Category Archives: event & history

The Last Public Execution By Guillotine, 1939

In the early morning of 17 June 1939, Eugène Weidmann became the last person to be publicly executed by guillotine. He had been convicted of multiple kidnappings and murders, including that of a young American socialite. Beginning with the botched kidnapping of an American tourist, the inspiring dancer Jean de Koven, Eugène Weidmann murdered twoContinue reading “The Last Public Execution By Guillotine, 1939”

1940s Printing Technique: When Printing Photos on Fabric Was the Next Big Thing

In the 1940s, men and women had been pushing the technical limits of photography ever since the medium was born, well over a century before — but no one , it seems, had ever bothered to devote the energy, time and money it would take to devise a method for printing pictures directly on toContinue reading “1940s Printing Technique: When Printing Photos on Fabric Was the Next Big Thing”

60 Amazing Portraits of African-American Ex-Slaves in the Late 1930s

These portraits of African American men and women from locations in Texas were taken in the late 1930s as part of the Federal Writers’ Project (FWP) of the Work Progress Administration (WPA). They are part of a group of 500, together with more than 2,000 first-person accounts of the experience of being a slave. PeopleContinue reading “60 Amazing Portraits of African-American Ex-Slaves in the Late 1930s”

40 Wonderful Photos of the 1939 New York World’s Fair

The 1939–40 New York World’s Fair was a world’s fair held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York, United States. It was the second-most expensive American world’s fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis’s Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904. Many countries around the world participated in it, and over 44 million peopleContinue reading “40 Wonderful Photos of the 1939 New York World’s Fair”

21 Candid Photographs of Freddie Mercury’s Final Public Appearance at the 1990 Brit Awards

It was the final official public appearance from Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, at the 11th Brit Awards, held on February 18, 1990 at Earls Court, London. Privately, the other members of Queen were aware that their enigmatic bandmate and friend was gravely ill, but this was not public knowledge at the time. Rumors about Mercury’sContinue reading “21 Candid Photographs of Freddie Mercury’s Final Public Appearance at the 1990 Brit Awards”

27 Amazing Photos of the Wreck of the Titanic When It Was First Discovered in 1985

RMS Titanic was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, UK, to New York City. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers and crew aboard, more than 1,500 died, which made the sinkingContinue reading “27 Amazing Photos of the Wreck of the Titanic When It Was First Discovered in 1985”

The Making of Mount Rushmore, 1927-1941

Mount Rushmore National Memorial is centered on a colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore (Lakota: Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe, or Six Grandfathers) in the Black Hills near Keystone, South Dakota. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum created the sculpture’s design and oversaw the project’s execution from 1927 to 1941 with the help of his son, LincolnContinue reading “The Making of Mount Rushmore, 1927-1941”