The weird inventions demonstrate ingenious efforts from the first half of the 20th century (and later) that helped people manage the pressures of everyday life. Hundreds of thousands of patents are issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for new inventions every year. Some of these creations, such as the lightbulb, transistor, cars, changed the world. Others have made everyday life a little easier, and some inventions are for things people never realized they needed....

These photographs capture, among others, people from Tsuu T’ina, Siksika, Kainai, Piikani. The number of Sarcee people (Tsuu T’ina) went down to 200 in the mid-20th century but has since gone up to 2,000. They are depicted in traditional dresses, feathered headdresses, and hunting bison. These historic images, which can be found on the Provincial Archives of Alberta, include the individuals’ names and tell a story in themselves. Many of their names are themed around nature, like Lone Walking Buffalo and Running Antelope....

The Western Front saw action throughout the length of the war and it was there that the conflict was finally decided. Except for a brief foray by the French into the region of Alsace, a German possession in 1914, the remainder of the fighting was conducted on French and Belgian soil (Belgium was wholly occupied apart from an enclave situated between Ypres and the French border); indeed, no Allied soldier set foot on German soil except for those taken prisoners....

Coney Island’s three great amusement parks — Steeplechase, Luna Park, and Dreamland — took guests not on rides but on journeys: under the sea and around the world, to the past, to the future, to the outer space, to inner space. Luna Park, the world’s first theme park, glittered with a quarter-million lightbulbs on playfully ornamented palaces and oriental towers, at a time when electricity was still a novelty. At Dreamland, where the themes were life, death, and morality, rides included the Creation, Hell Gate, and the End of the World....

With the American public clamoring for new vehicles and new technologies and materials readily available from wartime developments, the time was ripe for bold ideas, no matter how unconventional they seemed. One such idea came from the creative mind of Glen Gordon “Gary” Davis, an Indiana-based used car salesman. Drawing inspiration from a custom design by the legendary Indycar designer Frank Kurtis, Davis introduced the Davis Divan, a striking three-wheeled vehicle....

In fact, he is said to have ripped up an order from Hitler that ordered him to execute prisoners and then announced to those around him that the order wasn’t clear. Rommel was quite an interfering general. German military officers were trained to think for themselves. Today this is known as Mission Type Tactics. The commander was supposed to give an order which stated the resources available to be used (troops, tanks, etc....

This concept, borrowed from Japan, resulted in locally nicknamed “Japonka” stations. These stations stood out for their striking, almost futuristic appearance, resembling “UFO” flying saucers perched atop support structures. One of the coolest features of these gas stations was how easy they made refueling. Unlike regular gas stations, it didn’t matter which side of your car the fuel filler was on. Drivers simply needed to park near their desired hose....

The oddest thing here is that a whole group of scientists had photos of themselves posing with the plutonium core. They were proud of their invention, and the fact that they were making history. For a whole lot of reasons, they had no second thoughts about what they were planning to do. Harold Agnew saw the completion of the atomic bomb from start to finish. As a member of Enrico Fermi’s research team at the University of Chicago in 1942, Agnew witnessed the first sustained nuclear chain reaction, Chicago Pile-1....

But everyone does agree that San Francisco wouldn’t be the same without its legendary Cliff House, a destination for the young and the old, the wealthy and the modest, presidents and plumbers, for a century and a half. Some observers insist that the first Cliff House was built by gold rush tycoon Samuel Brannan in 1858, who used lumber recovered from a nearby shipwreck. But his building stood a short distance south of the rocky promontory where the Cliff House stands today and where the second Cliff House — indeed, most maintain the first — was built in 1863 by local real-estate speculator Charles Butler....

The farm moved to Buena Park in Orange County in May 1953 and continued to operate as California Alligator Farm until 1984, when its lease was not renewed. Four buildings on the farm contained more than 100 displays of snakes and lizards from throughout the world. The farm contained snapping turtles, giant tortoises, and more than 1,000 specimens in what was called the largest reptile collection in the world. The original admission was just 25 cents, visitors could peruse alligator handbags in the gift shop, watch a trained gator slide down a 16-foot chute, or take pictures of their children riding atop the animals....

