Yuri Gagarin, Hero of the Soviet Union, was a cosmonaut who became the first human to journey into outer space. Traveling in the Vostok 1 capsule, Gagarin completed one orbit of Earth on 12 April 1961. By achieving this major milestone in the Space Race he became an international celebrity. The son of a carpenter on a collective farm, Gagarin graduated as a molder from a trade school near Moscow in 1951....

Edna Egbert fights with the police as they try to prevent her from jumping off the second-story ledge of her home at 497 Dean Street in Brooklyn. The lady in the picture with the mirror held above her head – was Mrs. Edna Egbert. The photographer caught her in the ready-to-swing position, as a cop gets ready to dodge. The year was 1942 and Mrs. Egbert was living in the building at the time – No....

In 1989, Michael Galinsky, then a 20-year-old student, took a month to traverse the U.S. Everywhere he went, he documented the same place: the shopping mall. The results are now an archive of a vanished world, simultaneously familiar and foreign, trivial and full of meaning. Starting in the winter of 1989 with the Smith Haven Mall in Garden City Long Island, Galinsky photographed malls from North Carolina to South Dakota, Washington State, and beyond....

A young private waits on the beach during the Marine landing at Da Nang, 1965 Looking at who was around Da Nang around then, he must be part of 1/3 or 1/9 Marine Corp. This soldier just arrived. That’s why he is still wearing a white t-shirt and is wearing clean fatigues and has a new-looking web belt. Some of the soldiers in Vietnam were too young to legally buy alcohol....

Portrait of Corporal Adolf Hitler during his stay in a military hospital, 1918. In October 1918, Hitler and several comrades were temporarily blinded due to a British mustard gas attack near Ypres in Belgium. After initial treatment, Hitler was hospitalized in Pasewalk. While there on 10 November, Hitler learned of Germany’s defeat from a pastor, and—by his own account—on receiving this news he suffered a second bout of blindness....

Twenty-one American soldiers refused to return to America at the end of the Korean War. The sign on the truck reads: “We Stay for Peace”. On 27 June 1953, the United Nations Command (UNC) and North Korean Communist forces signed an armistice ending three years of fighting in Korea. Although the American-led UNC failed to win the entire peninsula, it successfully repelled Communist attacks south of the 38th parallel....

In the 1860s and 1870s, photographer Timothy O’Sullivan created some of the best-known images in American History. After covering the U.S. Civil War, O’Sullivan was the official photographer on the United States Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel under Clarence King, an expedition organized by the federal government to help document the new frontiers in the American West. The expedition began at Virginia City, Nevada, where he photographed the mines and worked eastward....

On the night of October 14 1940, a bomb penetrated the road and exploded in Balham Underground station, killing 68 people. A No 88 bus traveling in black-out conditions then fell into the crater. During the Second World War, Balham underground station was one of many deep tube stations designated for use as a civilian air raid shelter. At 20:02 on 14 October 1940, a 1400 kg semi-armor piercing fragmentation bomb fell on the road above the northern end of the platform tunnels, creating a large crater into which a double-decker bus then crashed, although no one aboard was killed....

U.S. troops disembark from a landing vehicle on Utah Beach on the coast of Normandy, France in June of 1944. Carcasses of destroyed vehicles litter the beach. The D-Day Invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944, was an immense undertaking involving nearly 6,939 Allied ships, 11,590 aircraft, and 156,000 troops. The military term “D-Day” refers to the day when a combat operation is to start, and “H-hour” is the exact time the operation commences....

These fascinating historical photographs depict immigrants and their struggle to land in America in the 1900s. Unprecedented numbers of immigrants flocked to US shores, dreaming of a life of freedom and prosperity. Between 1820 and 1920, approximately 34 million immigrants came to this country, and New York City was by the far the most popular destination. By 1910, immigrants and their American-born children accounted for more than 70 percent of New York City’s population....

