Before smartphones became the center of modern life, an entire era of cell phones defined how people communicated and connected. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, flip phones, sliders, and the once-dominant BlackBerry represented cutting-edge technolog…
The launch of the first iPhone in 2007 is often remembered as the day modern technology took a decisive turn. But the story of how it came to be began years earlier, under a veil of secrecy inside Apple’s headquarters. In 2004, the company assembled a team …
During the Cold War, espionage became a high-stakes chess game played in the shadows, where every move had the potential to shift the balance of power. The world’s greatest intelligence agencies, from the CIA to the KGB, developed an arsenal of ingeniou…
The Futuramic Oldsmobile, introduced for the 1948 model year, marked a significant departure from the company's previous offerings. Defined by its sleek lines, fastback rear end, and prominent chrome accents, the model embodied a futuristic aesthetic that r…
The Northrop XB-35 stands as a testament to the audacious spirit of innovation that defined the aviation industry during the early 1940s. Developed by Northrop Corporation in collaboration with the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), the XB-35 was an…
Sculptures are one of the oldest visual art forms in existence and one of the most publicly visible forms of artwork. It has been around for thousands of years, and it’s an art that can be created in a variety of materials, such as stone, wood, bronze, and…
The office has transformed dramatically through the last decades: in layout, style, colors, work culture, and in technology. These decades saw the worker become more individualistic, with office design becoming more ergonomic and more high tech. It wasn’…
By the early 1900s, household electricity and running water started to become a norm in the Western world. Industrialization brought the evolution of kitchen design to a new era. Factories mass-produced fixtures, ever-more modern appliances, cabinetry, li…
This collection of photographs shows some of the world's oldest and oddest vending machines. Nowadays almost anything imaginable can now be purchased from the vending machines, however, the trend for automated purchases is nothing new, as these vintage phot…
In the late 19th century and early 20th century, strongmen more often exhibited their incredible power as circus performers and entertainers than as competitive athletes. Originating in Europe and spreading to the United States, physical culturists incl…
The Solvay Conference, founded by the Belgian industrialist Ernest Solvay in 1912, was considered a turning point in the world of physics. Located in Brussels, the conferences were devoted to outstanding preeminent open problems in both physics and chem…
This detonation, known as the Baker Test, was part of Operation Crossroads in Bikini Atoll in the Pacific. The purpose of the tests was to investigate the effect of nuclear weapons on warships. The Crossroads tests were the first of many nuclear tests h…