The riots took their name from the baggy suits worn by many minority youths during that era, but the violence was more about racial tension than fashion. American servicemen and white Angelenos attacked and stripped children, teenagers, and youths who wore zoot suits, ostensibly because they considered the outfits, which were made from large amounts of fabric, to be unpatriotic during World War II. Rationing of fabrics and certain foods was required at the time for the war effort....

During the mid-20th century, a wave of futuristic optimism swept through society, inspiring people to envision how technology and design would transform their everyday lives. Nowhere was this spirit of innovation more evident than in the kitchen. From the 1950s to the 1980s, individuals and companies alike conceptualized and presented their captivating visions of the kitchen of the future. These retro kitchens, with their sleek designs, automation marvels, and ambitious predictions, reflect the aspirations and dreams of a bygone era....

Along this expansive journey, it makes key stops in cities such as Houston, San Antonio, and El Paso, Texas, as well as Tucson, Arizona. Before Amtrak began operations on May 1, 1971, the Sunset Limited was managed by the Southern Pacific Railroad. This train holds the distinction of being the oldest named passenger service in the United States, first introduced in November 1894 as the Sunset Express. Operating along the Sunset Route, it connected New Orleans to the Pacific Coast and provided an essential southern gateway to the West....

Stilyagi, goths, hippies, bikers, punks, rockers, and metalheads formed countercultures that often invited the wrath of the Soviet communist authorities. Their legacy is remembered by these pictures that show their radical self-expression, extravagant style, hairstyles, tattoos, and elaborate clothes. The Soviet state media called these groups “non-conformists,” who were deliberately devoid of all the good qualities possessed by a Soviet citizen. They were even referred to as lazy parasites, dirty, leeches of society, and fascists....

Already a famous architect for his unique designs in Barcelona, Gaudí had in mind something spectacular, which he would eventually achieve. In his later years, he abandoned all secular work and devoted his life to the basilica called La Sagrada Família, or the “Holy Family”. He worked on the project for over 40 years, devoting the last 15 years of his life entirely to this endeavor. When questioned about the extremely long duration of construction, Gaudí is said to have joked, “My client is not in a hurry....

After Pearl Harbor, the Japanese quickly gained control over a huge area of the Pacific, from the Philippines to Burma to the Aleutians to the Solomons. While the Japanese enjoyed the advantage of interior lines of communication, they had somewhat overextended themselves. Once the Allies became strong enough to threaten their perimeter from several directions, the advantage would be lost, since Japan did not have and could not produce enough planes and ships to defend in force at all points....

Chrysler had already begun work on the famous Chrysler Building, the gleaming 1,046-foot skyscraper in midtown Manhattan. Not to be bested, Raskob assembled a group of well-known investors, including former New York Governor Alfred E. Smith. The group chose the architecture firm Shreve, Lamb, and Harmon Associates to design the building. The Art-Deco plans are said to have been based in large part on the look of a pencil. Despite the colossal size of the project, the design, planning, and construction of the Empire State Building took just 20 months from start to finish....

Through a collection of vintage photos, this article provides a vivid glimpse into the fashion, activities, and generational shifts that defined the high school experience of this transformative era. Fashion played a crucial role in the lives of high school students during this decade. It was a time of experimentation and self-expression, as young people sought to break free from the constraints of previous generations. Bell-bottom pants, wide collars, and platform shoes became iconic symbols of the era....

The 1950s were a defining era for Las Vegas. It was the decade that saw the rise of the Riviera, the Sands, and the Dunes, where the likes of Elvis Presley, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and Sammy Davis flocked to the Strip along with millions of other tourists. There were dancers, mobsters, weddings, gamblers, and the glamour of post-war America. By 1951 the Thunderbird Hotel, the Desert Inn, and the Silver Slipper had joined the El Rancho, the New Frontier, and the Flamingo on the Strip....

The Brittany region of France is renowned for its picturesque countryside, stunning coastline, and rich history. Its unique blend of Celtic and Gallo-Roman cultures has been attracting visitors for centuries. These vintage photos from Claude Lacourarie’s collection provide a fascinating glimpse into the everyday life of the people of Brittany’s countryside during the early 1900s. The vintage photos depict a world that is vastly different from our own, but at the same time, they reveal the timeless qualities of the region....

