Raffaella Carrà: The Italian Pop Icon

Raffaella Carrà (1943–2021) was an Italian singer, dancer, actress, and television presenter, widely regarded as the “Queen of Italian Television” and a pop culture icon across Europe and Latin America. Famous for her trademark blonde bob, vibrant energy, and audacious sequined costumes, she was a true pioneer, becoming the first TV personality to deliberately show her belly button on camera, creating a national sensation in 1970 with her provocative dance, the “Tuca Tuca.”

Carrà charted internationally with infectious disco-pop hits like “A far l'amore comincia tu” (known as “Do It, Do It Again”) and “Tanti auguri” (“Happy Birthday to You”), often singing in Spanish, English, and French. Beyond entertainment, she became a powerful figure for feminism and LGBT rights, using her massive platform to promote sexual freedom and liberation in the conservative landscape of 1970s and ’80s media.

Take a look at these vintage photos to see the beauty of a young Raffaella Carrà.

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Ursula Andress, the First Bond Girl, and SEAT 133, 1974

Ursula Andress, the Swiss actress best known for her breakthrough role as the first “Bond girl” in Dr. No (1962), became a brand ambassador for the SEAT 133 when it launched in 1974.

Andress, who was living on the island of Ibiza at the time, was enlisted by SEAT to help promote the new car. She purchased the very first model to go on sale and was often seen driving it around the island. Her involvement was an early example of blending film star culture with automotive branding in Spain.

The SEAT 133 was a rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive small car designed to replace older models like the SEAT 600 and SEAT 850 in the Spanish market. It shared styling cues with the Fiat 126 and was launched at a lower price point than the popular SEAT 127. While it was positively reviewed at the time for its comfort and accommodation compared to some competitors, it ultimately did not achieve the same widespread commercial success as the 126.

The Story of Joe Arridy, the Happiest Prisoner on Death Row

The story of Joe Arridy is a tragic case of a man with severe intellectual disabilities who was wrongfully convicted and executed in Colorado in 1939 for a crime he did not commit. Known as the “happiest prisoner on death row,” Arridy’s case became a symbol of the justice system’s failures and the vulnerability of people with mental disabilities.

Joe Arridy was born on April 15, 1915, in Pueblo, Colorado, to Syrian immigrant parents. From early childhood he showed clear signs of an intellectual disability. His IQ was later measured at 46, and doctors described him as having the mental age of a 6-year-old. He struggled in school, often bullied and misunderstood, and eventually spent years in the Colorado State Home and Training School for the “feeble-minded.”

In August 1936, 15-year-old Dorothy Drain was murdered and her 12-year-old sister Barbara was brutally assaulted in their home in Pueblo, Colorado.

Arridy was arrested for vagrancy in Cheyenne, Wyoming, days after the crime. Under intense, unrecorded police interrogation, the local sheriff, George Carroll, extracted a false and inconsistent confession from the highly suggestible Arridy. This confession was the primary evidence used against him, despite a lack of physical evidence.

Another man, Frank Aguilar, who had worked for the Drain family, was arrested separately and confessed to the crime, and the actual murder weapon was found at his home. The surviving victim, Barbara, identified Aguilar as her lone attacker. Aguilar was convicted and executed two years before Arridy.

In prison, Joe played with toy trains, smiled constantly, and didn’t comprehend that he was going to die. Despite the efforts of his lawyer, Gail Ireland, and even the prison warden, Roy Best, to commute his sentence, Arridy was executed by gas chamber on January 6, 1939, at the age of 23. He was reportedly smiling and calm on the way to the gas chamber, asking to save his final meal of ice cream for later, because he did not understand he was about to die.

For decades, advocates worked to clear Arridy’s name. In 2007, a new headstone was commissioned for his grave, which reads: “Here lies an innocent man.”

On January 7, 2011, 72 years after his execution, Colorado Governor Bill Ritter granted Joe Arridy a full and unconditional posthumous pardon, acknowledging the strong evidence of his innocence and the injustice of his conviction. The case is cited as a powerful reminder of the dangers of coerced confessions and the critical need to protect vulnerable individuals within the justice system.

