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Helga was a “daddy’s girl” who preferred her father to her mother. She was reported to have been a lovely baby who never cried and just sat listening uncomprehendingly to the Nazi officials with “her blue eyes sparkling”. It was not unusual for Hitler, who was fond of children, to take her on to his own lap while he talked late into the night. Joseph Goebbels and his wife Magda Quandt had 6 children: Helga Susanne, Hedwig Johanna, Helmut Christian, Hildegard, Holdine Kathrine and Heidrun Elisabeth – all starting with the letter H (allegedly after Hitler)....

You can barely imagine what those men have gone through, and how many times they have nearly been killed or had to kill others to get there. Just think of the relief they must feel to be standing there knowing that it is over. The picture depicts Corporal Russell M. Ochwad, of Chicago, playing the part of Hitler on the famous balcony of the Chancellery, in Berlin, from which the former Nazi leader had proclaimed his 1,000-year empire....

These soldiers are Stosstruppen (Stormtrooper) and are waiting for the assault in their shelter. Notice the different kinds of bayonets issued by the German army. At the end of the war, the German army issued a new kind of saw-bayonet causing more damage to the human body than the classic ones. The soldiers caught carrying such bayonets weren’t taken prisoner but were horribly mutilated. All the soldiers in this picture have facial hair without having a beard, because having a beard made it difficult to get a proper seal on the gas mask....

A “pro-sugar” ad that appeared in an August 1964 issue of Time gave a “note to mothers,” explaining that drinks without sugar wouldn’t provide children with the necessary energy to get through the day’s activities. This form of advertisement began in the 1950s when health researchers were spreading the news that sugar was connected to weight gain. As a response to this “negative” news, the sugar industry upped its advertising budget....

Within five years, Britain and Belgium would be at war with Germany and Bulgaria. Only five of the nine monarchies represented in the photo still exist today. Oddly, the four sovereigns whose monarchies would not survive the twentieth century (Bulgaria, Portugal, Germany, and Greece) all stood together. It would not be possible to take a photograph of nine reigning European kings today, as there are only seven kingdoms remaining, two of which are currently headed by queens regnant....

It’s very interesting that before global trading became as it is today, people really didn’t encounter many products that weren’t made locally. Seeing an item made in China must have seemed exotic to someone living in Mexico during 1832. Portuguese sailors brought bananas to Europe from West Africa in the early fifteenth century. Its Guinean name banema, which became banana in English, was first found in print in the seventeenth century....

The city authorities had arranged for a free concert to take place in Venice’s historic Piazza San Marco which would be shown on television in more than 12 countries. The council justified it by saying that Venice “must be open to new trends, including rock music”. The news was met with excitement by many but also with anger by many Venetians. Many older Venetians wanted to ban the concert. They felt that it would be a logistical nightmare that would potentially destroy the ancient facades and monuments....

Among the many iconic styles that emerged during this era, the Rah-Rah skirt was seen as a symbol of youthful vivacity and innovation. The roots of the Rah-Rah skirt can be traced back to the energetic world of cheerleading. Cheerleaders, known for their spirited performances and dynamic routines, donned skirts with flouncy, pleated designs that accentuated their movements. The fashion industry, always keen to adapt emerging trends, took inspiration from these cheerleading uniforms and sought to infuse the Rah-Rah skirt with a newfound sense of chic....

He had also traveled and studied throughout the United States and understood that Japan’s island empire could not hope to defeat the Americans’ vast resources and industrial capacity in a prolonged war. Ironically, though Yamamoto laid out the plan to strike Pearl Harbor, he also happened to be one of its most vocal opponents. Yamamoto knew the risks of attacking Pearl Harbor, not just to the fleet flying into Hawaiian airspace, but also to the overall Japanese ambitions....

It has been thought within the Finnish Defence Forces that the decision to withhold pictures of the fate of Russian prisoners of war and spies may also have been prompted by concerns that pro-Soviet elements in Finnish society could have used the images for propaganda purposes. This picture was declassified by the Ministry of Defense of Finland in 2006, with the description: Unknown Soviet intelligence officer before being shot, Finland, 1942....

