D-Day History

05/08/2024

Your 1930s kitchen.

05/08/2024

Learning from the master. (Undated)

05/08/2024

Window shopping, 1920.

05/08/2024

Suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst being carried away from Buckingham Palace in London, England after being arrested while trying to present a petition to King George V of the United Kingdom, 21st May 1914.

05/08/2024

US Army soldier, Ivan Babcock of the 165th Signal Photo Company photographed wearing the crown of the Holy Roman Empire in a cave in Siegan, Germany, on the 3rd of April 1945. The cave, which was captured by the US Army, was used by the Germans to store valuable works of art.

05/08/2024

Congressman Gerald Ford (38th President of the United States) and Presidential Candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower (34th President of the United States) attend a Grand Rapids Campaign Event together with their wives, 1 October 1952.

05/08/2024

Italian street musicians playing music in the streets of London, United Kingdom, in circa 1876.

05/08/2024

A Finnish White Guard and a German soldier standing across the street from the Swedish theater in Helsinki, Finland. Photograph taken on the 19 April 1918.

05/08/2024

Natalie Wood and Elvis Presley dated in 1956, when they were two of the hottest stars in the world.

Elvis was already a major recording artist and was about to launch his film career with his debut in, 'Love Me Tender'. Natalie, meanwhile, had by that point received her first Oscar nomination the year before for 'Rebel Without A Cause', alongside James Dean.

While Elvis, then 21, was known to be a 'lady killer', it was Natalie who approached him for a date, at the time a teenager, just 18 years old. Wood had asked her co-star Dennis Hopper to introduce her to Elvis, and the rock 'n' roll star treated her to a date.

He bought out an entire cinema, something he would continue to do for the rest of his life. Natalie’s sister, Lana Wood, said that it dazzled the teen. She said: "To go to the movies, he bought out the theatre. "That’s not what she was used to." Elvis was equally as starstruck by Natalie.

The singer invited her home to impress his parents, but his mother Gladys soured on the actress quickly. Mr Connolly claimed: "Natalie wore a very flimsy nightgown around the house. "Gladys was like, ‘Not in my house!’”

The pair later met in New York in November 1956 where Elvis took Natalie riding on his new Harley-Davidson motorbike.

Their relationship seemed bulletproof, a serious romance in the making. But, as Lana recalls in her book, 'Natalie: A Memoir by Her Sister' it was not to be.

Writing of the first meeting with Elvis' parents, she noted: "They met, and Elvis flew Natalie to his family in Memphis.

"They were to be gone almost a week, but just two days into the great adventure, Natalie called.

"'Gladys has wrecked everything,' Natalie said, referring to Elvis’ domineering, jealous mother.

"'I don’t have a chance. Get me out of this, and fast.'

"It was agreed that Mother would call Natalie back and ask her to come home because of some family emergency.

"Natalie’s romance with the king of rock fizzled out.

"'God, it was awful,' Natalie told her sister Lana later. "He can sing, but he can’t do much else.

03/08/2024

Photo: Wells, Fargo & Co.'s Express Office, C Street, Virginia City, Nevada c.1866. Photograph by Lawrence & Houseworth, publisher, courtesy The Library of Congress.

Peter O'Riley and Patrick McLaughlin are historically acknowledged for their role in discovering the Comstock Lode, a significant silver deposit. This discovery is often associated with Henry T. P. Comstock, although he became linked to it through maneuvering. Anecdotes suggest that James Fennimore, also known as Old Virginny Finney, inadvertently named the town when he stumbled and broke a whiskey bottle at the entrance of a saloon in Gold Hill's northern section, which eventually evolved into Virginia City.

Another tale credits Finney with the naming of Ophir Diggings, honoring him as one of the early discoverers of the mining area and a successful prospector. Finney was renowned for his expertise in identifying valuable mining grounds, pinpointing crucial locations like the quartz footwall of the Ophir in 1858 and the placers on Little Gold Hill in 1859. These discoveries and others contributed significantly to the region's mining landscape.

The emergence of Virginia City followed swiftly after the unveiling of the Comstock Lode in 1859. Situated on the eastern slopes of Mount Davidson at an elevation of 6200 feet, the town quickly developed intricate mining infrastructure, including tunnels and shafts for silver extraction. The discovery of the Comstock Lode and the subsequent boom in Virginia City's growth was unparalleled compared to other precious metal discoveries during that period.

Virginia City's silver ore discoveries were distinct from the California Gold Rush, which occurred a decade earlier. During the Comstock Lode's discovery, silver held equal monetary value to gold, and the federal government acquired all production for coinage purposes. However, in 1873, the government demonetized silver due to its oversupply from mines like those in Virginia City, leading to significant economic shifts.

