Culture
The Ford Bronco Was The Sexy SUV Of '66
July 9, 2020
The 1966 Ford Bronco was a different kind of four-wheeler, a truck with off-road capability that had a sports car's style -- in fact, in early advertisements, Ford called it "a...
Every Man A Master Chef: How Grilling Conquered America...
July 8, 2020
The portable grill -- the Weber kettle-style grill in particular -- changed suburban culture in the '50s. Apron-clad husbands and dads were inspired to take ...
A High School Kid Designed The American Flag And Got A ...
July 4, 2020
Do you dig the American flag? Thank Robert Heft. Through the years the American flag saw multiple variations as our great country added states to the Union. ...
Larry Walters: 'Lawnchair Larry's Balloon Flight Made H...
July 2, 2020
Larry Walters, or "Lawnchair Larry," took to the sky in 1982, ascending to a an altitude of over three miles in a chair lifted by helium-filled balloons. He'...
The Fondue Fad Was A Scam, And We Ate It Up In The Chee...
June 28, 2020
There's a fondue set, '60s or '70s vintage, in a frayed cardboard box, collecting dust in many an American attic or basement. And there's a reason for that. ...
Chuck Taylors: The Basketball Shoes That Went Punk Rock
June 24, 2020
Left: high-top Chucks in basic black. Right: Kurt Cobain of Nirvana was always seen in his low-top Chucks. Sources: Wikimedia Commons; Kevin Mazur Archive 1/WireIm...
List Of Safe Social Distance Activities (That Were Arou...
June 23, 2020
circa 1955: A boy, who has just completed making a model of a F 92 jet plane at the Hunter College Elementary School in New York City. (Photo by Jacobsen /Three...
South Of The Border: The Tourist Trap Your Parents Neve...
June 17, 2020
A jovial fiberglass Mexican laughs at South of the Border, a Mexican-themed amusement park, hotel, gift shop, adult toy store, and neon-heavy rest stop on the N...
Monterey Pop, 1967: The Summer Of Love Begins (Facts An...
June 16, 2020
Jimi Hendrix performs onstage at the Monterey Pop Festival on June 18, 1967 in Monterey, California. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) Over three ...
Interracial Marriage Was Actually Illegal In 16 States ...
June 12, 2020
Married couple Mildred and Richard Loving (1933 - 1975) embracing at a press conference the day after the Supreme Court ruled in their favor in 'Loving v. Virgi...
Remember Sniglets? List Of Words That Should Have Been ...
June 10, 2020
Rich Hall. (Photo by Walt Disney Television via Getty Images Photo Archives/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images) Comedian Rich Hall gave us the "sniglet" ...
'Have You No Sense Of Decency?' When Joseph Welch Owned...
June 9, 2020
Joseph N. Welch, during the Army-McCarthy hearings. (Photo by Hank Walker/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images) In 1954, Joseph Welch took on Senator ...
When Everyone Was An Audiophile: Remember Your First St...
June 5, 2020
Debbie Harry, lead singer of the new wave group Blondie, sits in front of some stereo equipment, circa 1977. (Photo by Lynn Goldsmith/Corbis/VCG via Getty Image...
Remember The 'Hippie Van?' The VW Microbus At Woodstock...
June 4, 2020
View of a Volkswagon van painted by Florida-based artist 'Scramble' and modeled after psychedelic art from the 1960s, mid 1990s. (Photo by Blank Archives/Getty ...
Who Shot (And Technically Killed) Andy Warhol -- And Wh...
June 3, 2020
Left: Actress Valerie Solanas (center), 28, is booked on June 3, 1968, in connection with the shooting a few hours earlier of pop artist Andy Warhol. Right: War...
1965: SpaghettiOs Were Invented And Sold For The First ...
May 16, 2020
Uh-oh, SpaghettiOs. It doesn’t seem like this would be the best tagline for a canned pasta-and-tomato-sauce meal that was meant to be a simple and easy way f...
