Everyday Life of Hong Kong in 1978 Through an American Traveler's Lens

Hong Kong is an autonomous territory on the eastern side of the Pearl River estuary in South China. It is the fourth-most densely populated region in the world.

Hong Kong in the 1970s underwent many changes that shaped its future, led for most of the decade by its longest-serving and reform-minded Governor, Murray MacLehose. Economically, it reinvented itself from a manufacturing base into a financial centre.

These color snapshots from David G. that documented everyday life of Hong Kong in 1978. “Although I was most excited during these trips to see the long-hidden Guangzhou, it turned out that Hong Kong was plenty interesting in and of itself.”

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Bell-Bottoms: Favorite Fashion Trend of the 1970s

Bell-bottoms (or flares) are a style of trousers that become wider from the knees downward, forming a bell-like shape of the trouser leg. It became fashionable for both men and women in Europe and North America in the mid-1960s.

In the 1970s, bell-bottoms moved back into mainstream fashion; Sonny and Cher helped popularize bell-bottoms in the US by wearing them on their popular television show. The pants were typically flared from the knee down, with bottom leg openings of up to twenty-six inches.

Made from denim, bright cotton and satin polyester, they were so popular that they became a symbol of the outlandish and colorful style of the decade.

Take a look at these snapshots to see people in their bell-bottoms from the 1970s.

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18 Awkward Family Studio Portraits of the 1980s

Cringe at the forced poses, bad hair, and matching outfits--all prompting us to look at our own families and celebrate the fact that we’re not alone.

Nothing says awkward better than an uncomfortable family photograph! People who thought they looked the coolest while taking these shots, back in the 1980s, now feel awkward about them and submit these to a blog dedicated solely for this purpose: Awkward Family Photos. Take a look at these photos from the ’80s that would look awkward today:

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Mid-Century Modern Home, Design Inspiration of the 1940s, 1950s, and the 1960s

Mid-century modern is the design movement in interior, product, graphic design, architecture, and urban development from roughly 1945 to 1975. The term, employed as a style descriptor as early as the mid-1950s, was reaffirmed in 1983 by Cara Greenberg in the title of her book, Mid-Century Modern: Furniture of the 1950s (Random House), celebrating the style that is now recognized by scholars and museums worldwide as a significant design movement.

A New York Times review of the book acknowledged that Greenberg's tome hit on a trend. “Some love it and others simply can't stand it, but there is no denying that the 50's are back in vogue again. Cara Greenberg, the author of 'Mid- Century Modern: Furniture of the 1950's' ($30, Harmony Books) manages to convey the verve, imagination and the occasional pure zaniness of the period.” The book was an immediate hit, selling more than 100,000 copies, and once "midcentury modern" entered the lexicon, the phrase was quickly adopted by both the design world and the mainstream.

The popularity of midcentury modern design today has roots at the time of Greenberg's book. Most of the designs of the midcentury had gone out of fashion by the late 60s, but in the early- to mid-eighties, interest in the period began to return. Within a decade, vintage midcentury designs were increasingly popular, and several events helped to boost midcentury modern's appeal from a niche group of design enthusiasts into the mainstream.

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Meet Louise Brown, the World’s First Test Tube Arrival SUPERBABE

The world’s first birth after in vitro fertilization (IVF) turned 40 years old this Wednesday– Louise Brown was born at Oldham General Hospital in England on July, 25 1978. Making it a family affair, her younger sister, Natalie Brown, was born four years later and was the world’s fortieth IVF baby. These “medical miracles” were made possible by scientific breakthroughs which would result in a Nobel Prize and over 5 million babies world-wide.

Louise Brown (PA)

More than eight million people have now been born through IVF but – as the first – Louise was thrust into the limelight. Every milestone has been scrutinized and she has been on the receiving end of some of the best and worst aspects of human nature. However away from the media glare, her life is refreshingly normal and her children remain unfazed by her historic story. She told Metro.co.uk:

“I don’t know what it is like not to have the media chasing all the time and people all over the world knowing my name,” she told Metro UK. “There were times in my teenage years when I thought ‘why me?’ But I am used to it and most of the time I don’t even think about it.”

In 2004, Brown married nightclub doorman Wesley Mullinder. Dr. Edwards attended their wedding. Their son Cameron, conceived naturally, was born on 20 December 2006. Brown’s second son, Aiden Patrick Robert, was born in August 2013.

Brown’s father died in 2006. Her mother died on 6 June 2012 in Bristol Royal Infirmary at the age of 64 due to complications from a gallbladder infection.

Louise will always be known as the first “test tube baby” (Getty Images)

Louise with her parents Lesley and John following her birth at Oldham General Hospital. (PA)

Lesley and John Brown, with their daughter Louise Brown on July 25, 1978.

The team who pioneered in-vitro fertilization: on the left, Cambridge physiologist Dr Robert Edwards holding the world's first test tube baby Louise Joy Brown and on the right, gynaecologist Patrick Steptoe. (Getty Images)

Lesley, John and Louise Brown return to Oldham General Hospital in 1979 to see the nurses that helped during her birth.

New mother, Lesley Brown, with her daughter, Louise, on Oct. 9, 1978. (Brian Bould/The Daily Mail)

Louise Brown, who turns 40 this week, was the first baby born through IVF. (PA)

Post-War Amsterdam: Looking Back at the City in the Late 1940s, Just After WWII

Born 1913, Dutch photojournalist Ben van Meerendonk worked at the General Dutch Photo Press Office of Sem Presser in the late 1930s, but was prohibited from practicing his profession during the Second World War. In 1945, he founded the Algemeen Hollands Fotopersbureau (AHF).

Van Meerendonk mainly photographed in the forties, fifties and sixties, and delivered via his AHF to the newspapers De Telegraaf, De Tijd, De Waarheid, Het Parool, Het Vrije Volk and Trouw.

As a press photographer Van Meerendonk specialized in daily life, the Royal House, and international stars. He won the Silver Camera in 1950, 1958 and 1966, and in 1966 the first prize in the category Photo Stories of World Press Photo with a photograph of the rehearsal for the wedding of Beatrix and Claus.

In 1988 he was awarded the Golden Pin of Amsterdam. On the Haveneiland of the Amsterdam district of IJburg a street was named after him in 2006.

Van Meerendonk died in 2008, at the age of 94. His photo archive of more than 70 thousand photos has been housed at the International Institute of Social History (IISH) since 1990.

These amazing photos from IISG were taken by Ben van Meerendonk that show everyday life of Amsterdam from 1946 to 1949, few years just after the Second World War.

Ceintuurbaan, Amsterdam, September 24, 1946

A wild strike at the Gemeentetram and the Stadsreiniging, garbage remains undone, Amsterdam, September 24, 1946

Amsterdam, summer 1946

Boy on basalt blocks. The sheeting at the Central Station will be repaired, Amsterdam, April 24, 1946

Café de Kroon, Rembrandtplein, Amsterdam, 1946

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From the Bob to Finger Waves, 30 Cool Snaps That Defined 1920s Women's Hairstyles

With the boom of fashion, the 1920s was the evolution of women's hairstyles. Ladies were saying goodbye to their long Victorian and Edwardian locks and welcoming much shorter hairdos.

The Twenties women, especially young girls known as flappers, were influenced by hairstyles of many famous actress; from the bob of Louise Brooks, Colleen Moore to the finger waves of Joan Crawford, Claudette Colbert.

Take a look at these cool snapshots to see what hairstyles of young women in the 1920s looked like.

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