Moving through city streets, rural roads, and temporary encampments, the camera of Paul Almásy captured a side of Western Europe rarely acknowledged in mid-20th-century visual history. Born in Budapest in 1906 and later based in Paris, Almásy devoted his ca…
Rising at a moment when Hollywood was redefining glamour and stardom, Kim Novak (born as Marilyn Pauline "Kim" Malloy) emerged as one of the most striking screen presences of the 1950s and early 1960s. She began her film career in 1954 after signing with Co…
In the 1960s and 1970s, long before he stepped onto the world stage, Barack Obama was a bright-eyed boy with an infectious smile and a big future ahead. These rare childhood photos capture his early years, showing sweet, everyday moments that highlight the …
Picture the early days of cars—a time of wild experimentation and bold ideas. From then till the mid-20th century, some truly outlandish vehicles hit the roads, breaking all the rules and grabbing attention like nothing else. At that time, technology in the…
Ann-Margret Olsson, famously known as Ann-Margret, emerged as a megastar of the silver screen with an unmistakable blend of talent, charisma, and beauty. Born in Sweden and raised in the United States, she captivated audiences with her magnetic presence in …
This photo collection shows cringe-worthy and just plain awkward Christmas album covers from the past. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject matter ranges from the nat…
The Islamic Republic imposes strict rules on Iranian life. This extended photo collection shows Iranian society prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution and, it’s obvious that Iran was a very different world. It was also a world that was looking brighter for wo…
Diana, Princess of Wales, commonly called Princess Diana was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales (later Charles III), and mother of Princes William and Harry. Diana's activism and glamour made her an inte…
Advertising has always been an interesting way to trace how modern society has evolved. At the core, the marketing campaigns are based on what people want and what appeals to them. When you judge human history based on old advertisements, the past will …
From the early 1950s until the 1970s, sugar was marketed as a healthy substance that would help curb hunger and provide an energy boost. A “pro-sugar” ad that appeared in an August 1964 issue of Time gave a “note to mothers,” explaining that drinks without …
Jayne Mansfield (born in 1933) was an American actress, singer, nightclub entertainer best known for her bombshell curves and film roles during the 1950s and 1960s. A sex symbol while under contract at 20th Century Fox, Mansfield was known for her well-publ…
Raquel Welch (born Jo Raquel Tejada in 1940) is an American actress and sex symbol who took the worldwide media by storm after the 1966 release of a movie poster featuring her natural assets in a wild and woolly prehistoric bikini. She was the oldest of thr…
David Douglas Duncan was a renowned war photographer and photojournalist, who first encountered Picasso in 1956 when he infamously rang the doorbell of La Californie, the artist’s home in Cannes. At the time, Picasso was in the bathtub and allowed Duncan to…
Helen Mirren was born in London to a Russian-born father and a Scottish mother. The family’s last name was Mironoff until Helen’s father decided to Anglicize it when she was 10 years old. She joined Britain’s National Youth Theatre at age 18 and the Royal S…
This is Afghanistan of 1950s and 1960s. Lots of people would think that they will see pictures of a wild, underdeveloped and medieval country with life conditions worse than now. Think again. Fractured by internal conflict and foreign intervention for c…
An iron lung or as it is called officially a negative pressure ventilator is a form of medical ventilator that enables a person to breathe when normal muscle control has been lost or the work of breathing exceeds the person's ability. It creates lower p…
It’s always surprising to hear about celebrity couples with major age gaps, but what’s even more shocking is how young some stars were when they first crossed paths with their future partners, sometimes still in their teens while the other was already well int…
Well before smart homes and digital assistants entered everyday life, Disneyland offered visitors a striking preview of domestic living shaped by science and new materials. Rising from Tomorrowland in 1957, Monsanto’s House of the Future presented an optimi…
In the years before she became synonymous with glossy television drama and sharp-tongued glamour, Joan Collins was already building a reputation as one of Britain’s most striking young screen actresses. Born on May 23, 1933, in London, England, Collins …
In November 1961, the promising young ethnographer Michael Rockefeller vanished along the southern coast of New Guinea. His disappearance captured the world’s attention — not just because he was the great-grandson of John D. Rockefeller, one of the wealthie…