The Berberov family from Baku of Azerbaijan became famous throughout the Soviet Union in the 1970s, holding two pet lions inside their small apartment. The first, named King I, starred in a film in Moscow in 1973, but attacked a passer-by and was shot and killed by a police officer. The new lion, King II, was less obedient and more aggressive than his predecessor, especially after the death of the head of the family Lev Berberov in 1978....

During this transformative period, two predominant design sensibilities held sway: the opulent embrace of Art Deco and the enduring allure of traditional aesthetics. Art Deco, characterized by its geometric forms, bold lines, and ornate embellishments, encapsulated the zeitgeist of modernity. Its influence extended beyond visual aesthetics, permeating architecture, fashion, and industrial design. The streamlined geometry of Art Deco not only reflected technological advances but also represented a departure from the ornate detailing of the past....

In bathrooms, this influence was unmistakably visible through the use of intricate mosaic tiles that adorned floors and walls. These tiles, often in bold monochromatic or contrasting color schemes, brought an element of drama and grandeur, transforming the bathroom into a veritable work of art. As modern manufacturing processes advanced, bathrooms became showcases for these remarkable materials. Gleaming porcelain and chrome fixtures graced sinks and faucets, while the luxurious allure of marble countertops and accents exuded an air of timeless elegance....

Henri Desgrange, the editor of L’Auto (ancestor to today’s l’Equipe), was desperate to find a way to win a circulation war with competing sports newspaper Le Vélo. The Tour de France was suggested to Desgrange as a sales promotion. It was to have been a five-week race, from 1 June to 5 July, with an entry fee of 20 francs. These conditions attracted very few cyclists: one week before the race was due to start, only 15 competitors had signed up....

Iron was initially used to reinforce certain parts of a wooden hull and frame, but gradually it became used for more components, with some ships using a timber hull around an iron frame, and others using hulls built of iron plates. These iron ships could be much larger, with lots more space for cargo. The early steamships had stern or side paddles which were fit for a steam engine. Paddle steamers were not suited to the open sea because in heavy seas the waves lifted one wheel right out of the water while the other one went right under, and this strained the engines....

During the Great Depression, Eastwood moved with his family a number of times before they finally settled in Piedmont, California, in 1940. He was drafted during the Korean War and stationed in California. Following his discharge from the army in 1953, Eastwood moved to Hollywood. A screen test with Universal in 1954 netted him a 40-week contract, but, after one renewal and a series of bit parts in such movies as Tarantula (1955) and Revenge of the Creature (1955), his option was dropped....

Unlike traditional stores that offered limited dry goods, King Kullen provided customers with thousands of products, all conveniently located under one roof. It introduced new conveniences such as a bakery section with freshly baked bread, a meat department with skilled butchers, and a large produce department—all accessible through a single checkout line. Rather than focusing on fancy decor, merchandise was simply displayed in packing cartons. The emphasis was on efficiency and volume, with this one store projected to match the sales of up to one hundred typical chain stores....

They were 15 or 16 years old and had grown up in the shadow of Nazism. Each would have spent their teenage years in the Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth) preparing them for military service. The net result of this was a cadre of youths that grew up surrounded by Nazi propaganda and were called up to serve the Vaterland they had been raised and trained to defend. In many cases, they fought bravely against overwhelming odds, but the lives of thousands of these youths were wasted by throwing them senselessly into battle with the Allies when the war was already lost....

Until the end of the 1930s, the best women’s stockings were made from silk. This changed in the United States when DuPont began manufacturing nylon in 1939. Nylon stockings went on limited sale in October of that year followed by a national launch at selected stores in 1940. Eager American shoppers bought up the new nylons even though they were priced the same as those made of silk. DuPont struggled to keep up with demand and American women were still complaining of shortages in 1942 when the United States joined the war....

This image of Tereska drawing her home has fascinated many and has become emblematic of World War II. Her eyes are piercing, like a window to her soul. Not the eyes of innocent youth. Like the soldiers who have seen heavy combat, she’s got the terrifyingly haunting one-thousand-yard stare. For over 70 years this image was surrounded by mystery and the real identity and the real story of Tereska remained unknown....