Technical challenges plagued early mining efforts, necessitating innovations like Philip Deidesheimer's square-set timbering system for mining tunnels. This advancement, alongside other technologies like stamp mills and safety equipment, facilitated safe and safe large-scale silver ore retrieval. These innovations had enduring impacts on later mining endeavors and were crucial for exploiting the rich ore body of the Comstock Lode.

Virginia City's prosperity led to it becoming an industrial hub akin to eastern coast cities. Despite its industrial growth, the town retained elements of its frontier character, attracting immigrants from diverse backgrounds, particularly miners from Cornwall, England, and Chinese laborers. These immigrants played crucial roles in the mining industry and various niche markets within the burgeoning town.

As mining operations evolved, they consolidated under large monopolies like the Bank Crowd, which controlled much of Virginia City's mining ventures. However, challenges such as extreme temperatures in the mines and periodic fires posed significant threats to the industry and the town's stability. The completion of the Sutro Tunnel and the subsequent decline of mining operations marked a transition in Virginia City's economic fortunes by the late 1870s.

Despite facing adversities like fires and economic shifts, Virginia City experienced periods of immense prosperity, notably during the Bonanza era. This era, characterized by the Irish Big Four's rise to prominence in mining, saw Virginia City reach its zenith in population and economic influence. However, by the late 1870s, the mines began to decline, signaling a shift in the town's economic landscape.

03/08/2024

During the 19th century, emigrants journeying to the American West frequently relied on covered wagons as their primary means of transportation, particularly along routes like the Oregon and California Trails. One such wagon, dubbed the prairie schooner due to its resemblance to a sailing ship when viewed from afar, gained popularity during this period.

Compared to the Conestoga wagon commonly used in the eastern United States for freight hauling, the prairie schooner was smaller and lighter, making it better suited for long-distance travel. Unlike the Conestoga, which featured an upward-angled body at each end to prevent cargo from tipping or falling out, the prairie schooner had a flat horizontal body. Its dimensions typically ranged around 4 feet in width, 9 to 11 feet in length, and 2 to 3 feet in depth, with lower sides than its eastern counterpart.

The prairie schooner's box, when coupled with its bonnet, reached a height of approximately 10 feet, with a total length spanning around 23 feet from the front tongue and yoke to the rear. It rode on two sets of wheels of varying sizes: rear wheels with a diameter of about 50 inches and smaller front wheels measuring approximately 44 inches. These wheels were constructed of wood with iron bands on the outer rims, though the bands sometimes detached due to wood shrinkage.

Constructed from cotton canvas, the wagon's cover was double-thickness, extending outward from the front and rear of the wagon bed to form the bonnet, offering enhanced protection during inclement weather. The cover could be tied at its ends to provide privacy and shield occupants from rain or dust. Painting or oiling methods were commonly employed to waterproof the wagon. Storage chests custom-built to fit snugly within the wagon box were a standard feature, supplemented by external storage options. Some pioneers innovated by creating additional storage beneath a false floor or by sewing pockets into the cover's interior.

A typical unloaded prairie schooner weighed around 1,300 pounds, with a recommended cargo weight limit of no more than 2,000 pounds. Teams of horses, mules, or oxen were employed to pull the wagons, with mules and oxen often preferred. Having reserve animals on hand was advisable to replace any that might become lame or exhausted during the journey.

Due to the lack of suspension and the rugged conditions of the roads and trails, most travelers on lengthy trips chose to walk alongside the wagon or ride a horse if available, finding these methods more comfortable than enduring the constant jolting and lurching of the wagon. Ox teams were guided by drivers walking alongside the animals, using whips and verbal commands as they lacked reins. Wagon travel on the Oregon Trail typically proceeded at approximately 2 miles per hour, covering 15 to 20 miles daily, a pace manageable for pioneers and their animal companions.

To further explore this historical mode of transportation, "Stagecoaches and Wagons: The History of Overland Transportation Companies and Methods" provides insight into this fascinating chapter of American history, revealing the intricacies of overland travel during a bygone era.

03/08/2024

Photo: A 20 Mule Unloading In Mojave,Ca. Undated photo.

These big wagons with wheels that weigh over eight hundred pounds each, pulled by ten pairs of mules driven with only a single "jerk line," traveled at a speed averaging two miles an hour and required ten days to make the trip from Lone Pine to Furnace Creek Ranch in Death Valley.

03/08/2024

Photo: Main Street Deadwood, Dakota Territory c.1877

03/08/2024

Horses & wagons on Light Street, Baltimore, c.1906.

03/08/2024

Andre the Giant and Fred Savage on the set of The Princess Bride (1987)

03/08/2024

Marisa Tomei, 1987

03/08/2024

Salvador Dali Taking His Anteater For A Walk In Paris, 1969

03/08/2024

03/08/2024

Family of a Native American sharecropper. Their home is shown behind them.

