German soldiers, 1941. Looks like a handover of some sort, based on the satchels, the two officers saluting each other, etc., so it’s possible this would be a unit being shipped out of where ever it has been garrisoned. Judging by the flowers in one of the soldier’s uniforms, the kids, and the architecture, it’s probably in Germany. One soldier has flowers on his uniform. Here’s the reason why “humanizing” the Nazis is important....
A young Japanese woman in a kimono takes part in the Hula-Hoop craze that swept America and Japan, 1958. (Photo by Mitsunori Chigita). After World War II had ended, the surrendered Japan was devastated. All the large cities, industries, and transportation networks were severely damaged. A severe shortage of food continued for several years. Allied forces led by the United States occupied the nation and started the rehabilitation of the Japanese state....
Ernst Schäfer, famed German hunter and zoologist. The 1938-1939 German Expedition to Tibet was a May 1938 – August 1939 German scientific expedition led by German zoologist and SS officer Ernst Schäfer. Schäfer’s primary objective for the expedition was the creation of a complete scientific record of Tibet, through a synthesis of geology, botany, zoology, and ethnology referred to in the German science of the day as “holism”. The Reichsführer-SS Himmler was attempting to avail himself of the reputation of Ernst Schäfer for Nazi propaganda and asked about his future plans....
Pyramid of WWI German helmets at Grand Central, 1919. This interesting picture, taken in 1919, shows employees of the New York Central Railroad at a celebration in Victory Way, showing off a pyramid of recovered German helmets in front of Grand Central Terminal. There were over 12,000 German Pickelhaubes on the pyramid, sent from warehouses in Germany at the end of the war. Victory Way was set up on Park Avenue to raise money for the 5th War Loan, and a pyramid of 12,000 helmets was erected at each end, along with other German war equipment....
Allan Pinkerton on horseback during the Battle of Antietam, near Sharpsburg, Maryland. The Civil War was certainly the most catastrophic event in American history. More than 600,000 Northerners and Southerners died in the war, a greater number than all those who had died in all other American wars combined. (The other parts of these photo series: The American Civil War in pictures (part 2), 1861-1865 ; The American Civil War in pictures (part 3), 1861-1865 ....
The Antarctic Snow Cruiser was developed under the direction of famed explorer Admiral Richard Byrd and it was intended to facilitate transport in Antarctica during the United States Antarctic Service Expedition (1939–41). His second-in-command, Dr. Thomas Poulter, returned from a previous Antarctic expedition (in 1934) with the idea for a massive, purpose-built transport vehicle for Antarctic exploration. It was envisioned as an unstoppable machine for long-distance travel on the continent’s endless swaths of snow and ice, especially during the harsh weather conditions....
Fashion in the mid-20th century placed extraordinary importance on shape, structure, and presentation. Undergarments were not hidden accessories but essential tools used to sculpt the body according to the ideals of the time. During the late 1940s and throughout the 1950s, lingerie played a defining role in women’s fashion, shaping silhouettes with precision and intention. Among these garments, the bullet bra stood out as one of the most striking and controversial symbols of the era....
Nazi rally in the Cathedral of Light, 1937. The Cathedral of Light was a main aesthetic feature of the Nazi Party rallies in Nuremberg starting in 1933. It consisted of 130 anti-aircraft searchlights, at intervals of 12 meters, aimed skyward to create a series of vertical bars surrounding the audience. The effect was a brilliant one, both from within the design and on the outside. The cathedral of light was documented in the Nazi Propaganda film Festliches Nürnberg, released in 1937....
In 1984, archaeologists first suspected that a long-lost stadium might lie buried beneath a horseshoe-shaped depression in the eastern section of the ancient Greek city of Magnesia. This ancient settlement, now part of Aydın province in Turkey’s Aegean region, had already yielded significant historical finds, but the distinct curve of the land hinted at something monumental hidden below. For years, this subtle contour was the only clue pointing to the existence of a structure that had been lost to time....
This black and white image, taken by White House photographer Cecil Stoughton, is the only known photograph of JFK and Monroe together. Monroe is still wearing the infamously tight-fighting, sheer rhinestone-studded dress she wore when singing earlier at Madison Square Garden. President Kennedy, whose head is tilted slightly is looking down while listening to Marilyn. His brother, Robert Kennedy, is standing next to the pair looking on. Singer Harry Belafonte is in the background and historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr....
