modcloth:

The gorgeous Sophia Loren in LIFE magazine. (via thecarpetbaggernyc)

eventhird:

Afganistan, 1950’s/60’s

usagov:

Image description: A life vest used by a survivor of the RMS Titanic. Five days into its maiden voyage in 1912, the White Star ocean liner Titanic struck an iceberg at full speed in the North Atlantic, en route from England to the United States. At 2:20 a.m. on April 15, the gigantic ship sank in 12,500 feet of water 350 miles off the coast of Canada. Within about two hours, the ocean liner Carpathia arrived and rescued the Titanic’s 705 surviving crew and passengers. Around 1,500 people aboard were lost.

Chicago physician Dr. Frank Blackmarr, a Carpathia passenger, helped with the survivors suffering from hypothermia, exposure, and shock. He collected this Titanic life vest during the voyage as a souvenir, and later donated it to the Chicago Historical Society. In 1982, the CHS donated it to the Smithsonian’s National Watercraft Collection.

Image courtesy of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

demons:

The Warsaw Ghetto, photographed after being destroyed by the Germans in 1945.

The church remained only because it was being used for ammunitions storage.

historicaustralia:

A hazard for high heels - Women stepping off the footpath in Gertrude St. have a rough path ahead, 1964

guilbertjj:

                         Rennes à découvrir en flânant dans les ruelles du centre ville

ireczech92:

The Coolidge effect is “the revival of sexual arousal caused by presence of a novel [new] partner.”

According to legend, President and Mrs. Coolidge were once touring a farm. Soon after their arrival they were take off on separate tours. When Mrs. Coolidge passed the chicken pens, she paused to…

theossuary:

Love this article over at TIME—Top 10 Famous Stolen Body Parts—featuring Anne Boleyn’s heart, Geronimo’s skull, Napoleon’s penis, and more, including this tidbit:

the 16th century, St. Francis Xavier spent a lot of time on his feet, spreading the gospel throughout Spain, France, Italy, Malaysia, Japan, Sri Lanka and India, dying at sea en route to China. When a group of Christians disinterred his body a few months later, they were surprised to see it in a perfect state of preservation. But just as in life, his “incorrupt body” didn’t stay at rest for long. In its first public exhibition of corpse in Goa, India, in fit of reverence, a Portuguese woman bit off his big toe. Allegedly, the toe gushed blood, and she was caught when people followed the grisly trail to her home.

Kind of surprised that Juan Perón’s hands didn’t make the list.

Image: Painting of St. Francis Xavier in the Kobe City Museum, via Wikipedia.