03/08/2024

A smartly dressed lady from Kentucky, c.1900.

03/08/2024

Liam Neeson, Bill Paxton and Patrick Swayze in "Next of Kin" (1989).

02/08/2024

Beechnut Chewing Gum girl making a sale, Harlem (1940s)

02/08/2024

Having a perm (1950s)

02/08/2024

Baked Potato Cart. Read the awsome story here

02/08/2024

Cowboys enjoy drinks at the Equity Bar in Old Tascosa, Texas, 1907.

02/08/2024

Albert Einstein’s first wife, Mileva (Mitza) Marić, was also a brilliant physicist. They met in 1896 at the Polytechnic Institute of Zurich, where Mitza had to fight for special permissions to attend. She often received higher marks than Albert. Despite her hard work and significant contributions to their theories, she wasn’t credited because Albert believed their works wouldn’t be published with a woman’s name on them.

Many of Albert’s lecture notes were written in Mitza’s handwriting. Albert even said at a party, “I need my wife; she helps solve all of my mathematical problems.” Eighty percent of Einstein’s famous works were published between 1905 and 1915, during their marriage. These years are known as his “magic years.”

However, their marriage ended in 1919 due to Albert’s infidelity and abandonment. Despite this, Mitza’s role in his achievements remains significant.

Happy Women’s History Month to the ✨

02/08/2024

I am proud to come to this city as the guest of your distinguished Mayor, who has symbolized throughout the world the fighting spirit of West Berlin. And I am proud -- And I am proud to visit the Federal Republic with your distinguished Chancellor who for so many years has committed Germany to democracy and freedom and progress, and to come here in the company of my fellow American, General Clay, who -- who has been in this city during its great moments of crisis and will come again if ever needed.
Two thousand years ago -- Two thousand years ago, the proudest boast was civis Romanus sum.1 Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is "Ich bin ein Berliner."

(I appreciate my interpreter translating my German.)

There are many people in the world who really don't understand, or say they don't, what is the great issue between the free world and the Communist world.

Let them come to Berlin.

There are some who say -- There are some who say that communism is the wave of the future.

Let them come to Berlin.

And there are some who say, in Europe and elsewhere, we can work with the Communists.

Let them come to Berlin.

And there are even a few who say that it is true that communism is an evil system, but it permits us to make economic progress.

Lass' sie nach Berlin kommen.

Let them come to Berlin

02/08/2024

When a hobo told Andy he should just let Opie "decide for himself" how he wanted to live… Andy had these words of wisdom.

"No, I'm afraid it don't work that way. You can't let a young’n decide for himself. He'll grab at the first flashy thing with shiny ribbons on it. Then, when he finds out there's a hook in it, it's too late. Wrong ideas come packaged with so much glitter that it's hard to convince ‘em that other things might be better in the long run. All a parent can do is say 'wait' and 'trust me' and try to keep temptation away."

Somehow... we have lost this basic truth. Too many people are more worried about being their child’s friend, than in being a parent.

02/08/2024

Napoleon Bonaparte’s family was scandalized when he married Josephine de Beauharnais in 1796. Though she was beautiful, Josephine was six years older than him, a widow with two children, and had several affairs with political figures. Napoleon’s mother and sisters felt awkward and unsophisticated around the regal Josephine.

Josephine was the great love of Napoleon’s life. He wrote her many passionate love letters. “I awake full of you,” Napoleon once wrote. “Your image and the memory of last night’s intoxicating pleasures have left no rest to my senses.”

Shortly after their marriage, Napoleon left to lead the French army in Italy. During their separation, Josephine began an affair with a handsome Hussar lieutenant, Hippolyte Charles. When Napoleon heard the news, he was furious. His letters to Josephine became less loving, and he took on several mistresses. Shortly after being crowned Emperor and Empress of France in 1804, Josephine caught Napoleon in the bedroom of her lady-in-waiting.

When Josephine was unable to have another child, Napoleon decided they must divorce so he could remarry and have an heir. Napoleon’s secretary recalled hearing Josephine scream when Napoleon broke the news to her.

Despite their separation in 1810, Napoleon insisted Josephine keep the title of empress. When he heard of her death in 1814, he locked himself in his room for two days. On his deathbed in 1821, Napoleon's last words were: “France, the Army, the Head of the Army, Josephine.”

Napoleon and Josephine's story is one of intense love and deep heartbreak, a testament to the complexity of their lives and the times they lived in.

01/08/2024

Undated photo of armed jailers in the Tarrant County Jail. Fort. Worth, TX.

If you had to date this photo, what wou.d your best guess be?