Dur-Sharrukin (“Fortress of Sargon”), present day Khorsabad, was the Assyrian capital in the time of Sargon II of Assyria. The great city was entirely built in the decade preceding 706 BC. After the unexpected death of Sargon in battle, the capital was shifted 20 km south to Nineveh. While Dur-Sharrukin was abandoned in antiquity andContinue reading “Rare Photos Taken During the Excavation of the Gate of the Citadel of Sargon II at Dur-Sharrukin, Iraq in the 19th Century”
Tag Archives: event & history
50 Amazing Vintage Photos From the 1960s Volume 10
March 31, 1889: The Eiffel Tower Is Opened
The Eiffel Tower was built to be the entrance to the 1889 World’s Fair in Paris. Construction was started by Gustave Eiffel’s company in January 1887 and completed in March 1889. On March 31, 1889, the Eiffel Tower is dedicated in Paris in a ceremony presided over by Gustave Eiffel, the tower’s designer, and attendedContinue reading “March 31, 1889: The Eiffel Tower Is Opened”
Here’s the Earliest Mug Shot Still in Existence, ca. 1843
When photography was invented in the first half of the 19th century, it seemed to be the solution to problems with criminal identification that police around the world had been waiting for: finally, they did not have to rely on their memories and written descriptions of prisoners to recognize criminals. As early as 1841 theContinue reading “Here’s the Earliest Mug Shot Still in Existence, ca. 1843”
12 Vintage Photos of Donut Queens From the Mid-20th Century
The popularity of the Miss America pageant led to a variety of beauty contests — many during the 1950s, a golden age for pageants. Some events were more important, politically and socially, than others. The crowning of the National Doughnut Queen held less social significance. But contestants in every beauty pageant shared one thing —Continue reading “12 Vintage Photos of Donut Queens From the Mid-20th Century”
Diathermy in Beauty Culture From From the 1930s
When the term diathermy is used in beauty culture it usually refers to ‘surgical diathermy.’ Diathermy treatments of this type – also known a thermolysis – were used from the 1930s onwards in beauty culture as an alternative to electrolysis for the permanent removal of superfluous hair, spider veins (telangiectasia), acne, warts, moles and otherContinue reading “Diathermy in Beauty Culture From From the 1930s”
David Bowie Traveling the Trans-Siberian Railway From Vladivostok to Moscow, April 1973
In 1973, David Bowie traveled to the Soviet Union after finishing the Japan leg of his Ziggy Stardust tour. Whether it was the Starman’s fear of flying that prompted the adventure, or his desire to see Russia, the always unconventional Bowie took the Trans-Siberian railway from Vladivostok to Moscow with his childhood friend and backupContinue reading “David Bowie Traveling the Trans-Siberian Railway From Vladivostok to Moscow, April 1973”
“The Vertue of the COFFEE Drink”: The Earliest Known Advertisement for Making and Selling Coffee, circa 1652
Apparently, around 1652, an English merchant, Daniel Edwards, brought Pasqua (as he was probably known) from Smyrna (now Izmir) in Turkey to London as a servant to prepare the coffee to which Edwards had become accustomed on his travels abroad. Edwards himself is noted in The Little London Directory of 1677, a compilation of well-knownContinue reading ““The Vertue of the COFFEE Drink”: The Earliest Known Advertisement for Making and Selling Coffee, circa 1652”
Portrait of Jacob C. Miller, a Civil War Veteran Who Lived With an Open Bullet Wound in His Forehead for Decades
Jacob C. Miller (August 4, 1840 – January 13, 1917) was a private in company K, 9th Indiana Infantry Regiment, and was wounded in the head near the Brock Field at the Battle of Chickamauga on the morning of September 19, 1863. The ball impacted in Miller’s head during the Civil War, but luckily theContinue reading “Portrait of Jacob C. Miller, a Civil War Veteran Who Lived With an Open Bullet Wound in His Forehead for Decades”
The Flagpole Sitting Trend of the 1920s Was Widely Popularized in the U.S by Alvin “Shipwreck” Kelly
Alvin “Shipwreck” Kelly (May 11, 1893 – October 11, 1952), a prolific pole sitter who first publicized flagpole sitting in the country, attracted massive crowds and set off national adoration for the trend. Peculiar as it may seem to audiences today, the 1920s was ablaze with pole sitting fever, and the fad became especially popularContinue reading “The Flagpole Sitting Trend of the 1920s Was Widely Popularized in the U.S by Alvin “Shipwreck” Kelly”