They rose to prominence in the U.S. during the Great Depression. One of the first and obvious benefits of a soup kitchen was to provide a place where the homeless and poor could get free food and a brief rest from the struggles of surviving on the streets. Al Capone was a gangster who made a fortune during the prohibition through bootlegging. He had a bit of the Robin Hood mystique by being charitable from some of the money he made running his criminal enterprise....

After the Mexican Revolution of 1910, a wave of Mexican immigrants poured into the southwestern U.S. which helped popularize the recreational use of the drug. Many Mexican laborers smoked marijuana to unwind, as a cheaper alternative to alcohol during Prohibition. As the drug grew more popular, it started to negatively be associated with Mexican immigrants. Anti-drug campaigners began to warn against the encroaching “Marijuana Menace,” describing the terrible crimes attributed to the drug and the Mexicans who used it....

It was the first in a series of World’s Fairs, exhibitions of culture and industry that became popular in the 19th century. The event was organised by Henry Cole and Prince Albert, husband of Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom. The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations was organised by Prince Albert, as a celebration of modern industrial technology and design. It was arguably a response to the highly effective French Industrial Exposition of 1844: indeed, its prime motive was for Britain to make “clear to the world its role as industrial leader”....

Born in 1907, Frida Kahlo lived for just 47 years. Andre Breton summed up Kahlo as “a ribbon around a bomb.” Here are some facts about the woman remembered as one of Mexico’s greatest artists. Kahlo lived most of her life in pain, the effect of contracting polio as a child, then being involved in a devastating road accident at age 18. Attempts to repair the damage with surgery and bone grafts exacerbated the situation....

While you would think that these ideas would come from the minds of visionaries, scientists, or inventors, in this scenario the inventor of the future was a German chocolate factory named Theodor Hildebrand & Son. The company was founded in 1817 by the confectioner Theodor Hildebrand in the center of Berlin. Hildebrand since 1830 used steam engines for the first time in Prussia, the“steam” chocolate factory could offer chocolate in bigger quantities at a low price....

These street photographs taken by Camilo José Vergara, document the gritty neighborhoods of the South Bronx and Lower East Side during a period of economic stagnation, poverty, and urban decay. When Vergara first picked up a camera in the early 1970s, he focused on the people who lived in the physically ruined neighborhoods. He later said “the images of the physical communities in which people live often better reveal the choices made by residents and city officials over the long haul....

Once she had been one of Germany’s most beloved athletes, but by that afternoon she had been living a four-year exile in the US, unwanted by her homeland. So why did she throw out her arm in tacit acceptance of so much hate? In 1924, Helene Mayer won the German national championship in women’s foil fencing at the age of 13. She went on to successfully defend her title six years in a row....

Sculptures are one of the oldest visual art forms in existence and one of the most publicly visible forms of artwork. It has been around for thousands of years, and it’s an art that can be created in a variety of materials, such as stone, wood, bronze, and more. From our earliest times, sculpture has been an important way to understand culture and society, whether from portrait busts of great leaders or symbolic renderings of ethical principles....

The iconic photograph known as “Lunch Atop a Skyscraper” captures a moment frozen in time, taken on September 20, 1932. In this black-and-white image, eleven intrepid ironworkers find themselves seated upon a steel beam, soaring 850 feet (260 meters) above the bustling streets of Manhattan, New York City. Their lofty perch is the sixty-ninth floor of what was then the RCA Building, now recognized as 30 Rockefeller Plaza, nestled within the grandeur of Rockefeller Center....

But once Ray Kroc took the restaurant over, he simplified the menu, streamlined the operation, and conquered the world. Siblings Richard and Maurice McDonald opened the first McDonald’s at 1398 North E Street at West 14th Street in San Bernardino, California, on May 15, 1940. The brothers introduced the “Speedee Service System” in 1948, putting into expanded use the principles of the modern fast-food restaurant that their predecessor White Castle had put into practice more than two decades earlier....