1978: Phillie Phanatic Makes His First Ever Appearance,...
April 25, 2020
Los Angeles Dodgers Manager Tommy Lasorda with the Phillie Phanatic during an MLB baseball game at Veterans Stadium circa 1981 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. La...
Mac Facts: The Story Of Steve Jobs And His Revolutionar...
April 24, 2020
American businessman Steve Jobs (L), Chairman of Apple Computers, and John Sculley, Apple's president, pose with the new Macintosh personal computer, on January...
The Seattle Space Needle: Opened In 1962, A National La...
April 21, 2020
The Seattle Space Needle, built for the 1962 World's Fair, is a structure that symbolizes its city like few others -- it does what the Eiffel Tower does for ...
Grace Slick Tried Dosing Nixon With 600mg of LSD, But H...
April 20, 2020
Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane went to the White House in 1970 with a plan: slip President Richard Nixon a dose of LSD. Slick was a powerful woman in the ...
1956: Grace Kelly Marries Prince Rainier of Monaco
April 18, 2020
Following their church wedding on April 19, 1956, the real Princess Grace and Prince Ranier wave from a palace window. Filed 1/11/1983. UPI/CORBIS-BETTMANN. BPA 2# 5454...
Ray Kroc: McDonald's Founder's Life, Legacy, And Storie...
April 15, 2020
The sign says McDonald's, but it's Ray Kroc whose name and face are on the plaque inside. Fast food as we know it was shaped by the late Kroc, who opened his...
1988: Sonny Bono Elected Mayor Of Palm Springs, Califor...
April 12, 2020
Palms Springs Mayor Sonny Bono in 1991. Source: Paul Harris / Contributor / Getty Images As mayor of Palm Springs, Sonny Bono added a new chapter to a life th...
1968 Academy Awards Postponed Due To Martin Luther King...
April 8, 2020
Sammy Davis Jr. and Barbra Streisand, as the latter presents him with an Oscar, for best song first used in an eligible motion picture, Talk to the Animals duri...
John Hinckley Jr. Shoots President Ronald Reagan In The...
March 30, 2020
Law enforcement officials escort John Hinckley, Jr. from a helicopter at the Marine Base in Quantico, Virginia. Hinckley tried to kill President Ronald Reagan. ...
March 29, 1973: The U.S. Withdraws From The Vietnam War
March 29, 2020
Army Chief Master Sergeant Max Bielke, Alexandria, Minnesota, was the last U.S. serviceman to leave Vietnam 3/29 as the role of U.S. forces officially ended. He is...
This 1950s High School Girl's Purse Was Found In Ohio, ...
March 26, 2020
Patti Rumfola's purse, found behind a locker at North Canton Middle School in Ohio wasn't just a purse -- it was an accidental time capsule. Rumfola graduate...
This 1970s Time Capsule Home For Sale In California Is ...
March 24, 2020
Lime green is a good color, for a lime. Or a key lime pie. Or lime sherbet or limeade. The lime green condo of Ramona, California, might cure you of limes fo...
Beautiful Photos Of NYC Parked Cars In The 1970s By Pho...
March 23, 2020
Between 1974 and 1976 Langdon Clay photographed the cars he found on the streets of New York and Hoboken, New Jersey whenever he was out on a late night walk...
Remember When Johnny Carson Caused A National Toilet Pa...
March 20, 2020
Tonight Show host Johnny Carson on August 3rd, 1971-- (Photo by: Fred Sabine/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images) It was the toilet...
That Time A Drunk Richard Nixon Ordered A Nuclear Strik...
March 17, 2020
President Richard Nixon and Egyptian president Anwar Sadat (not pictured) share a laugh during Nixon's visit to Egypt. (Photo by © Wally McNamee/CORBIS/Corbis v...
1959: When Congress Approved Hawaii As A State, And Hol...
