The men were tasked with guiding thousands of heavy, slippery logs on the spring pulpwood drive down the Kennebago River and Mooselookmeguntic Lake toward paper mills for further processing. Collier’s trip came after the 1942 film Wood for War, which stressed the importance of protecting national forests so the trees could be used in the war effort. Wood was often used to replace domestic items as materials were diverted to the troops – such as metal cutlery, cotton clothes, and plastic chairs, all of which were made with wood substitutes....

Defined by its sleek lines, fastback rear end, and prominent chrome accents, the model embodied a futuristic aesthetic that resonated deeply with consumers eager to embrace a brighter future. This innovative design, spearheaded by Oldsmobile’s design studio under Art Ross, stood in stark contrast to the boxy, utilitarian vehicles of the pre-war era. The “Futuramic” moniker transcended mere model designation; it became a philosophy. Oldsmobile’s advertising campaigns heavily emphasized the car’s forward-thinking design, utilizing phrases like “the dramatic design of the future” and “beauty with design and styling with purpose....

It is new, it is strange, and it’s also a little scary. His little eyes grow wide with wonder, and he is itching to respond to this new world that has been presented to him. Harold Whittles, the little boy, has just been fitted with a hearing aid. Deaf until then, Harold was introduced to sound with the arrival of technology at his doorstep. Just as his doctor fitted the hearing aid, the first wave of sound awoke a dormant sense in the little boy....

As the United States developed the Southwest, the Colorado River was seen as a potential source of irrigation water. In 1928, the U.S. Congress authorized the Boulder Canyon Project, later known as Hoover Dam (Building the Hoover Dam as seen through rare photographs, 1931-1936). The reservoir that formed behind the dam is Lake Mead, one of the world’s largest artificially created bodies of water. It covers an area of 603 square kilometers (233 square miles), and its shoreline measures 885 kilometers (550 miles)....

These remarkable photographs provide tangible evidence that the Old West watering holes truly lived up to their notorious historical reputation. Captured in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, these images from states like Montana to Texas offer a glimpse into life inside these iconic establishments. Saloons, a hallmark of the Wild West, were typically among the first buildings to appear in frontier towns. They attracted cowboys, miners, fur trappers, and gamblers alike....

Diaz’s 34-year dictatorial rule met with much opposition and by the end of 1910 opposition had resulted in a guerrilla campaign against his Federal soldiers. The attacks, led by Francisco “Pancho” Villa, Pascual Orozco, and Emiliano Zapata, convinced exiled opposition leader Francisco Madero to return to Mexico. On 7 April, Madero, Villa, and Orozco launched an attack, with a force of 2,500 untrained men, at the strategically important Ciudad Juárez, which lay on Mexico’s border with the United States....

The Great War had devastated Europe. Vast areas of north-western Europe were reduced to moonscapes; French and Belgian villages and towns had disappeared without trace. The conflict decimated Europe’s male population. Both sides suffered casualties on an almost incomprehensible scale. France had suffered more than 1.4 million dead, and more than 4 million wounded. In total, 8.5 million men had perished. According to the treaty, Germany was stripped of 13 percent of her territory and ten percent of her population; the border territories of Alsace and Lorraine were returned to France....

She joined Britain’s National Youth Theatre at age 18 and the Royal Shakespeare Company a year later. She spent a large part of the next 15 years working with the latter, appearing in such roles as Cressida in Troilus and Cressida and Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra. While still starring in theatre productions, Mirren began her film career in her early 20s. Her first film to be released was A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1968), which was followed by dozens of others, including the English gangster movie The Long Good Friday (1980); the King Arthur spoof Excalibur (1981); and a love story set in Northern Ireland, Cal (1984), for which she won the best actress award at the Cannes film festival....

Established in 1892 near Montmartre in Paris, this unique venue featured an entrance resembling the gaping jaws of a Leviathan, symbolizing damnation. This iconic cabaret was more than a mere entertainment venue; it was a portal into the underbelly of the city, where the fantastical and the forbidden converged in a mesmerizing spectacle. The Cabaret de L’Enfer was the counterpart to The Cabaret du Ciel (The Cabaret of Sky), another cabaret which shared the same address on the Boulevard de Clichy....

