Sigrid Schultz, former Chicago Tribune Berlin correspondent, presented her papers to the Wisconsin Historical Society in 1965. The collection included a heavy photo album, 15 by 13 inches, with one word on its grey cover — Angora. More tellingly — the cover also included the runic lightning flashes of the Nazi SS. The album is [...]
There is no longer any need to pity the “poor fish” because today there are fish with calling cards, fish doctors, surgeons, and dietitians, water-conditioned buses for fish, trout engineers and architects, fish elevators, modern rest rooms or pools for trout and home-coming days for wandering salmon. There are a few of the piscatorial wonders [...]
In 1859, nearly a decade after the California Gold Rush, gold was discovered at Pike’s Peak in what is now Colorado. Argonauts, or gold miners, were willing to head almost anywhere for precious metals. Since Pike’s Peak was fairly accessible and railroads were available to hasten the journey west, a great variety of people, including [...]
We take our phones for granted these days, what with a new cell phone coming to market every couple of weeks. And while AT&T takes loads of criticism from iPhone users for their spotty service, it was this company, or at least the precursor to the current incarnation of it, that constructed the first transcontinental [...]
Curious as to what to get that special someone who has a love of historic photography from the American Civil War for Christmas!? Check out our republication of photographer and entrepreneur Alexander Gardner’s 1866 photographic manuscript, “Gardner’s Photographic Sketch Book of the War” on the iPad. From The man who laid a war at America’s [...]
In 1929 oil was discovered south of Washington Street on the Venice Peninsula. Within a year, 148 wells were producing over 40,000 barrels of oil daily. It was a short-lived boom, but it provided needed income to a community that had suffered heavily during the Depression. By 1931 there were 450 wells covering this same area—producing [...]
Think you have what it took to get in to Harvard in 1869? From the History and Geography portion of the entrance exam, here’s an example of one of the questions standing in between you and a spot at one of America’s most prestigious universities: Supply the two names left blank in the following passage [...]
Frank A. Rinehart, a commercial photographer in Omaha, Nebraska, was commissioned to photograph the 1898 Indian Congress, part of the Trans-Mississippi International Exposition. More than five hundred Native Americans from thirty-five tribes attended the conference, providing the gifted photographer and artist an opportunity to create a stunning visual document of Native American life and culture [...]
The Sydney International Exhibition opened the doors of its main building the ‘Garden Palace’ on 17 September 1879 and closed them seven months later. Many figures in colonial Sydney talked of the success of the huge project but the 1,045,898 visitors that passed through its gates were perhaps the most eloquent testimony to its triumph. [...]
Tall-tale postcards emerged around the turn of the 20th century, when postcards came to function as surrogates for travel. People soon realized that postcards could be used to create or sustain a certain utopian myth about a town or region, and crafty photographers began to physically manipulate their photographs. Nowhere did these modified images, or [...]
For almost eight years from 1925, the skies above Sydney rang with the sounds of metal on metal as a massive tangle of raw steel was beaten, welded and riveted into the great arch of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It would link the North Shore to the heart of the city, forging a lasting monument to [...]
The College of Medicine University of Baghdad, formerly known as the Iraqi Royal Medical College, was established in 1927. The first Dean and its founder was Sir Harry Sinderson (Pasha), a British physician who was the physician of the Iraqi Royal Family. The College was established near a hospital (al Majeedi Hospital) near to Tigris river. It was one of the first medical schools in [...]
Starting with the Gold Rush, Chinese migrated to California and other regions of the United States in search of work. As several photographs show, many Chinese found work in the gold mines and on the railroads. They accepted $32.50 a month to work on the Union Pacific in Wyoming in 1870 for the same job [...]
Peace Mission: Thursday 20 August 1908 witnessed the arrival of the United States of America fleet at Port Jackson, Sydney. This was part of a round the world cruise by the fleet which had originally set out on 16 December 1907. The sixteen warships were painted white to denote peace. They would be known as The [...]
… eine angenehme Sammlung von Thieren, Pflanzen, Blumen, Früchten, Mineralien, Trachten und allerhand andern unterrichtenden Gegenständen aus dem Reiche der Natur, der Künste und Wissenschaften; alle nach den besten Originalen gewählt, gestochen, und mit einer kurzen wissenschaftlichen, und den Verstandes-Kräften eines Kindes angemessenen. … a nice collection of animals, plants, flowers, fruits, minerals, costumes and all sorts of otherteaching subjects from the realms of [...]
Located in Orleans County, Albany was granted township by the Vermont legislature in 1782. Orignally called Lutterloh, after Colonel Henry Lutterloh, the name was officially changed to Albany in 1815. (Photographs courtesy of the Library of Congress/Tehrkot Media)