March 12, 2020
Left: Wlvis Presley in a publicity photo for 'Blue Hawaii' (1961). Right: the cover of 'Hawaii in Stereo' by Leo Addeo and his Orchestra. Sources: Michael Ochs ...
1981: Disneyland's First Homicide As Teenager Stabbed I...
March 7, 2020
A porate chasing a wench in the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction at Disneyland. (Photo by Bruce Chambers/Orange County Register via Getty Images) On March ...
Charles Manson's Album 'Lie' Is On Spotify And You Can ...
March 6, 2020
American criminal Charles Manson at California Medical Facility, Vacaville, Solano County, California, US, August 1980. (Photo by Albert Foster/Mirrorpix/Getty ...
Ed 'Big Daddy' Roth: Cartoonist, Hotrodder Legend (1932...
March 4, 2020
Left: Ed Roth with his Excaliber Roadster in 1959, which he renamed The Outlaw. Right: Rat Fink sticker, Source: Photo by Colin Creitz/The Enthusiast Network vi...
1958: Pope Designates St. Clare Of Assisi Patron Saint ...
February 17, 2020
There had to be a patron saint of television -- sooner or later, it was bound to happen. Clare of Assisi got the job, due to a strange television-like abilit...
1967: The 25th Amendment (VP Succeeds President) Is Ado...
February 10, 2020
What happens if a U.S. President resigns -- or has to be removed from office? Until the 25th Amendment to the Constitution was adopted in 1967, there wasn't ...
1972: Bob Douglas Becomes The First Black Man Inducted ...
February 5, 2020
With thousands of wins under his belt and decades of experience as owner and coach of one of the most important and earliest black basketball teams, Bob Doug...
Execution In Saigon: The Famous Snapshot That Started T...
February 1, 2020
On February 1, 1968 the iconic photo of Nguyen Van Lem being executed on a street in Saigon went all the way around the world, exposing the realities of the ...
Legos: Facts, History And Trivia About The Universal Bu...
January 28, 2020
Legos are everywhere. At this point, several generations of people all over the world have grown up building things out of Lego bricks, and the toys have evo...
1977: Jimmy Carter Pardons Draft Dodgers On Day One (Bu...
January 21, 2020
President-elect Jimmy Carter talks with President Gerald Ford in the Blue Room of the White House before heading to Capitol Hill for Carter's inauguration Janua...
Nerds On Acid: The Internet's Founders Did LSD In The 1...
January 16, 2020
An unidentified boy wearing headphones and a 'psychedelic disk' on his forehead at en exhibition created by USCO (the 'Company of Us) at Riverside Museum, New Y...
How A Hockey Player Became Canada’s Starbucks
January 12, 2020
For most Americans Tim Hortons is only a name that we’ve heard in passing. Is it a coffee shop? A donut store? Do they sell guys named Tim? It’s a shame that so few Ame...
'Scared Straight:' Did The Famous 1978 Program Work? (N...
January 10, 2020
Starting with 1978’s Scared Straight, the TV special that sent at-risk teenagers to prison with adults in order to freak them out and turn them into respecta...
Sidney Gottlieb, MKUltra And Brainwashing's Mystery Man
January 8, 2020
In the Cold War years, we didn't even know about it: MKUltra, directed by Sidney Gottlieb of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). MKUltra aggressively researc...
Muriel Siebert: The First Woman To Have A Seat On The N...
December 28, 2019
January 16, 1968: Muriel Siebert appears pleased with what she sees on the ticker tape as well as hearing that she was elected to the New York Stock Exchange. T...
1966: The First Kwanzaa Is Celebrated In Long Beach, Ca...
December 26, 2019
Where did Kwanzaa come from? In 1965, while black Americans' struggle for Civil Rights was front page news, race riots broke out in the Los Angeles neighborh...
World Trade Center: The Tallest Building In The World
December 23, 2019
World Trade Center (Photo by Boris Spremo/Toronto Star via Getty Images) The World Trade Center will forever be associated with the tragedy of September 11, 2001, ...
