Quilt, Tumbling Blocks With Signatures – Adeline Harris Sears, 1856

In 1856, seventeen-year-old Adeline Harris, the daughter of a well-to-do Rhode Island mill owner, conceived of a unique quiltmaking project. She sent small diamond-shaped pieces of white silk worldwide to people she esteemed as the most important figures of her day, asking each to sign the silk and return it to her. By the time the signatures were all returned and ready to be stitched into a “tumbling-blocks” patterned quilt, Adeline had amassed an astonishing collection of autographs.

Her quilt features the signatures of eight American presidents; luminaries from the worlds of science, religion, and education; heroes of the Civil War; such authors as Charles Dickens and Ralph Waldo Emerson; and an array of prominent artists.

Today, the autographs displayed in this beautiful and immaculately constructed quilt provide an intriguing glimpse into the way an educated young woman of the mid-nineteenth century viewed her world.

(Image source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

30 Amazing Color Photographs of a Young Elton John in the 1970s

Elton John’s unique blend of pop and rock styles turned him into one of the 20th century’s biggest music icons. He was musically gifted from a young age, and released his first self-titled American album in 1970, making him a huge international star.

In the 1970s, Elton John was not just big. He was enormous! Unless you were there, it’s hard to appreciate just how big a star Elton John was in the 1970s.

John was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on March 25, 1947, in Pinner, Middlesex, England. He discovered his passion for music at an early age and taught himself how to play the piano when he was only four years old. Proving to be a great talent, he won a scholarship to a youth program at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

He had a difficult relationship with his father, Stanley Dwight, a member of the Royal Air Force. His parents divorced when he was a teenager, and he and his father clashed over his future. John, captivated by the sounds of early rock and roll, wanted to pursue a career in pop music. And much to his father's dismay, John dropped out of school at 17 to follow his dream. He started playing with a group called Bluesology, and he cobbled together his stage moniker from the names of two members of the group.

In 1967 John answered an ad for a songwriter for Liberty Records. He got the job and soon teamed up with lyricist Bernie Taupin. The duo switched to the DJM label the following year, writing songs for other artists.

John got his first break as a singer with his 1969 album Empty Sky, featuring songs by John and Taupin. While that recording failed to catch on, his 1970 self-titled effort featured John’s first hit, “Your Song.” More hits soon followed, including No. 1 smashes such as “Crocodile Rock,” “Bennie and the Jets” and “Island Girl.” John enjoyed a series of top-selling albums during this time, including Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973) and Rock of the Westies (1975).

One of the top acts of the 1970s, John became equally famous for his live shows. He dressed in fabulous, over-the-top costumes and glasses for his elaborate concerts. In an interview with W, John explained that “I wasn’t a sex symbol like Bowie, Marc Bolan or Freddie Mercury, so I dressed more on the humorous side, because if I was going to be stuck at the piano for two hours, I was going to make people look at me.”

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50 Fascinating Color Snaps Capture Everyday Life of Spain in the 1950s

A color photo collection from Found Slides that shows what life of Spain looked like in 1954.

Toledo. Street scenes

Toledo. Street scenes

Typical Street near Bailen

Typical Village Street near Cordoba

Basque Pyrenees. Market Day, Lecumberri

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Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller During the Photo Session in Richard Avedon's Studio in 1957

In June 1956, Miller left his first wife, Mary Slattery, whom he married in 1940, and married film star Marilyn Monroe. They had met in 1951, had a brief affair, and remained in contact since. Monroe had just turned 30 when they married; she never had a real family of her own and was eager to join the family of her new husband.

Away from Hollywood and the culture of celebrity, Monroe's life became more normal; she began cooking, keeping house and giving Miller more attention and affection than he had been used to. His children, aged twelve and nine, adored her and were reluctant to return to their mother when the weekend was over. As she was also fond of older people, she got along well with his parents, and the feeling was mutual.

Later that year, Miller was subpoenaed by the HUAC, and Monroe accompanied him. In her personal notes, she wrote about her worries during this period:

“I am so concerned about protecting Arthur. I love him—and he is the only person—human being I have ever known that I could love not only as a man to which I am attracted to practically out of my senses—but he is the only person—as another human being that I trust as much as myself...”

Miller began work on writing the screenplay for The Misfits in 1960, directed by John Huston and starring Monroe. But it was during the filming that Miller and Monroe's relationship hit difficulties, and he later said that the filming was one of the lowest points in his life.

Monroe was taking drugs to help her sleep and more drugs to help her wake up, which caused her to arrive on the set late and then have trouble remembering her lines. Huston was unaware that Miller and Monroe were having problems in their private life. He recalled later, “I was impertinent enough to say to Arthur that to allow her to take drugs of any kind was criminal and utterly irresponsible. Shortly after that I realized that she wouldn't listen to Arthur at all; he had no say over her actions.”

Shortly before the film's premiere in 1961, Miller and Monroe divorced after their five years of marriage. Nineteen months later, Monroe died of a likely drug overdose.

These pictures of Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller during the photo session in Richard Avedon's studio in New York on May 8, 1957.