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35 Vintage Snaps Capture People Posing With Christmas Trees in the 1960s

Photographs of people posing with Christmas trees in the 1960s beautifully capture the era’s unique mid-century modern aesthetic and sense of optimism. The focus of the photos was often the tree itself, which saw a major stylistic shift toward aluminum trees: shiny, metallic creations that required an external, rotating colored light wheel to cast shifting hues across the branches, instead of traditional string lights.

Alternatively, many opted for heavily flocked (artificial snow-covered) trees. Decorations were characterized by thick, silver lead tinsel (often called icicles) draped liberally, alongside large, colorful bubble lights that created a captivating glow.

People often dressed in their contemporary best, perhaps early Mod styles, colorful knits, or stiff suits, they would gather around the tree with an air of posed formality, ensuring that the annual snapshot, typically taken on sometimes-blurry color film, preserved a perfect, nostalgic memory of the space-age holiday season.

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18 Photos of Daryl Hannah as Madison the Mermaid in the 1984 Film “Splash”

Daryl Hannah’s portrayal of Madison the mermaid in the 1984 film Splash was a defining role of her career and a pop culture phenomenon. Her performance was praised for its balance of ethereal innocence, natural swimming grace, and playful wit, helping to make the film a romantic comedy classic.

The fully functional, custom-made mermaid tail worn by Hannah weighed 35 pounds and took approximately three hours to put on. Hannah, who had a childhood fascination with The Little Mermaid and often swam with her legs bound, performed all her own underwater stunts. She swam so quickly in the tail that the underwater safety team often struggled to keep up with her.

In the film, Tom Hanks’ character, Allen Bauer, names the mermaid Madison after a street sign (Madison Avenue) in New York City. This is widely credited with the name's surge in popularity as a girl’s name in the following decades.

Despite the on-screen magic, filming was physically demanding. The long hours in the water and the heavy, restrictive tail meant Hannah often had to be lifted by crane during lunch breaks and was fed by cast members while remaining wet.

Splash, directed by Ron Howard, was the first film released under the Touchstone Pictures label, a Disney subsidiary created to produce content with more mature themes for an adult audience. The film was critically and commercially successful, earning over $69 million on an $11 million budget, making it the tenth-highest-grossing film of 1984, and received praise for the acting, humor, and chemistry between Hanks and Hannah.

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James Dean Photographed During Rehearsals for “The Thief” in New York City, 1954

These photographs of James Dean were taken by his friend, photographer Roy Schatt, in 1954. The photos were taken in his New York City apartment and during rehearsals for the play The Thief.

The images depict Dean in various candid moments, sometimes “playing” with a statuette reproducing Rodin’s “The Thinker,” or simply lost in thought, offering a glimpse into his creative process during his New York theater days before he became a major film star.

“Dean didn’t always stick to the script.” – Roy Schatt

Schatt was the official photographer for the Actors Studio, where Dean was a student. The two became friends, and Dean, who had an interest in photography himself, even received mentorship from Schatt.

30 Elegant Photos That Show Women’s Hat Styles in the Late Victorian Era

The late Victorian era saw a significant transition in women’s headwear, moving away from the smaller, face-framing bonnets of earlier decades towards diverse and often larger, more elaborate hats.

As hairstyles grew fuller and were piled high on the head, hats became designed to perch atop this elaborate coiffure. Popular styles included the Toque (a small-crowned, close-fitting hat), and various wide-brimmed hats with upturned brims, often associated with the emerging “Gibson Girl” look of the 1890s. Extravagant trimmings were the hallmark of the period, with hats lavishly decorated with feathers (sometimes whole, stuffed birds), silk flowers, ribbons, lace, and buckles.

Towards the end of the century, more masculine styles, such as the simple straw Boater hat, also gained popularity for sporting activities and less formal outings. These hats were secured to the hair using long hatpins to ensure they stayed in place despite their substantial size and decoration.

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