appearance on the New York subway in 1979 in an attempt to quell rising levels of violence. As in all of New York, crime was rampant in the subway in the 1970s. Thefts, robberies, shootings, and killings became more frequent. The subway cars were very often graffiti-painted or vandalism-damaged both inside and outside. As the New York City Police Department was completely overwhelmed, the public reacted with unease, and the subway was deliberately avoided....
Emerging at the dawn of the 20th century, Art Deco captured a world in transition — one balancing tradition and modernity, craftsmanship and technology. Born in Paris in the 1910s, just before World War I, this new aesthetic quickly became a symbol of progress, sophistication, and optimism. From the grand architecture of urban skylines to the refined elegance of jewelry and fashion, Art Deco embodied the confidence of a new age....
Hoover Dam is as tall as a 60-story building. It was the highest dam in the world when it was completed in 1935. Its base is as thick as two football fields. Each spillway, designed to let floodwaters pass without harming the dam itself, can handle the volume of water that flows over Niagara Falls. The amount of concrete used in building it was enough to pave a road stretching from San Francisco to New York City....
The photograph came to symbolize the end of United States involvement in the Vietnam War, and the prevailing sentiment that military personnel and their families could begin a process of healing after enduring the horrors of limited war. After spending more than five years in a North Vietnamese camp, Lt. Col. Robert L. Stirm is reunited with his family at Travis AFB, on March 13, 1973. Burst of Joy is a Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph by Associated Press photographer Slava “Sal” Veder....
Godzilla, or Gojira, has been one of the most enduring and iconic kaiju (Japanese giant monsters) in popular culture. Undoubtedly, the monster created from the nuclear bomb blast has captured the imagination of people around the world. The rampaging radioactive beast, the poignant embodiment of an entire population’s fears, became a beloved international icon of destruction, spawning almost thirty sequels. The film was directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya....
These fascinating black and white pictures show the hop picker families of Kent from the early 1900s. Before mechanization hop-picking was a hugely labor-intensive process. Consequently, farmers needed extra workers. This help came in the form of families, usually women and children from London, who would arrive in Kent for three weeks in September to pick hops. Many saw it as a kind of holiday, a chance to exchange city life for the green fields of the countryside....
Sharon Tate, an enchanting figure whose allure and talent left an indelible mark on Hollywood, lives on in the hearts and memories of cinephiles around the world. This article takes you on a captivating journey into the life of Sharon Tate, offering an intimate glimpse through a collection of vintage photographs, including the haunting final images captured before her tragic and untimely murder by members of the Manson Family....
During the 1870s, Baron Raimund von Stillfried-Ratenicz (1839–1911) was the leading foreign photographer in Yokohama, a primary Japanese port for trade and tourism. The aristocrat Stillfried was born in Komotau, Austro-Hungary, and, like his father, embarked on a military career. While studying at the Imperial Marine Academy in Trieste, and then the Imperial Military Engineering School in Tulln, Austria, he began to pursue painting. Although his military career with the Austro-Hungarian Empire was short-lived, lasting only from 1859 to 1863, the lure of the seas and far-flung places inspired by his naval education and his Orientalist painting teachers led him to South America, China, and then Japan, which he reached in 1864....
The spire of the Central Criminal Court – better known as the Old Bailey – rises defiantly while all around it buildings have become jagged shells in a landscape scarred by the relentless German bombings. 1940 The building in the center of the photograph is the Old Bailey, one of London’s courts, and the statue atop is The Lady of Justice. These iconic buildings including St Paul’s Cathedral, where this picture is taken, are a testament to the incredible work done by the London firemen in saving them....