Air Force's Operation Christmas Drop: Delivering Gifts ...
December 19, 2019
Santa Claus might ride in a sleigh, but the U.S. Air Force's Santas over Micronesian islands come swooping in on bomber planes to deliver their gifts. The hu...
When Did Jewish Americans Start Eating Chinese Food For...
December 15, 2019
Jewish Americans celebrate a lot of things, but Christmas isn't usually one of them. Even with Santa Claus, Rudolph, and the other secular trappings, a holid...
Hot Dr. Pepper Recipe (Easy + Gourmet): The 1960s Treat...
December 6, 2019
Oatmeal is best when you've got a collection of berries, just the right amount of sugar, a little spice, and some citrus zest. Keep that in mind as you read ...
Frank Serpico, The Original Whistleblower, Was NYPD's G...
December 5, 2019
Frank Serpico is a former New York City cop whose anti-corruption stance made him unpopular in the NYPD. Ultimately, though, his whistleblowing efforts to ca...
KFC: Japan's Groovy Christmas Tradition That Started In...
December 4, 2019
Every year millions of Japanese families flood their local KFC locations to take part in the annual tradition of Kurisumasu ni wa Kentakkii: Kentucky for Chr...
Canadian Natives Were Imprisoned On Christmas Day For A...
December 3, 2019
In the early 20th century, the Canadian government banned potlatch in an effort to destroy Native culture, depriving a generation of Tribal members of an imp...
The Twinkie Defense Myth: How Dan White, Harvey Milk's ...
November 27, 2019
Dan White and Twinkies. Sources: Bettmann / Contributor / Getty Images; Wikimedia Commons Can a diet of Twinkies lead to murder? If you buy the "Twinkie defen...
Lee Harvey Oswald Was Killed By Jack Ruby, But Why?
November 24, 2019
Daily News front page November 25, 1963 - Headline: THE FATAL SHOT - Jack Ruby aims at Presidential assassin Lee Oswald in Dallas and shoots(Photo By: /NY Daily News v...
Patty Hearst, Criminal Or Victim? Facts And Trivia Abou...
November 19, 2019
Patty Hearst welcome home button. Tania was the name she received from the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA). In 1974 she became a member of the FBI's ten most w...
Jonestown Massacre: What It Meant To 'Drink The Kool-Ai...
November 18, 2019
Jim Jones. Photo by Michèle VIGNES/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images Nearly 1,000 men, women, and children died at Jonestown, in Guyana, on November 18, 1978. Orde...
Apollo 12 Mission: 9 Wild Facts & Trivia You Probably D...
November 14, 2019
The Apollo 12 mission took Pete Conrad, Richard Francis Gordon Jr, and Alan Bean the Moon -- the second trio of Astronauts to make the trip. Following in th...
Would-Be Reagan Assassin John Hinckley Jr. Leads A Stra...
November 13, 2019
John Hinckley Jr. sitting on fence wall in front of the White House. The picture is undated, but believed to have been taken less than a year before his attempt...
Amityville Horror: What Really Happened? A Mob Hit, A D...
October 29, 2019
The Amityville Horror was the second-highest grossing film in 1979, a terrifying tale based, we were told, on actual events. Part one of the story is a fact:...
Do You Believe In Ghosts? 10 Real-Life 1960s Ghost Stor...
October 27, 2019
Ghost stories of the 1960s involve hauntings, poltergeists, restless spirits from beyond the grave, and at least one headless murderer. Accounts of these spo...
1986: When A Former Nazi Sued Satan In The Name Of Jesu...
October 24, 2019
In 1986, Ralph P. Forbes of London, Arkansas, decided he'd had enough of Halloween devilishness, and filed a lawsuit.On behalf of himself, Jesus Christ, and ...
Razor Blades in Halloween Candy: History Of The Myth Th...