Wilson’s packages were labeled “E.A – US”. Although intended to stand for “United States”, this caused some consternation because the more typical abbreviation at the time was “U. States”. Samuel was widely known by friends and business acquaintances as “Uncle Sam” for his genial character and sense of humor. Taking their cue from his reputation and the “U.S.” he stamped on meat casks, army troops began joking that their food came from “Uncle Sam” and calling themselves “Uncle Sam’s soldiers”....

Horses were equipped with gas masks over their muzzles and were protected from inhalation of poison gases such as phosgene. Equine eyes were not affected by lachrymatory agents so that their masks consisted only of specially made nose bags but, unfortunately, these animal’s eyes were vulnerable to the effects of chlorine and vesicatory gases. Of the million British horses sent overseas to help with the war effort, only 62,000 returned home....

Victorian fashion was no exception, with each decade bringing its own distinctive trends and nuances. The fashion of these decades in European and European-influenced countries is characterized by extremely full-skirted women’s fashions relying on crinolines and hoops and the emergence of “alternative fashions” under the influence of the Artistic Dress movement. Moreover, the popularity of the newly invented sewing machine made possible the expansion of women’s wardrobes. Aniline dyes (made from coal tar) were new and produced brighter colors than natural dyes (made from plants) and did not fade as quickly....

The pits initially gained popularity in the 1950s and 1960s, but the 1970s is the period most closely associated with the design. A conversation pit is an architectural feature that incorporates built-in seating into a depressed section of flooring within a larger room. This area often has a table in the center as well. The seats typically face each other in a centrally focused fashion, bringing the occupants closer together than free-standing tables and chairs normally would....

The elephants were used for multiple things, although primarily they replaced the horses. Their essential tasks were to transport weapons and munitions, as well as various machines. Moreover, elephants could carry much more weight than horses. Circus elephants were recruited to help plow fields, stack hay, and cart munitions, and other supplies around cities. One of these working elephants was Lizzie. She was used to performing tricks as part of a traveling menagerie....

In the early 1900s, modesty laws were very strict and required most women to wear long one-piece garments as well as stockings. Even the men without shirts were banned from the beaches in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the reason being that the city didn’t want “gorillas on our beaches”. During this time, swimming became less about health and more about pleasure. Into the early 1900s, women’s swimming costumes were cumbersome, with high necks, long sleeves, skirts, and pants....

Spinks told his group, “There aren’t any Negros within miles of here tonight.” This was the first public Klan rally at Jackson in 15 years. Police forbade them to burn the cross in the background. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the Klan’s membership dropped drastically, and the last remnants of the organization temporarily disbanded in 1944. For the next 20 years, the Klan was quiescent, but it had a resurgence in some Southern states during the 1960s as civil-rights workers attempted to force Southern communities’ compliance with the Civil Rights Act of 1964....

Only four Dutch warships were left in the Dutch East Indies and seeing that there’s no way they’ll be able to take down the Japanese fleet by themselves, they decided to try to escape to Australia. There was just one problem: the seas were full of Japanese warships and the skies were swarming with Japanese planes. The chances of sailing through 1,000 miles of hostile ocean to safety were not looking good....

The caption read: “Adolf Hitler, the German patriot. When on 1 August 1914 tens of thousands of deeply moved Munich citizens listened to the last notes of the band, suddenly the German anthem washed over the square. In the midst of the crowd stood with shining eyes – Adolf Hitler”. Hitler was superimposed to lend credibility to the image of the Nazi leader as a patriot and a man of the people....

By 1849, the fair had become so popular the Rutland Rail Yard put extra cars on trains to bring people from western New York and Vermont. It moved to a two-day event and then expanded to three days in 1893 as more and more attractions were added. In 1941, Farm Security Administration photographer Jack Delano documented the festivities at the fair in Rutland, even shooting some pictures in color. This photo collection documents the overall views of grounds, exhibits, carnival attractions, races, crowds, cattle judging, freak show, rodeo, “girlie” show, trapeze performers, etc....

Historians have attributed the phenomenon to a campaign of dehumanization of the Japanese in the U.S. media, to various racist tropes latent in American society, to the depravity of warfare under desperate circumstances, to the inhuman cruelty of Imperial Japanese forces, lust for revenge, or any combination of those factors. The taking of so-called “trophies” was widespread enough that, by September 1942, the Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet ordered that “No part of the enemy’s body may be used as a souvenir”, and any American servicemen violating that principle would face “stern disciplinary action”....