In the 1950s and 1960s, there existed a ‘parallel world’ of American advertising where mainstream brands targeted the African-American middle and upper classes in lead magazines such as Ebony and Jet. These ads never ran in wider society and show a very different face of Black America at the time. It is said many of these adverts were literally created due to John Harold Johnson, founder of the Johnson Publishing Company dynasty....
The entire building went up in just over a year, under budget (at $40 million) and well ahead of schedule. The idea for the Empire State Building is said to have been born of a competition between Walter Chrysler of the Chrysler Corporation and John Jakob Raskob of General Motors, to see who could erect the taller building. Chrysler had already begun work on the famous Chrysler Building, the gleaming 1,046-foot skyscraper in midtown Manhattan....
During the early years of World War II, various initiatives were undertaken by the US government in order to increase the public’s support for the American war effort. In 1942, photographer Jack Delano was tasked with capturing a young American man, George Camblair, transforming from a regular US citizen into a battle-ready soldier. These photos depict his striking transformation and document his journey of an average young man into a skilled and disciplined soldier....
For six months in the summer and fall of 1969, Niagara’s American Falls were “de-watered”, as the Army Corps of Engineers conducted a geological survey of the falls’ rock face, concerned that it was becoming destabilized by erosion. These stark images reveal North America’s iconic – and most powerful – waterfall to be almost as dry as a desert. Niagara Falls is the collective name for three waterfalls that straddle the international border between Canada and the United States....
Two German soldiers and their mule wearing gas masks in World War One, 1916 Many animals were used during World War One. Horses, mules, dogs, and pigeons were vulnerable to poison gases so that special protection was necessary for them. Horses were equipped with gas masks over their muzzles and were protected from inhalation of poison gases such as phosgene . Equine eyes were not affected by lachrymatory agents so that their masks consisted only of specially made nose bags but, unfortunately, these animal’s eyes were vulnerable to the effects of chlorine and vesicatory gases....
Young men listening to songs in a special listening booth. 1954. Nowadays you can easily listen to new songs on your smartphone using your earphones, but this wasn’t the case in the past. Many music stores in the 1950s introduced special sound-isolating booths where customers could sample new sounds without having to wear headphones. Back in the ’50s and ’60s, when low-cost 45-rpm vinyl singles were the most popular format for recorded music, thousands of independent mom-and-pop record stores across the country provided listening booths....
On April 9, 1940, Germany simultaneously invaded Norway and occupied Denmark, and the war began in earnest. On May 10, German forces swept through Belgium and the Netherlands in what became known as “blitzkrieg,” or lightning war. Three days later, Hitler’s troops crossed the Meuse River and struck French forces at Sedan, located at the northern end of the Maginot Line, an elaborate chain of fortifications constructed after World War I and considered an impenetrable defensive barrier....
A German prisoner of war escorted by a Soviet soldier with a PPSh-41, 1943. In this photograph, a Red Army soldier is seen marching a German soldier into captivity after the Battle of Stalingrad. The Germans were being rounded up prior to marched to death. The Battle of Stalingrad was amongst the bloodiest battles ever fought in the history of warfare with more than 2 million casualties. On January 20, 1943, the 65th Soviet Army broke through the German defensive lines around Stalingrad and by January 22 had reached Gumrak, the last German airfield equipped to land transport planes carrying supplies into the cauldron and evacuating the wounded....
“Bloody Saturday” – An iconic photo of a crying baby amid the bombed-out ruins of Shanghai’s South Railway Station after a Japanese air strike against civilians. August 28, 1937. “ Bloody Saturday ” – Depicting a Chinese baby crying within the bombed-out ruins of Shanghai South Railway Station, the photograph became known as a cultural icon demonstrating Japanese wartime atrocities in China. Taken a few minutes after a Japanese air attack on civilians during the Battle of Shanghai, Hearst Corporation photographer H....
The early 20th century marked a pivotal era for feminine hygiene advertising. As society began to discuss menstruation more openly, advertisers sought innovative ways to engage their target audience. In their pursuit of breaking stereotypes, advertisers often employed unconventional and comical approaches, resulting in a series of ads that now stand as fascinating relics of the past. One striking aspect of these vintage ads is the use of peculiar visual imagery to capture the attention of potential customers....
