Umbrella Rock on top of Lookout Mountain was one of the more iconic tourist spots from the 1880s through the 1940s. These images, assembled by Chattanooga’s local historical organization Picnooga, capture almost 60 years of photo opportunities on Umbrel…
Dorothy Counts made national news in September 1957, when at the age of 15, she became one of the first and, at the time, the only black student to enroll in the newly desegregated Harry Harding High School in Charlotte (North Carolina). This came nearl…
Stunt shows featuring diving horses began in the 1880s and were a wildly popular attraction for decades, despite the obvious cruelty to the animals and the danger it posed, ironically, it would seem, more for the riders than the horses' theme. According…
On the last two days in April 1975, Operation Frequent Wind, the evacuation of Vietnam, ended a twenty-year agony for the United States. A trial for America was done. The last 45 days of her presence in South Vietnam may seem almost insignificant compared t…
The Victorian Era may not have been the start of the institutionalization of patients with mental health problems, but it was certainly a period when the number of asylums and patients treated within them, exploded. Whether this rise was mainly due to a…
Nobody could tell exactly when it began and nobody could predict when it would end. At the outset, they didn’t even call it a depression. At worst it was a recession, a brief slump, a “correction” in the market, a glitch in the rising curve of prosperit…
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 w…
These stunning photos of the Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe were captured by photographer John Florea during the 1950s. The mere name of Marilyn Monroe represents different images for different people. For some, it suggests the absolute standard of female se…
All NASA craft must undergo complete testing through one of the administration’s 42 major wind tunnels and it’s cleared for liftoff once all the parameters are reached. These wind tunnels range from just a few inches wide to cavernous enough to test ful…
In the early 1930s, groups of eager thrill-seeking stunt drivers would perform stunning acts in front of an audience. They performed an array of stunts such as wrecking cars, driving the car through a firewall, ramp to ramp style stunts where the stunt driv…
Robert Wadlow, the tallest man in the world, was born in Alton, Illinois, on February 22, 1918, to Harold Franklin and Addie May Wadlow, and was the oldest of five children. Nobody could’ve anticipated that the seemingly normal baby boy will grow up to …
The Golden State got its nickname from the Sierra Nevada gold that lured so many miners and settlers to the West, but California has earned much more wealth from so-called “black gold” than from metallic gold. When Europeans finally arrived in Californi…
At 240 feet (73 m) long by 62 feet wide (19 m) and reaching a height of 66 feet (20 m), the Great Sphinx is one of the largest statues in the world. Even the ancient Egyptians themselves were puzzled by the remote antiquity and purpose of the Great Sphi…
The Hellfighters, the infantry regiment of the New York Army National Guard, was the most celebrated African American regiment in World War I. The regiment was nicknamed the Black Rattlers. The nickname Men of Bronze (French: Hommes de Bronze) was given…
William Patrick Stuart-Houston (né Hitler), son of Alois Hitler Jr, was the half-nephew of Adolf Hitler. He was born in the Toxteth area of Liverpool, England, in 1911, in a house that was, ironically, later destroyed in a German air raid. Alois Hitler …
USS Brooklyn, the third United States Navy armored cruiser, was completed in 1896 in Cramp, New York, and named after a famous quarter of the City. Recognizable by her three very tall funnels, she embodied grace and might, being the tallest, fastest cruiser…
The title Dalai Lama refers to an individual who serves as the spiritual and political leader of the Tibetan people. In English, Dalai Lama roughly translates to “Ocean of Wisdom”. Throughout history, each Dalai Lama has been recognized as the reincarnation…
In August 1914, explorer Ernest Shackleton boarded the Endurance and set sail for Antarctica, where he planned to cross the last uncharted continent on foot. The expedition was an attempt to make the first land crossing of the Antarctic continent. After…
The 1930s was a defining decade for automotive design, during which time the car evolved from its horse-drawn ancestry into an integrally engineered, aerodynamic, desirable product to meet the demands of the public. This was true nowhere more than in Germa…
In 1942, Office of War Information photographer Alfred T. Palmer visited Fort Knox and captured these spectacular photos of tank crews in training. With the outbreak of World War II in Europe, the American Army prepared with the creation of the Armored Forc…