October 23, 2019
1968: Booby-trapped apple with razor blade concealed inside is examined by policewoman Carol MacKay. It was given as Halloween handout to a 7-year-old child in ...
'Satanic Panic!' A Brief History Of How And Why The Who...
October 22, 2019
The "Satanic Panic" of the 1980s is one of those episodes of mass hysteria that leaves you wondering: How did this happen? Because even after it's explained,...
This Is What Famous Director Tim Burton Wore On Hallowe...
October 10, 2019
You'd think that Tim Burton likes Halloween. Burton is the auteur who brought us Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice, and Batman He also wrote and produced the ...
Alan Alda, Feminist: M*A*S*H Star Was The Sensitive '70...
October 8, 2019
Alan Alda at press conference for their television series MASH. Photo by Ann Clifford/DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images In the '70s, there was ...
15 WTF Maidenform Bra Ads And What They Mean
October 7, 2019
The conical jut of Maidenform bras may no longer be in style, but the Maidenform bra ad will always be iconic. "I dreamed I _____ in my Maidenform bra" was the template of...
King Tut Fever Of The 1970s Was PR For A Middle East Tr...
October 5, 2019
The exhibition of the tomb of Kink Tutankhamun -- "King Tut" -- in the 1970s was a museum phenomenon unlike any the world had seen. King Tut and the associat...
Photographs That Capture What Life Was Like In The ’60s
October 3, 2019
As the first decade of the groovy era, the 1960s were a time full of radical change, great music, and amazing fashions. The same decade that gave us Woodstock als...
10 Concept Cars Of The '60s We Wish Had Been Made
October 3, 2019
Concept cars of the 1960s reflected the era's science-fiction inspired futurism, along with real innovation and the mod styling that is appealing even 50 years later....
'The Endless Summer' Was The First Real Surfing Movie
October 2, 2019
Before The Endless Summer, Bruce Brown's 1966 documentary, surfing films weren’t really films about surfing. They were beach party films that were less about catc...
Sandy Warner: Exotica King Martin Denny's Cover Girl
September 27, 2019
You’ve seen Sandra "Sandy" Warner on Martin Denny's album covers, even if you're not sure who Martin Denny is. The albums had titles like Exotica, Primitiva, Quiet...
How 400+ Indians Occupied Alcatraz And Changed Richard ...
September 26, 2019
Native Americans, one named Tim Williams (a chief of the Klamath River Hurek tribe), approaching Alcatraz Island by boat, late 1969 or early 1970. Photo by Ralp...
How LBJ's Dog's Ears Became A National Concern In 1964
September 24, 2019
In 1964, when President Lyndon Johnson lifted a beagle by its ears in front of reporters, he enraged animal lovers and animal rights groups. Johnson, a Texan an...
The Very Real Rhinoceros Political Party Of Canada
September 22, 2019
What if Canada was Ruled By The Rhinoceros Party of Canada (neorhino.ca/) The satirical political group known as the Rhinoceros Party formed in Canada in 1963 and ha...
1960s Life Vs. Today: Numbers That Will Astound You
September 20, 2019
Vintage 1960 Wedding Family Portrait. Source: (Getty/steinphoto) What do we do differently now than we did 50 years ago? A look at the numbers and statistics tells u...
1960s Sugar Companies Paid Harvard Scientists To Make F...
September 19, 2019
A young woman in a bikini eats a Butterfingers brand candy bar as she sunbathes on a beach near Malibu, California, 1970. (Photo by Co Rentmeester/The LIFE Pict...
Chilling Photos From The Groovy Era
September 17, 2019
We can find a myriad of narratives in historical photos, and not all of them are pleasant. They can show us slices of life that we’d rather not think about, and startling images that w...
Heineken's WOBO Bottle, Designed For People To Build Ho...
September 17, 2019
For Alfred "Freddy" Heineken, building a house out of glass beer bottles was a solution to two problems -- and in 1960, it was a visionary attempt at recycli...
