Posts

Setups for photographing suspects and murder scenes. In the late nineteenth century, the photography of criminals became as standardized as anthropological photography, largely because of the work of Paris police official Alphonse Bertillon (1853-1914). Son of Louis Adolphe Bertillon, a well-known anthropometrician who used statistics to describe humans, Alphonse Bertillon developed a verbal and visual system to describe criminals. His main interest was to identify recidivists – that is, repeat offenders....

When the Consumer Electronics Show first opened its doors in June 1967, few could have predicted the influence it would have on the future of technology. Hosted in New York City, the inaugural event gathered 17,500 attendees and more than 100 exhibitors eager to showcase the latest consumer gadgets. The keynote address was delivered by Motorola chairman Bob Galvin, setting the tone for what would become the most important stage in consumer technology....

Lynching of Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith, 1930. On a hot August night in 1930, a crowd gathered in front of an Indiana jail — men, women, and children shouting and jeering, demanding that the sheriff release his three prisoners. Three African-American teenagers: Tom Shipp, Abe Smith, and James Cameron — huddled inside their cells, charged with the murder of a white man and the rape of a white woman....

As a sequel to the successful 1939 New York World’s Fair , the second World’s Fair opened on April 22, 1964, and its theme was “Peace Through Understanding” . 650 acres (210 ha) of pavilions, public spaces, and displays from exhibitors around the world. Countries, cities, corporations, and private groups set up shops to display their ideas. The theme was symbolized by a 12-story-high, stainless-steel model of the earth called the Unisphere , built on the foundation of the Perisphere from the 1939 World’s Fair....

In 1949, Victor Hoeflich held a press conference to introduce the “Man from Mars, Radio Hat” . Hoeflich knew a picture would tell the story so he had several teenagers modeling the radio hats for the reporters and photographers. Soon pictures and news stories appeared in newspapers coast to coast. The articles typically included a photo of a young lady wearing the hat and a six-paragraph story. Although the radio hat had a futuristic appearance at the time, this was in fact due to technical limitations....

The leisure suit was impossible to miss in the 1970s. Worn in offices, nightclubs, and everywhere in between, it became a defining look of the decade and a clear break from the stiff formality that had dominated men’s fashion for generations. Comfortable, affordable, and unapologetically bold, the leisure suit reflected a cultural shift toward ease and self-expression. At its simplest, the leisure suit consisted of a shirt-style jacket paired with matching trousers, most commonly made from polyester....

Some 250,000 Soviet and Warsaw Pact troops invaded Czechoslovakia overnight from August 20 to 21, 1968, to halt a blossoming political and cultural liberalization, bringing an abrupt end to the Prague Spring and tightening the Kremlin’s grip. The first months of 1968 had brought a renaissance of political and cultural life in what was then Czechoslovakia. Journalists and students were calling for an end to censorship, public rallies in support of reform erupted in Prague and beyond, and that year’s May Day commemorations were seized upon by those demanding greater freedoms....

In the 19th century, the accessibility of medicine was like opening Pandora’s box—it brought both blessings and bizarre, sometimes perilous, quackery. Some “cures” were harmless hoaxes, but many others were downright dangerous, often containing addictive and life-threatening ingredients. One of the most notorious examples of this era was the promotion of arsenic-laden soaps and cosmetics. Arsenic was believed to improve complexion and promote a pale, fashionable look. Radium, with its enchanting glow, found its way into toothpaste and cosmetics, promising a radiant smile and flawless complexion....

This 1947 comic book produced by the Catholic Catechetical Guild Educational Society was part of a “Red Scare” in the U.S. that raised fears about the horrors of a communist takeover. With over four million copies sold and even more given away, this 50-page comic book represents every sensationalist view of what terrors a Communist government could bring. The stated purpose of the comic book was “to make you think!...

On a clear afternoon in Sylacauga, Alabama in 1954, Ann Hodges was napping on her couch, covered by quilts, when a softball-size hunk of black rock broke through the ceiling, bounced off a radio, and hit her in the thigh, leaving a pineapple-shaped bruise. When she noticed a grapefruit-sized rock lying on the floor and a ragged hole in the roof, she assumed children were the culprits. Her mother rushed outside and saw only a black cloud in the sky....

