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Soviet frontline propaganda banner directed towards Finns, 1942. This is a Soviet propaganda banner on the frontline in Uhtua, Northern Karelia. It reads: “Finland is out of bread, but the war is not over yet” . The long-distance photo was taken on June when the Finnish-Soviet front had stabilized for the most part into trench warfare. Soviet propaganda against Finland saw a significant difference between the Winter War (1939-1940) and the Continuation War (1941-1944)....

Davide Chislagi, the Italian inventor, testing his single-wheel engine. 1933. Between the 1860s and 1930s, the monowheel (also referred to as a monocycle) was frequently suggested as a serious new form of transportation. Numerous inventors came up with their own versions of the monowheel, some human-powered, some electric, some with gas motors, all working the same basic principle: the driver sits within a smaller inner ring, which presses against the main outer wheel, allowing the vehicle to roll forward while the driver remains level....

Sharecroppers chop cotton on rented land near White Plains, Georgia. 1941. After the Civil War, former slaves sought jobs, and planters sought laborers. The absence of cash or an independent credit system led to the creation of sharecropping which was a system agricultural labor in the South. In this article, we’ve collected a few pictures of Black sharecroppers and migrant works in Georgia and Louisiana. Croppers were assigned a plot of land to work, and in exchange owed the owner a share of the crop at the end of the season, usually one half....

The German embassy in Sweden flying the flag at half-mast the day Hitler died, April 30, 1945. The embassy is an official state function and since the Third Reich outlived Hitler by six weeks, it would be odder if they did not raise the flag when the head of state died. Actually, Hitler’s death wasn’t officially announced until May 1st, but the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (German High Command) obviously got the news well before that and might have informed embassies so they could bring the news out worldwide on May 1st, but perhaps the flag got lowered to half-mast prematurely in Sweden....

From left to right: Chamberlain, Daladier, Hitler, Mussolini, and Ciano pictured before signing the Munich Agreement, which gave the Sudetenland to Germany. After Germany’s annexation of Austria in March 1938, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain traveled twice to the continent hoping to appease Hitler’s aggressive intentions, and to prevent another destructive European war, but with a distinct lack of success. Czechoslovakia had signed treaties with France in 1926 and with the Soviet Union in 1935 precisely to protect itself against German aggression – the Soviet Union promised to intervene, but only if France acted first – but it remained exposed and vulnerable....

A high rigger cuts the top off a tree as his colleagues watch from below. c. 1920. The completion of the Canadian Pacific Railroad in 1886 marked the beginning of the lumber trade in British Columbia, it made possible the exploitation of the interior forests, presented the trade with the Prairie market, which was to sustain it until 1913 and it attracted plentiful capital to the industry for the first time....

The first image of the Earth from lunar orbit, as it was received by NASA and presented to the public. 1966. For thousands of years, humans could only speculate what the Earth looked like. This changed on August 23, 1966, when the world received its first view of Earth taken by a spacecraft from the vicinity of the Moon. The photo was shot from a distance of about 236,000 miles (380,000 km) and shows half of Earth, from Istanbul to Cape Town and areas east, shrouded in night....

Soviet soldier chasing young man who had thrown stones at a tank, 1968. Prague Spring was a brief period of liberalization in Czechoslovakia under Alexander Dubcek in 1968. Soon after he became first secretary of the Czechoslovak Communist Party on January 5, 1968, Dubcek granted the press greater freedom of expression; he also rehabilitated victims of political purges during the Joseph Stalin era. In April he promulgated a sweeping reform program that included autonomy for Slovakia, a revised constitution to guarantee civil rights and liberties, and plans for the democratization of the government....

A sign common in Johannesburg. 1956. There are few words more closely associated with 20th-century South African history than apartheid, the Afrikaan word for “apartness” that describes the nation’s official system of racial segregation. And though the discriminatory divide between whites of European descent and black Africans stretch back to the era of 19th-century British and Dutch imperialism, the concept of apartheid did not become law until 1953, when the white-dominated parliament passed the Reservation of Separate Amenities Act....

