Snapshots of Manchester In The 1960s
A series of photos of Manchester in the 60s, including Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester Central Station, The Scala cinema on Wilmslow Road, Ringway (Manchester) Airport, the Church of the Holy Name, the Manchester City Art Gallery, Piccadilly Plaza, Mancunian Way, Mosley Street and more.

How Scientists Imagined And Built An Undersea Utopia For Humans
During the late 1960s many believed revolutionary social and political change was imminent, and Jacques Cousteau was no exception. Soon there would be “undersea parliaments and new nations,” he wrote; “poets, architects, and painters would be needed to give expression” to this “new world.”

Revisiting An American Town Where Black People Weren’t Welcome After Dark
Anna is a city of a little more than 4,000 people located in the middle of Union County, where soybean fields and flatlands to the north give way to the forests and sandstone canyons of southern Illinois. Most people I met, wish the racist lore behind the city’s name would go away. So why hasn’t it?

The Story Of The McBarge, The Floating McDonald’s Restaurant
Take a trip back to the mid 80’s when Vancouver hosted a World’s Fair event with one of the most unique fast food restaurants ever constructed. Friendship 500, or better known as The McBarge.

The Invention Of Money
When the Venetian merchant Marco Polo got to China, he saw many wonders. One of the things that astonished him most, however, was a new invention, implemented by Kublai Khan, a grandson of the great conqueror Genghis. It was paper money, introduced by Kublai in 1260.

What Happened To Donald Trump’s $365 Million Airline?
For a short time in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, Donald Trump owned an airline. In 1989, Trump raised $365 million to purchase the Eastern Shuttle. Within 18 months, the airline lost over $125 million, and by 1992, Trump decided it was time to walk away.

The Girl In The Box: The Mysterious Crime That Shocked Germany
After class on Tuesday 15 September 1981, the first day of the new school year, a 10-year-old girl named Ursula Herrmann returned to her house in Eching. She never arrived. So began one of Germany’s most notorious postwar criminal cases, which remains contentious to this day.

“Abandoned”, The Story Of The S.S America Vessel
In 1940, a stunning and iconic vessel was launched called the S.S America. A ship of pride for the United States and after a long career in her golden years, the vessel ended up in a state of limbo for a while. She was left abandoned floating aimlessly until she was bought out and renamed to the SS American Star.

26 Hours On A Saharan Freight Train
Mauritania’s Train du Desert is one of the longest and heaviest trains in the world. Completed in 1963, the train operates daily between Nouadhibou on the Atlantic coast and the iron ore mines in Zouerat, in the middle of the country—a journey of around 450 miles that takes about 13 hours each way.

The 1968 Sci-Fi That Spookily Predicted Today
In John Brunner’s 1968 novel Stand on Zanzibar, for instance, he peers ahead to imagine life in 2010, correctly forecasting wearable technology, Viagra, video calls, same-sex marriage, the legalization of cannabis, and the proliferation of mass shootings.

On Walkman’s 40th Anniversary, Sony Opens Retro Exhibition In Tokyo
Sony Corp. opened an exhibition Monday in Tokyo’s bustling Ginza district to mark the 40th anniversary of its signature Walkman. The handheld audio player debuted on July 1, 1979, offering portable music to ears across the world. In the years that followed, over 400 million units would be sold.

The Lie That Helped Build Nintendo
In 1981, a young Swede called Owe Bergsten strolled through Singapore to pass the time before his flight home. Passing a camera shop, he spotted a two-button LCD game called ‘Fire RC-04’ in the window. The story of a man, a lie, a video game handheld, and a business empire.

Moonless Moonlit Nights
Commuters are generally too tired to notice the quickly passing scenery or the complicated reflections layered up on the short, fast train ride home from Tokyo to Yokohama. But photographer Yasunori Murayama pays attention. He captures multiple stories in single exposures.

Growing Up Travelling: The Inside World Of Irish Traveller Children
When American photographer Jamie Johnson visited Ireland for the first time in 2014; she immediately felt connected to the Irish travelers living there. She spent the next five years going back to Galway, Limerick, Cork and Tipperary, taking portraits of the communities, particularly the children.

How A Volcanic Eruption Helped Create Modern Scotland
Over seven terrible years in the 1690s, crops failed, farming villages emptied, and severe famine killed up to 15% of the entire population of Scotland. Soon after, the formerly independent nation joined Great Britain. Now, researchers suggest volcanic eruptions thousands of kilometers away may have helped spark this political transformation.

What Fruits And Vegetables Looked Like Before Humans Intervened
The fruits and vegetables we know and love are a lot more complicated than you’d think. They didn’t always look like they do. In fact, it took decades of human intervention to transform them into the delicious, nutrient-rich morsels they are today.

Surprising Images From Inside North Korea
Magnum photographer Carl De Keyzer is one of very few to have been given unprecedented access to Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea.

Sweden’s Floating, Circular ‘Arctic Bath’ Hotel Opens On The Lule River
The unique Arctic Bath hotel, which was first announced in 2018, comprises a floating circular main building designed by architects Bertil Harström and Johan Kauppi to resemble a bird’s nest, accompanied by a series floating and land cabins around it.

The British Once Built A 1,100-Mile Hedge Through The Middle Of India
There was nothing charming about what the British built. It wasn’t meant to protect anything except imperial revenue. It grew along the Inland Customs Line, a bureaucratic barrier that the British created to impose a high salt tax on the people living on one side of the line—the relatively saltless one.

Photos of Andy Warhol and His Circle, Taken (Secretly) by His Close Friend
Photographer and former editor of Interview magazine Bob Colacello remembers a different age of celebrity, art and popular culture within Andy Warhol’s orbit.

The Bizarre Social History Of Beds
Groucho Marx once joked, “Anything that can’t be done in bed isn’t worth doing at all.” You might think he was referring to sleeping and sex. But humans, at one time or another, have done just about everything in bed. And yet, they’re more of an afterthought.