In 1929, famous gangster Alphonse “Scarface” Capone spent eight months of his life in this cell. Al Capone’s Bertillion Card or intake record cites his crime, “C.C.D.W.,” (Carrying a Concealed Deadly Weapon), his alleged occupation (Cutter. Paper & Leather.), his suspicion in two previous murder investigations (both “Dis.,” or dismissed), and catalogs his famous scars. [...]
Built between 1822 and 1836, Eastern State Penitentiary expressed in physical form the progressive penological philosophy known as the “Pennsylvania System” of solitary confinement. At the center of debates on prison design and governance, it attracted thousands of visitors from all over the world during its early decades. The penitentiary was the product of an [...]
From socialsecurity.gov: The Social Security program that would eventually be adopted in late 1935 relied for its core principles on the concept of “social insurance.” Social insurance was a respectable and serious intellectual tradition that began in Europe in the 19th century and was an expression of a European social welfare tradition. It was first adopted [...]
From Wikipedia: The Boxer Rebellion, also called the Boxer Uprising by some historians or the Righteous Harmony Society Movement in northern China, was a proto-nationalist movement by the “Righteous Harmony Society” or “Righteous Fists of Harmony” or “Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists” (known as “Boxers” in English), in China between 1898 and 1901, opposing [...]
From WorthPoint: Radica and Doodica were born in Orissa, India in 1888. They were xiphopagus twins, joined at the chest by a band of cartilage, similar to Chang and Eng. When they were born, the people of their village saw them as symbols of divine wrath and chased the family out of town. Their father [...]
From Edison films catalog: A marvelously clear picture taken from the top of the elevator of the Eiffel Tower during going up and coming down of the car. This wonderful tower is 1,000 feet in height, and the picture produces a most sensational effect. As the camera leaves the ground and rises to the top [...]
From the Library of Congress: Photochrom prints, also called Aäc, are ink-based images produced through “the direct photographic transfer of an original negative onto litho and chromographic printing plates.” Hans Jakob Schmid (1856-1924), who worked for the Swiss firm Orell Füssli, invented the technique in the 1880s. Füssli published the prints through a company with [...]
From the August 13, 1902 edition of The Motor: The latest thing in sports in the United States is the game of polo played on racing motorcars. It is dangerous enough and exciting enough when played on horseback, but one fears to think how these elements are intensified when the players are dashing about the [...]
“MOBILE OPTHALMIC CLINIC OPERATIONS THROUGHOUT THE DESERTS OF PALESTINE ca. 1939” (Photographs courtesy of the Library of Congress/Tehrkot Media)
(Photographs courtesy of the Library of Congress/Tehrkot Media)
From the January 1916 edition of Popular Science: “Maude, the Motor Mule”…is an automobile which has been performing the latest dances upon various racetracks over the country. Before the racers commence their whirlwind circling of the speedways, the band plays a tango or a one-step, and “Maude” appears upon the track, rearing upon two wheels [...]
(Photographs courtesy of the Library of Congress/Tehrkot Media)
Bargain day on 14th Street as this film shows hundreds of tightly packed people crowding into the front door of the Rothschild Co. 5 and 10 cent store. They are so closely packed it is difficult to tell one from another. The view is from across the street, looking down from the 2nd floor. Filmed [...]
An animated cartoon about an ineffectual policeman (Officer Heeler) who quits the force after a losing battle against speeders. Story by Tom E. Powers and animated by Raoul Barre. Includes a piano score composed and performed by Philip Carli. (Video courtesy of International Film Service, Inc./Library of Congress/Tehrkot Media)
Depicts scenes at the Immigration Depot and a nearby dock on Ellis Island. Appears to show, first, a group of immigrants lined up to board a vessel leaving the island, then another group arriving at the island and being directed off of the dock and into the Depot by a uniformed official. Filmed on April [...]
Gertie is a dinosaur who lives in present times. She encounters a train and dreams of being the life of the party in her time. Produced and animated by Winsor McCay featuring a piano score composed and performed by Philip Carli. (Video courtesy of Rialto Productions/Library of Congress/Tehrkot Media)