Spirit photography began in the late 19th century, around the time that the spiritualism movement was gaining traction across Europe and the United States. The photographers who practiced it claimed that they could capture images of portrait subjects and their deceased loved ones in a single frame. These pictures of ghastly spirits were created by the London Stereoscopic Company and sold as stereographic cards which, when viewed through a special viewer, became three-dimensional images....

The Berberov family from Baku of Azerbaijan became famous throughout the Soviet Union in the 1970s, holding two pet lions inside their small apartment. The first, named King I, starred in a film in Moscow in 1973, but attacked a passer-by and was shot and killed by a police officer. The new lion, King II, was less obedient and more aggressive than his predecessor, especially after the death of the head of the family Lev Berberov in 1978....

The 1860s were a part of the extensive Victorian era, spanning from 1837 to 1901. This period was characterized by its strict adherence to social conventions and a deep appreciation for modesty and decorum. Victorian fashion was no exception, with each decade bringing its own distinctive trends and nuances. The fashion of these decades in European and European-influenced countries is characterized by extremely full-skirted women’s fashions relying on crinolines and hoops and the emergence of “alternative fashions” under the influence of the Artistic Dress movement....

That’s a very American way to attend the church. After the Second World War, America’s love affair with the automobile was in full swing. You could drive through about anything – movie theaters, car washes, restaurants, banks, and…even churches. That’s a very American way to attend church. These rare photographs of a drive-in church in St. Petersburg (Florida) were captured for an article to be featured in LIFE magazine that was never published....

Freestanding 48 Car Elevator Parking Garage in Downtown Chicago’s business district, Built by the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company, 1936. The rapid rise of automobiles at the turn of the 20th century presented an immediate problem: where to park all these vehicles roaming the streets? The concept for vertical parking garages was and is driven by two factors: a need for parking spaces and a scarcity of available land....

Mourners line the tracks to bid farewell to Robert F. Kennedy as his funeral train passes on its way from New York City to Washington, D.C., on June 8, 1968. The assassination of Robert F. Kennedy fractured the nation just two months after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. and five years after his brother John F. Kennedy was killed. But RFK’s funeral, particularly the train that took his body from New York City, following a funeral Mass at St....

Fashion has always played a central role in holiday celebrations, from timeless little black dresses to whimsical, tacky sweaters and the excitement of shopping for new festive outfits. Yet some Christmas fashion trends stand out as especially curious—like the fascination during the Edwardian and Titanic eras with dressing up as Christmas trees. During this period, Christmas trees were far from the polished and coordinated displays seen today. Instead, they were adorned with handmade ornaments, abundant tinsel, and, for those who could afford them, a scattering of electric lights—though these were a luxury reserved for businesses or the wealthiest households....

A worker and female supervisor, Moscow, 1954. (Colorized by: Klimbim). The distance between the two of them is too close. The worker has his hands not hanging loose but slightly raised as though preparing to make a move. Meanwhile, the supervisor has that one hand at the collar of her dress like she’s trying to slightly spread it more and draw attention to her chest. The scene just screams sexual tension....

HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen blending with the environment. 1942. In February 1942, in the midst of World War II, the Japanese fleet completely wrecked a combined Dutch-American-Australian-British fleet at the Battle of the Java Sea. This defeat led to the Japanese occupation of the entire Netherlands East Indies. Only four Dutch warships were left in the Dutch East Indies and seeing that there’s no way they’ll be able to take down the Japanese fleet by themselves, they decided to try to escape to Australia....

Ava Gardner’s cinematic journey unfolded during a transformative period in the 20th century. The mid-20th century witnessed the rise of Hollywood’s golden era, where the magic of the silver screen began to captivate audiences on an unprecedented scale. As we explore these photographs, we catch glimpses of a young Gardner navigating this era of rapid change, embodying the essence of the glamorous Hollywood that would become synonymous with her name....

This aircraft is pictured just moments before it burst into flames and went out of control, all ten crew members were killed in action. These are the last moments of a Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber of USAAF (United States Army Air Force). It was part of a squadron engaged in a raid on an industrial target in Austria. German fighters came up in force, downing all the bombers except the one from which this photograph was made....