The photo was taken by German photojournalist Thomas Billhardt. Looking further into Billhardt’s photograph, it seems that he spent most of his time in North Vietnam (with occasional trips to actual fighting ground). So presumably what we’re looking at are two individuals that are part of a local defense force somewhere in North Vietnam. This would explain how “casual” they look in their loving stroll and with weapons in the open like this....

Balancing on the edge (the ‘Three Jacksons’ recalled as being “about the width of a newspaper”), the group used no harnesses and relied purely on their pinpoint accuracy. Perhaps the only people who can come close to understanding the rush these acrobats experienced are the men who built the Empire State Building or maybe the window cleaners. As for the three Jacksons, the stunt brought them brief fame and they were asked to perform their routine again....

This incited many Albanians to try to leave the previously secluded nation. People felt overwhelmed by hopelessness and although their knowledge of other countries was based solely on what they had heard, or seen on Italian television, they long for the opportunity to start a new life abroad. A good part of emigrants aimed for Italy, less than a hundred miles away from Albanian ports across the Strait of Otranto, partly attracted to the (erroneous) portrayals of wealth on Italian television adverts they were able to watch in Albania....

However, when we cast our gaze back to the advertising of the mid-20th century, we’re confronted with a startling reality: companies could, and did, engage in marketing practices that would be met with resounding condemnation in the present day. During an era that preceded the Civil Rights movement, some of the most prominent brands of the time, including household names like Kellogg’s, employed shockingly sexist slogans as part of their marketing campaigns....

After Hitler’s rise to power, legislation against the Romani was increasingly based upon a rhetoric of racism. The policy originally based on the premise of “fighting crime” was redirected to “fighting a people”. Targeted groups were no longer determined by juridical grounds. Instead, they were victims of racialized policy. The Nazis established the Racial Hygiene and Demographic Biology Research Unit (Rassenhygienische und Bevölkerungsbiologische Forschungsstelle, Department L3 of the Reich Department of Health) in 1936....

Cannons became instruments of torture, with condemned prisoners strapped to their muzzles and blasted to pieces. These disturbing photographs and depictions capture a forgotten chapter in history. The identities of these unfortunate souls, placed before the cannons with their backs to the inevitable, are lost to time. Their names remain unknown, yet their stories serve as a stark reminder of the brutality of the past. George Carter Stent described the process as follows: “The prisoner is generally tied to a gun with the upper part of the small of his back resting against the muzzle....

USS Galena was a wooden-hulled broadside ironclad built for the United States Navy during the American Civil War. The ship was initially assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron and supported Union forces during the Peninsula Campaign in 1862. She was damaged during the Battle of Drewry’s Bluff because her armor was too thin to prevent Confederate shots from penetrating. The Galena was one of 3 trial ironclads approved by the Ironclad Board during the early part of the Civil War....

This was the time when the Second World War started to get steam and the State Department’s Office of Inter-American Affairs was tasked with cultivating South American support for the Allies. Naylor produced a stunning collection of over a thousand photographs that document a rarely seen period in Brazilian history. The collection of Naylor’s photographs offers a unique view of everyday life during one of modern Brazil’s least-examined decades. Her subjects include the very rich and the very poor, black Carnival dancers, fishermen, rural peasants from the interior, workers crammed into trolleys, just ordinary Brazilians in their own setting....

The subjects of these photos include civil structures such as temples, bridges, and streets; images of labor such as silk factories, rice cultivation, farming, and portraits of regular people providing an intimate view into Japan’s bygone era. In 1868 the Tokugawa shôgun (“great general”), who ruled Japan in the feudal period, lost his power and the emperor was restored to the supreme position. The emperor took the name Meiji (“enlightened rule”) as his reign name; this event was known as the Meiji Restoration....

You can almost see the distaste that Himmler had towards Goring here. Goering was the head of the Luftwaffe and in the beginning Hitler’s right-hand man. But after the Luftwaffe didn’t do good in the Battle of Britain, Goering fell out of favor with Hitler and was slowly pushed out by Himmler, who replaced him as number two. Goering was also a very corrupt man, he used his status to collect bribes, he collected property that was seized from Jews, while Himmler was the real evil driving the Nazis....