The socialist fraternal kiss or socialist fraternal embrace was a special form of greeting between the statesmen of Communist countries. This act demonstrated the special connection that existed between Socialist states. This kiss consisted of an embrace, combined with a series of three kisses on alternate cheeks. In rare cases, when the two leaders considered themselves exceptionally close, the kisses were given on the mouth rather than on the cheeks....

He ordered and oversaw the unlawful execution of fifteen captured U.S. soldiers. The soldiers were sent behind the German lines with orders to demolish a tunnel that was being used by the German army as a supply route to the front lines. They were captured and upon learning of their mission, Dostler ordered their execution without trial. The U.S. soldiers were wearing proper military uniforms and carried no civilian or enemy clothing and were in compliance with Hague Convention to be considered non-combatants after their surrender....

Widely referred to as the “Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll”, she rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Ike and Tina Turner Revue before launching a successful career as a solo performer. Turner was born into a sharecropping family in rural Tennessee. She began singing as a teenager and, after moving to St. Louis, Missouri, immersed herself in the local rhythm-and-blues scene. She met Ike Turner at a performance by his band, the Kings of Rhythm, in 1956, and soon became part of the act....

The live demonstration took place at the Washington City police headquarters. They are inventors and salesmen trying to convince the police force that these bulletproof vests work and save lives. The police officers in the background (in the second photo) are all part of the Frederick County Police Department, the gun they are firing is believed to be an S&W Model 10 Revolver. Mr. Murphy stood less than ten feet (3 m) from the firing gun and took two consecutive ....

During the early twentieth century, Howard Carter, a British Egyptologist, excavated for many years in the Valley of the Kings—a royal burial ground located on the west bank of the ancient city of Thebes, Egypt. When Carter arrived in Egypt in 1891, he became convinced there was at least one undiscovered tomb–that of the little-known Tutankhamun, or King Tut, who lived around 1400 B.C. and died when he was still a teenager....

The initial drive for the creation of diving suits was to aid salvage missions, at a time when many ships (carrying many treasures) were lost to the ocean on perilous journeys. The first diving suits were designed in the 1710s and in 1715, English inventor John Lethbridge created the first fully-enclosed suit, consisting of watertight sleeves, a pressurized air-filled barrel, and a viewing hole. In 1797 in Poland, Karl Heinrich Klingert was the first to develop a full-body diving suit made of a metal helmet, wide metal girdle, and pants, and a vest made of waterproofed leather....

And though the discriminatory divide between whites of European descent and black Africans stretch back to the era of 19th-century British and Dutch imperialism, the concept of apartheid did not become law until 1953, when the white-dominated parliament passed the Reservation of Separate Amenities Act. This act officially segregated public spaces such as taxis, ambulances, hearses, buses, trains, elevators, benches, bathrooms, parks, church halls, town halls, cinemas, theaters, cafes, restaurants, hotels, schools, universities—and later, with an amendment, beaches, and the seashore....

Though the dim lighting condition inside the circus’ tent prevented images from being made of the acts in progress, local photographer Herbert Cooper was able to take pictures of the clowns, acrobats, and animals outdoors, as they rehearsed their acts and mingled with the local people. During this time, he documented various circus shows that arrived in Strabane, a town in Northern Ireland, the three main ones being Duffy’s Circus, Buff Bill’s American Circus, and Hanneford’s Canadian Circus....

In a celebration mirrored around the world, the New Yorkers took to the Square to celebrate a new era of peace, and hope, the image of which was captured on Alfred Eisenstaedt’s picture of an unknown couple kissing. The picture portrays a U.S. Navy sailor grabbing and kissing a stranger—a woman in a white dress—on Victory over Japan Day (“V-J Day”) in New York City’s Times Square on August 14, 1945....

It revolutionized the look of this common household object by concealing its dial on the bottom of the base, making it look more like a modernist figurine than a phone. To hang up, you simply set it back down on a table. Because of its styling and its influence on future telephone design, the Ericofon is considered one of the most significant industrial designs of the 20th century by Phaidon....