In 1995, Sandra Bullock Made History by Becoming the First Person to Buy a Movie Ticket Online

Long before online ticket bookings were considered common, Sandra Bullock had helped make history with a single mouse click. And it wasn’t planned as a tech milestone. Instead, it was part of promoting her 31-year-old underrated thriller, The Net (1995), when Bullock took the initiative to be the very first person to use a computer to purchase the first-ever online film ticket.

Bullock used the MovieLink website (a joint venture of various studios including Disney and MGM) to complete the transaction. She bought two tickets for a screening of The Net at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood for a total of $17.70.

The event was captured in an Entertainment Tonight segment, which showed her navigating a bulky 1990s computer and inputting credit card data. At the time, online commerce was experimental; the stunt was designed to highlight the film's themes of technology and the emerging influence of the internet.

While some sources suggest she may have purchased tickets for her other 1995 hit, While You Were Sleeping, as part of the test, the majority of records and the viral footage confirm the purchase was primarily intended to promote The Net.

Fernand Toussaint: The Master of Feminine Elegance

Fernand Toussaint (1873–1956) was a prominent Belgian painter renowned for his exquisite ability to capture the grace and sophistication of women during the Belle Époque and interwar periods.

A student of the leading portraits of his time, Toussaint developed a style that sat beautifully between traditional realism and subtle Impressionism. He was best known for his portraits of aristocratic ladies, often depicted in luxurious interiors, surrounded by delicate flowers or dressed in shimmering silks. His mastery lay in his use of soft lighting and a refined color palette, which imbued his subjects with a sense of quiet dignity and timeless charm.

Beyond portraiture, his talent extended to vibrant still lifes and tranquil landscapes, but it is his “Toussaint woman”, always elegant, melancholic, and deeply poetic, that remains his most enduring legacy in the world of European art.

Elegant Lady on a Green Sofa

A Lady Before the Mirror

A Pretty Flower Bouquet

A Quiet Moment

A Seductive Pose

See more»

30 Vintage Postcards of Loretta Young in the 1930s and 1940s

Loretta Young (born Gretchen Michaela Young; January 6, 1913 – August 12, 2000) was an American actress. Starting as a child, she had a long and varied career in film from 1916 to 1989. She received numerous honors including an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and three Primetime Emmy Awards as well as two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her work in film and television.

In the early 1930s, Young was a “workhorse” for Warner Bros. and later 20th Century Fox, sometimes making 6–9 movies a year. This era showcased a much more “raw” side of her acting before her image became strictly “wholesome.” Before the strict censorship of the Hays Code (mid-1934), she played complex, often scandalous roles. In Midnight Mary (1933), she played a gangster’s moll, and in Employees’ Entrance (1933), she portrayed a woman in a desperate, ethically murky survival situation.

She became a romantic favorite alongside actors like Tyrone Power (they made five films together, including Café Metropole) and Spencer Tracy (Man’s Castle). While filming The Call of the Wild with Clark Gable, Young became pregnant. Because she was a devout Catholic and a major star, she hid the pregnancy by “traveling for her health” and later claimed to have adopted the child (Judy Lewis) to avoid a career-ending scandal.

By the 1940s, Young had established herself as a “freelance” actress, a rare and bold move at the time that allowed her to choose better roles. Her image shifted toward the elegant, moral, and “ethereal” woman. In 1947, she starred in the holiday classic The Bishop’s Wife (opposite Cary Grant) and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Farmer’s Daughter, where she played a Swedish-American maid who runs for Congress. She tackled film noir and suspense in Orson Welles’ The Stranger (1946) and played a nun in Come to the Stable (1949), for which she received another Oscar nomination.

Young was famous for her wardrobe and poise. She later brought this “grand entrance” style to her 1950s TV show, but the foundation of her “perfect lady” persona was built through her 1940s film roles.

See more»

Mrs. S.J. Bonner and Two Boys Photographed in Macon, Georgia in 1909

In 1909, Mrs. S.J. Bonner and her two sons were photographed in Macon, Georgia, by Lewis Hine for the National Child Labor Committee, capturing a family bound by necessity to the harsh realities of industrial labor. All three worked in Bibb Mill No. 1, with Mrs. Bonner earning $3.50 per week and her sons together earning $4.90. After the death of her husband, the family had left their farm to find work in the mills, relying entirely on these modest wages to survive.

The photograph highlights the economic pressures faced by families during this era, where even children were expected to contribute to household income. Mrs. Bonner and her sons labored long hours under difficult conditions, emblematic of countless families who turned to industrial work out of sheer necessity. Their experience reflects a period in American history when child labor and low wages were common, and survival often required the efforts of the entire family.