On April 26, 1986, a series of explosions destroyed Chernobyl’s reactor No. 4, and several hundred staff and firefighters tackled a blaze that burned for 10 days and sent a plume of radiation around the world. More than 50 reactor and emergency workers were killed in the immediate aftermath. The workers and emergency responders were not the only ones to risk their lives—a handful of photographers went to the scene as well, managing to capture images of some of the chaos and acts of heroism that took place in the weeks and months that followed....

Chicago in the 1990s was a city in the midst of profound change. Once seen as another casualty of the declining Rust Belt, it reshaped itself into a modern metropolis with global reach. The decade began on uncertain footing—U.S. Steel’s South Works, which had employed tens of thousands of workers, closed in 1992, marking the symbolic end of an industrial era. Yet, rather than falter, the city redirected its energy toward new industries....

The Eastern Front between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union witnessed some of the most barbaric and intense fighting of World War II. In August 1939, these two powerful nations struck a shocking nonaggression pact, agreeing to a ten-year period without conflict. This pact, known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, was not just a simple agreement but a strategic move that reshaped the map of Europe. Under the terms, the Soviet Union was granted control over Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, and the eastern half of Poland...

A police officer trying on the cow shoes. 1924. During the alcohol prohibition (1919-1933), the transportation and brewing/cultivation of alcohol was prohibited. Some people who brewed Moonshine (a type of whiskey) did it in the middle of a forest or meadow. Moonshiners were often sought after by law enforcement. A lot of times, authorities had to track the alleged criminals on foot. So to avoid capture, some moonshiners changed their shoes because a set of human footprints would be suspicious and indicative of people brewing or transporting alcohol....

Evgeny Stepanovich Kobytev: The human face after four years of war. These two pictures are shown side by side in the Andrei Pozdeev Museum. The museum caption reads: “(Left) The artist Eugen Stepanovich Kobytev the day he went to the front in 1941. (Right) In 1945 when he returned”. This is the human face after four years of war. The first picture looks at you, the second one looks through you....

Exaggeration postcards, also known as “tall tale postcards” or “fantasy postcards,” have a fascinating history rooted in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These postcards were a unique form of visual humor and satire, using manipulated photography to depict ordinary scenes or subjects in an exaggerated, comical, or absurd manner. The postcards would feature impossibly large animals and crops, often shown being carried by train or wagon, and would usually have some sort of caption to go along with them....

Jet engines are designed to propel aircraft through the skies, but their immense power and searing heat have also been put to work in unexpected ways on the ground. From battling raging oil fires to melting thick layers of ice and snow, these high-powered machines have proven their worth far beyond aviation. One of the most fascinating applications of these powerful engines is in firefighting, specifically for tackling oil well blazes....

Rolex watches weren’t a status symbol when this picture was taken. Here Fidel Castro is seen smoking a Cuban cigar and wearing two Rolex watches in the Kremlin while he chats with Khrushchev, in front of a Karl Marx picture. The non-verbal body language in this photo is absolutely fascinating. Notice everybody in the room is staring at Castro’s cigar, and that everybody sitting is smiling with their hands folded in front of them on the table, and the three guys standing below the portrait of Marx, have their arms behind their backs....

Nazi German flag being raised over Acropolis, 1941. After the German 2nd Panzer Division captured Athens, they raised the Nazi German flag above the Acropolis as a sign of victory. This flag, the symbol of Greece’s occupation, would be taken down one month later in one of the first acts of the Greek Resistance. Two 19-year-old students secretly climbed the northwest face of the Acropolis and tore down the swastika banner....

In the swinging 1960s, the motto for hair was crystal clear: “Go big or go home!” Celebrities like Dolly Parton, Priscilla Presley, and Brigitte Bardot rocked those larger-than-life hairstyles, making them look effortlessly fabulous. But let’s face it, not everyone nailed the trend. Some attempts at those 1960s hairdos might be best left in the past. To achieve those towering styles, people drenched their hair in hairspray, turning bedtime into a nightmare....