Freddie Mercury was a British singer and songwriter, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. Regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of rock music, he was known for his flamboyant stage persona and four-octave vocal range. Mercury defied the conventions of a rock frontman with his theatrical style, influencing the artistic direction of Queen. Born in 1946 in Zanzibar to Parsi-Indian parents, Mercury attended English-style boarding schools in India from the age of eight and returned to Zanzibar after secondary school....

In 1945, the residents of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, were stunned to learn the true purpose of their work. Most of the 75,000 people who lived in this tightly controlled “Secret City” had no idea they were helping to process uranium for the atomic bomb until news broke of the devastating attack on Hiroshima. They had arrived in this isolated town with only vague promises that their efforts would help end the war, never realizing they were part of one of history’s most consequential projects....

John F. Kennedy campaigns in rural West Virginia looking for support for the May 10th primary, precariously perched on a high-chair to deliver his speech, 1960. While part of every candidate’s retinue, security was simply not the pressing public concern in 1960 that it would suddenly and necessarily become within a few short years. Here, seemingly alone in a crowd in Logan County, West Virginia, JFK speechifies from a kitchen chair as, mere feet away, a young boy absently plays with a jarringly realistic-looking toy gun....

The R-100 moored in Cardington, England. 1929. The R100 airship was built as part of a British government programme to develop airships to provide passenger and mail transport between Britain and the countries of the British Empire, including India, Australia, and Canada. Originally, it was proposed that two airships be constructed: one, R101, to be designed and constructed under the direction of the Air Ministry, and the other, R100, to be built by a private company under a fixed price contract....

Stalin in an off-record photo captured by his bodyguard Vlasik. The year is unknown. Vlasik’s off-the-record photos of Stalin caused a sensation in the early 1960s when an enterprising Soviet journalist spirited some out, selling them to newspapers and magazines worldwide. This photo shows how human this “monster” was, like Hitler with his German Shepherd or smiling with his maniac cohorts. How was Stalin in private life? According to witnesses he enjoyed billiards, liked playing games with children, flirted with the wives of colleagues, drank too much, had a weakness for bananas....

Stand to Death, 1944. Belorussian Strategic Offensive Operation (operation “Bagration”) resulted in complete destruction of the German Army Group Center. In 2 months the 1,100 km front-line moved 600 km west. During this operation, the Soviet armies in Belarus completely destroyed the Army Group Center of the Wehrmacht, losing five times fewer people than the Germans. This photo was taken in the summer of 1944 by Emmanuel Yevzerikhin. In the Soviet photographic album, this photo is called “Stand to Death” ....

The streets of London in the early 1950s carried a certain weight—quiet, worn, and watchful. The city had not yet shed the marks of war, and life moved at a slower, more cautious pace. Bombed-out buildings still stood in some neighborhoods, while others carried on with a sense of routine shaped by ration books, factory shifts, and long-standing tradition. It was into this atmosphere that Robert Frank stepped with his camera, drawn not to the monuments or polished views of London, but to the lives that unfolded in its fog-covered corners....

The early days of airmail services in the United States marked a significant milestone in the history of mail delivery. With the advent of airplanes, the United States Postal Service began transporting letters and packages through the skies, revolutionizing the speed and efficiency of mail delivery. These rare and historic photographs capture the planes, pilots, and support staff that made airmail services possible. From the early biplanes that were used to carry mail, to the larger and more advanced aircraft that followed, these images provide a fascinating look at the evolution of airmail technology....

By the late 1960s, car designers were beginning to move away from smooth curves and chrome details, turning instead to sharper lines and dramatic profiles. This new direction gave rise to the wedge shape — a style that would soon become iconic in the world of concept cars and exotic sports vehicles. One of the earliest and most influential examples came from Italy, wearing the Alfa Romeo badge and the unmistakable flair of Bertone’s design team....

Amasunzu is a traditionally Rwandan hairstyle that was once worn by men, as well as by unmarried women in order to indicate to potential suitors that they were single and of marriageable age. The hair is styled into crests and is frequently described as crescent-shaped. There are over thirty different styles of amasunzu worn by both men and women and often symbolized their different roles and status in the community....