They operated a Rotor in West Germany at Oktoberfest in 1949. Hoffmeister and Friese had an agreement that established Friese would have sole rights to sell the ride in the United States. In the early 1950s, Mark Myers purchased manufacturing rights to construct the Rotor in the United Kingdom from Hoffmeister. Myers of Rotor-Dromes, Ltd., of London, United Kingdom, debuted the Rotor in the Festival Pleasure Gardens, set up in Battersea Park, which was part of the Festival of Britain in 1951....

The 1889 Paris Exposition Universelle covered a total area of 0.96 km2, including the Champ de Mars, the Trocadéro, the quai d’Orsay, a part of the Seine, and the Invalides esplanade. Transport around the Exposition was partly provided by a 3 kilometer (1.9 mi) 600 millimeter (2 ft 0 in) gauge railway by Decauville. It was claimed that the railway carried 6.342.446 visitors in just six months of operation. The Fair had this time two sites: on the one hand, the Trocadéro and the Champ-de-Mars were housing the Fine Arts and industrial exhibits, as in 1878....

Ralph’s parents were of medium height with his father about 6’2″ tall and his mother 5’8”. He had two sisters and a brother about five foot eight. Even though he was tall, Ralph Madsen wore a size nine shoe and his hands were average size. He spent most of his life on a ranch and a greater part of it in the saddle. On the ranch, he acquired veterinary skills and was an authority on horses, sheep, cows, and pigs....

Throughout the Depression Tupper had persevered in his endeavor to become a commercial inventor and transform his economically precarious life from rags to riches. Women’s lives, he believed, would be considerably enhanced by his new labor-saving, flexible, lightweight containers; no more spills and odors in the refrigerator, no more waste leftovers. By 1947, home magazines such as House Beautiful hailed Tupperware designs as “Fine Art for 39 Cents” with gorgeous textures reminiscent of jade and mother-of-pearl, but American housewives remained largely unimpressed....

When he arrived at the Western Front his rank was honorary captain, but the troops, seeing how he took risks to get his pictures, dubbed him “the mad photographer”. His job was to document the war effort, to provide images to the media, and to capture the heroism of the Australians to show those back home. What he captured, however, was hell on earth. He shot photographs of battles and their haunting aftermath and was horrified by the scenes of blood, death, and devastation that were so common on the Western Front....

Death was a regular occurrence in Victorian times, thanks to pervasive diseases like cholera and scarlet fever. For this reason, the loss of a loved one was not a shocking event, but a sad part of everyday life. The popularity of mourning jewelry reached its peak during the Victorian era (1837-1901). Queen Victoria was deeply in love with her husband, Prince Albert, and when he died in 1861, she fell into a long depression....

On May 07, 1954, Viet Minh forces won the Battle of Dien Bien Phu and ended French involvement in Indochina. This victory led to the Geneva Conference where the French and Viet Minh negotiated a ceasefire agreement. (Note: the other part of this photo collection: Vietnam War: Escalation and Withdrawal through rare photographs, 1968-1975). Under the terms of the Geneva Accords, France agreed to withdraw its troops from Indochina while Vietnam was temporarily divided into North and South Vietnam, led by Ho Chi Minh and Bao Dai respectively, at the 17th parallel....

Loveman’s was Chattanooga’s largest department store when it opened in the 1880s at the corner of 8th and Market streets. Undaunted after his store was destroyed by fire in 1891, Loveman promptly rebuilt a larger building on the same site. Loveman’s carried a wide range of products, and in typical department store fashion, placed them on designated various floors of the building. In the days when an elevator operator rode with customers, the operator would call out each floor and its product line....

Pelé turned 18 during the 1958 World Cup, helped Brazil to reach the finals, and then win 5-2 against Sweden, crowning Brazil as world champions for their first time ever, which turned him overnight into an international sensation. On June 29, 1958, he became the youngest player to play in a World Cup final match at 17 years and 249 days. He scored two goals in that final as Brazil beat Sweden 5–2 in the capital of Stockholm....

Crafted by the genius brain of Marcello Gandini and his team at Bertone, the Stratos Zero isn’t your average ride. Imagine a car so low, it’s almost kissing the ground, and with a wild wedge shape that’s more at home in a sci-fi movie than on the road. But here’s the kicker – it’s not just a pretty face. Hidden under that sleek body is a gutsy powerful engine, hinting at the raw power this beast could unleash....