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The Hand of Clarence Madison Dally, a Glassblower Who Worked With Thomas Edison, ca. 1900

This is the hand of Clarence Madison Dally (1865–1904), a glassblower who worked with Thomas Edison. He would test X-ray tubes he made on his own hands and died after developing an aggressive cancer, which also resulted in him having both of his arms amputated in an unsuccessful attempt to save his life. Shortly after his death, Thomas Edison abandoned his research on X-rays.

Following Wilhelm Röntgen’s work on X-rays in 1895, Clarence and his brother Charles worked on the development of the Edison X-ray focus tube, developing the fluoroscope using calcium tungstate. The Edison fluoroscope produced sharper images than the Röntgen fluoroscope, which used barium platinocyanide. At the time, the levels of X-rays produced were not believed to be dangerous. However, Edison noted how “the X-ray had affected poisonously my assistant, Mr. Dally.”

By 1900, Clarence Dally was suffering radiation damage to his hands and face sufficient to require time off work. In 1902, one lesion on his left wrist was treated unsuccessfully with multiple skin grafts and eventually his left hand was amputated. An ulceration on his right hand necessitated the amputation of four fingers.

These procedures failed to halt the progression of his carcinoma, and despite the amputation of his arms at the elbow and shoulder, he died from mediastinal cancer. Dally is thought to be the first American to die from the effects of experimentation with radiation. Following this, Thomas Edison abandoned his research on X-rays. In 1903, Edison said “Don't talk to me about X-rays, I am afraid of them.”

“Never Forget Who Helped You!” – Amazing Then and Now Photos of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Coach John Wooden

Eager for any advice on how to succeed in the classroom and the court at the college level, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, then a UCLA freshman known as Lew Alcindor, had already established a bond with then-UCLA basketball coach John Wooden before the two visited a local restaurant for a dinner out.

The accomplished teacher from Indiana planned to spend their time advising the lanky 7-foot-2 center from New York City on how best to handle the looming attention from physical opponents and inquisitive reporters. Instead, it was the then-middle-aged Wooden who learned something that evening when he was exposed to the racism his 18-year-old dinner guest often endured.

As they left the restaurant, an elderly white woman marveled at Abdul-Jabbar’s height before addressing him with a racial slur. Though Wooden’s face turned red, Abdul-Jabbar remembered Wooden “was too much the Midwestern gentleman to verbally attack an old woman.”

UCLA coach John Wooden introduces new UCLA player Lew Alcindor at the Bruins’ picture-day in Los Angeles on Oct. 14, 1966. (AP Photo)

“It’s just like that for any white person in America. They don’t know what it’s like to be a black person being discriminated against,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “How are they going to find that out?”

Wooden soon did. He then apologized to Abdul-Jabbar and pleaded with him not to think all white people are racist.

“It really bothered him. It really affected his worldview,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “For someone like him that felt like he had the hands on the reins of everything, that must’ve been a humbling experience.”

Lew Alcindor towers over coach John Wooden, who has some words of advice for the UCLA star during a pre-NCAA title game workout on March 21, 1969 in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo)

It was one of many experiences Abdul-Jabbar shared in his book, Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-year Friendship On and Off the Court. In the book, one of more than a dozen he’s written, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer reflects plenty on Wooden’s record 10 NCAA championships with UCLA, his famed Pyramid of Success and how he helped Abdul-Jabbar develop his skyhook. The former UCLA and Lakers center also details complicated events that tested and strengthened his relationship with Wooden.

“Coach didn’t get it all right,” said Abdul-Jabbar. “But I talked about that so people didn’t think he was some kind of perfect person. He made mistakes, but the way he dealt with them was first rate.”

In this Feb. 24, 2007, file photo, former UCLA player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar assists former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden off the court after celebrating the 40th anniversary of 1967 national championship team. (AP Photo/Gus Ruelas, File)

Since Wooden’s passing in 2010, Abdul-Jabbar said he has developed a greater understanding of the strength of their bond. It centered on basketball but included passion for literature, history and music and a mutual respect of their different backgrounds. It took Abdul-Jabbar seven years to write that story.

“I had to think about what Coach Wooden meant to my life,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “Then I had to think about how much did I want to share with the public? Some of it is private. But it is very meaningful.”

Gorgeous Color Photos of Anne Baxter in the 1940s and 1950s

Born 1923 in Michigan City, Indiana, American actress Anne Baxter studied acting with Maria Ouspenskaya and had some stage experience before making her film debut in 20 Mule Team (1940). She became a contract player of 20th Century Fox and was loaned out to RKO Pictures for a role in Orson Welles' The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), one of her earlier films.

In 1947, Baxter won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Sophie MacDonald in The Razor's Edge (1946). In 1951, she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for the title role in All About Eve (1950). She worked with several of Hollywood's greatest directors, including Alfred Hitchcock in I Confess (1953), Fritz Lang in The Blue Gardenia (1953), and Cecil B. DeMille in The Ten Commandments (1956).

In 1960, Baxter received a motion pictures star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6741 Hollywood Boulevard. She worked regularly in television in the 1960s, and returned to Broadway during the 1970s.

Baxter suffered a stroke on December 4, 1985, while hailing a taxi on Madison Avenue in New York City. . She died on December 12, aged 62.

Take a look at these gorgeous photos to see the beauty of Anne Baxter in the 1940s and 1950s.

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