Author Archives: Yesterday Today

How “White Death” Simo Häyhä Became The Deadliest Sniper In History

Simo Häyhä has the most confirmed kills of any sniper on record — and he endured astonishing conditions to earn that title. At the dawn of World War II in 1939, Josef Stalin sent over half a million men across Russia’s western border to invade Finland. It was a move that would cost tens ofContinue reading “How “White Death” Simo Häyhä Became The Deadliest Sniper In History”

33 Photos Of Lepke’s Murder Inc., The Mob’s Most Brutal Hit Squad

In the New York City of the 1930s, murder was big business. And the best killers in the industry were Murder Inc., a ring of murderers-for-hire working as mob enforcers who, in less than 10 years, killed an estimated 1,000 people. Murder Inc. was formed by notorious Jewish-American gangsters Meyer Lansky and Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel,Continue reading “33 Photos Of Lepke’s Murder Inc., The Mob’s Most Brutal Hit Squad”

Montparnasse Derailment: The Story Behind the Incredible Images of the Train That Broke Through a Building in Paris, 1895

These incredible photos of the wreck at Gare Montparnasse in Paris shows a very dramatic scene of a train that has crashed through the wall and partially tumbled to the street. The cause? Both mechanical failure and human error. The train was late, so the driver had it pull into the station at a highContinue reading “Montparnasse Derailment: The Story Behind the Incredible Images of the Train That Broke Through a Building in Paris, 1895”

Mods on Scooters in London, 1979

Mod is a subculture that began in London and spread throughout Great Britain and elsewhere, eventually influencing fashions and trends in other countries, and continues today on a smaller scale. Focused on music and fashion, the subculture has its roots in a small group of stylish London-based young men in the late 1950s who wereContinue reading “Mods on Scooters in London, 1979”

The Models for ‘American Gothic’, 1940s

On show with the late Grant Wood’s American Gothic, one of the most famed U.S. paintings of its generation, went the models who posed for it, Nan Wood Graham, the painter’s sister, wife of an oil-station operator, and Dr. B. H. McKeeby, a dentist. American Gothic is a painting by Grant Wood in the collectionContinue reading “The Models for ‘American Gothic’, 1940s”

30 Amazing Photographs Showing Life in Mexico During the Early 20th Century

Agustín Víctor Casasola (1874-1928), others cite: (1874-1938) was a Mexican photographer and partial founder of the Mexican Association of Press Photographers. Casasola began his career as a typographer for the newspaper El Imparcial, eventually moving to reporter then on to photographer in the early 1900s. He became a photographer in 1894. By 1911 Casasola wasContinue reading “30 Amazing Photographs Showing Life in Mexico During the Early 20th Century”

Amazing Vintage Photos of McDonald’s First Restaurant

The McDonald’s restaurant concept was introduced in San Bernardino, California by Dick and Mac McDonald of Manchester, New Hampshire. It was modified and expanded by their business partner, Ray Kroc, of Oak Park, Illinois, who later bought out the business interests of the McDonald brothers in the concept and went on to found McDonald’s Corporation.Continue reading “Amazing Vintage Photos of McDonald’s First Restaurant”

Mary Wallace: The First Female Bus Driver for Chicago Transit Authority, Beginning in 1974

In 1974, Englewood native, Mary Wallace, drove into history when she became the first woman to drive a Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) bus. Wallace was a popular driver who remained on the job for 33 years before retiring. “I used to work for the Planning & Placement Center when I was going to college, andContinue reading “Mary Wallace: The First Female Bus Driver for Chicago Transit Authority, Beginning in 1974”