When adjusted for inflation, their weekly earnings amounted to roughly $125 for Mrs. Bonner and $175 for her sons, totaling around $300 per week, or about $1,200 a month. While these figures may seem modest by modern standards, they represented the lifeline that kept the family afloat, underscoring both the resilience and vulnerability of working-class families in the early 20th century.

Behind the Scenes Photos of Rowan Atkinson in Rehearsals for the Sketch Show “Not the Nine O’Clock News”

Before he was the bumbling Mr. Bean or the sharp-tongued Blackadder, Rowan Atkinson became a household name as one of the four stars of the satirical sketch show Not the Nine O’Clock News (1979–1982). The show was revolutionary for its time, designed as a fast-paced, “alternative” comedy competitor to the BBC’s actual Nine O’Clock News. It was here that Atkinson first showcased his “rubber-faced” physical comedy and his unique ability to play both the absolute intellectual and the complete idiot.

Atkinson often played characters that were pompous, unhinged, or eerily quiet. Some of his most iconic moments include:

• Gerald the Gorilla: Perhaps his most famous sketch from the series, where he plays a remarkably articulate gorilla (Wilderbeast) who has been “educated” by a researcher (played by Mel Smith). The comedy comes from the gorilla being more sophisticated and well-spoken than his captor.

• The Constable (The “Nice” Policeman): Atkinson excelled at playing over-the-top, slightly menacing authority figures. In one famous sketch, he plays a police officer giving evidence in court who lists increasingly ridiculous “crimes” committed by a defendant, including “walking on the cracks in the pavement.”

• The “Final” Politician: He often played politicians or newsreaders who would deliver absurdly blunt or catastrophic news with a perfectly straight, professional face.

• The Music Teacher: A masterclass in his physical comedy, where he attempts to conduct or play instruments with disastrous, high-energy results.

The show launched the careers of the “Big Four”: Rowan Atkinson, Mel Smith, Griff Rhys Jones, and Pamela Stephenson. It was during this show that Atkinson began collaborating with writer Richard Curtis. This partnership directly led to the creation of Blackadder shortly after the sketch show ended in 1982.

While the show was highly verbal and satirical, Atkinson’s performance proved that he didn’t need words to be the funniest person on screen—a trait he would later maximize for Mr. Bean. His performances earned him the 1981 British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance.

See more»

40 Beautiful Portraits of Romanian Girls From the 1920s and 1930s

The photographic portraits of Romanian girls from the 1920s and 1930s offer a breathtaking glimpse into a world where tradition and natural beauty lived in perfect harmony.

In these vintage frames, young women are often seen wearing the iconic “Ia”, the traditional hand-embroidered blouse, which served as a proud symbol of their regional identity and artisanal heritage. Whether captured in the rural landscapes of Transylvania or in classic studio settings, these girls possessed an ethereal poise, their hair often adorned with flowers or delicate silk headscarves.

These portraits do more than just document the fashion of the interwar period, they capture the “Romanian soul,” preserving a sense of innocence, dignity, and cultural pride that continues to inspire the world of art and fashion today.

See more»

30 Glamorous Photos of a Young and Beautiful Jane Wyman in the 1930s

Jane Wyman (born Sarah Jane Mayfield; January 5, 1917 – September 10, 2007) was an American actress. A star of both movies and television, she received an Academy Award for Best Actress, four Golden Globe Awards and nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards. In 1960 she received stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for both motion pictures and television. She was the first wife of actor and future U.S. President Ronald Reagan.

In the 1930s, Wyman was the quintessential “working actress.” Long before she became an Academy Award-winning dramatic powerhouse or the matriarch of Falcon Crest, she spent the decade paying her dues as a “contract player” at Warner Bros. During this era, she was often cast as a wisecracking, fast-talking blonde—a persona that was largely a studio creation and quite different from her later serious image.

She began as an extra and chorus girl, appearing in films like Gold Diggers of 1933 and Anything Goes (1936). During this time, she also briefly worked as a radio singer under the name Jane Durrell. In 1936, she signed with Warner Bros. Pictures, which required her to change her name to Jane Wyman. By the late 1930s, she moved from bit parts to leading roles in “B” movies, such as Public Wedding (1937) and Torchy Blane... Playing with Dynamite (1939).

In 1938, while filming Brother Rat, she met fellow actor Ronald Reagan. They became engaged near the end of the decade and married in January 1940.

See more»