Audrey Hepburn had her first starring role in the romantic comedy Roman Holiday (1953), also her first American film. The film was a box-office success and brought Hepburn to stardom. Her critical acclaim portrayal of the European princess won Hepburn an Academy Award for Best Actress, a BAFTA Award for Best British Actress in aContinue reading “A Look Back at Audrey Hepburn and Her Oscar Win in 1954”
Category Archives: event & history
April 15, 1964: Gail Wise Was the First Person to Buy a Ford Mustang
On April 15, 1964, two days before the Ford Mustang was officially supposed to go on sale, one mistakenly left the dealership. The lucky new owner, the first person to buy a Mustang was Gail Wise, a 22 year old school teacher from Chicago. Her parents let her the money after she landed her newContinue reading “April 15, 1964: Gail Wise Was the First Person to Buy a Ford Mustang”
In the 1920s, People Thought Radioactive Water Was Good for the Health
Back in the 1920s, people thought that drinking radium, and thorium, infused water was healthy. One of the more famous varieties of this water was sold under the brand name Radithor. It was eventually famously implicated in the illness and subsequent death of an industrialist named Eben Byers, which was accompanied by the headline ofContinue reading “In the 1920s, People Thought Radioactive Water Was Good for the Health”
Mug Shots of Criminals in Calgary, 1920
A mug shot is a photographic portrait of a person from the shoulders up, typically taken after a person is arrested. The original purpose of the mug shot was to allow law enforcement to have a photographic record of an arrested individual to allow for identification by victims, the public and investigators. After the defeatContinue reading “Mug Shots of Criminals in Calgary, 1920”
Mechanical Hands With Remote Control: GE Master-Slave Manipulator by John Payne, 1948
The village blacksmith of Longfellow may have had “muscles like iron bands,” but scientist John Payne of General Electric has done him one better; he has arms and hands made of steel, and what’s more, he can operate his from the next room. Designed for use by re-mote control in radioactive areas, a pair ofContinue reading “Mechanical Hands With Remote Control: GE Master-Slave Manipulator by John Payne, 1948”
The First Photograph of a Woman Smoking: Lola Montez 1852
Considered to be the first photograph of a woman smoking, this is Lola Montez’s portrait by Southworth & Hawes. A savvy self-promoter, Lola Montez is the first woman ever to be photographed smoking. She made sure the cigarette is the focus of the picture. (Metropolitan Museum of Art) This is Lola’s third and most provocativeContinue reading “The First Photograph of a Woman Smoking: Lola Montez 1852”
Yesterday Today: September 27
A fully air-conditioned luxury lawn mower from the 1950s. Marilyn Monroe without makeup, 1955
Yesterday Today: October 17
1938 Phantom Corsair 1938 Phantom Corsair
25 Color Photographs Capture the Fall of Paris in 1940
On June 14, 1940, Parisians awaken to the sound of a German-accented voice announcing via loudspeakers that a curfew was being imposed for 8 p.m. that evening as German troops enter and occupy Paris. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill had tried for days to convince the French government to hang on, not to sue forContinue reading “25 Color Photographs Capture the Fall of Paris in 1940”
Earthmen From the South of Africa, Exhibited in England, 1853
Flora and Martinus, a 14-year-old boy and 16-year-old girl from South Africa, were exhibited as ‘earthmen’ in private drawing rooms in 1853, in central London. As so-called ‘human curiosities’, the orphaned San children posed in traditional costume, danced, sang and mimed to entertain visitors… Different to most other variety acts of the time, they performedContinue reading “Earthmen From the South of Africa, Exhibited in England, 1853”
