35 Fascinating Photos Capture Everyday Life of Madagascar in the Late 1980s

Madagascar is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately 400 kilometres (250 miles) off the coast of East Africa. At 592,800 square kilometres (228,900 sq mi), Madagascar is the world's 2nd largest island country. The nation comprises the island of Madagascar (the fourth- largest island in the world) and numerous smaller peripheral islands.

Madagascar is a biodiversity hotspot; over 90% of its wildlife is found nowhere else on Earth. The island's diverse ecosystems and unique wildlife are threatened by the encroachment of the rapidly growing human population and other environmental threats.

Madagascar belongs to the group of least developed countries. Malagasy and French are both official languages of the state. Ecotourism and agriculture, paired with greater investments in education, health, and private enterprise, are key elements of Madagascar's development strategy.

These fascinating photos from BU ICEAACH that captured everyday life of Madagascar in 1989. The cities include Antananarivo (shorthand form Tana), Hell-Ville in Nosy Be island, Taolagnaro (formerly Fort Dauphin).

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Amazing Pics Show What an American Dorm Room Looked Like Over 100 Years Ago

These amazing pics were found by Richard that show a student dorm room from a school near Lakewood, New Jersey from 1914 to 1918. They were taken by an unknown New Jersey photographer.

Girl in dorm room

Dorm room with girl in chair

College dorm room

College dorm room

College dorm room

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Jan. 23, 1957: Machines at the Wham-O Toy Company Roll Out the First Batch of Their Aerodynamic Plastic Discs – Frisbees

Fred Morrison never liked the name “Frisbee,” but he stopped complaining after sales began to soar.

The flying disc was Morrison’s invention, first sold by the Wham-O toy company on this day, Jan. 23, in 1957 — as the “Pluto Platter.” Wham-O changed the name the following year as a misspelled homage to the popular New England pastime of tossing around pie tins from Connecticut’s Frisbie Pie Company. “I thought the name was a horror. Terrible,” he told the Press-Enterprise of Riverside in 2007.

The story of the Frisbee began in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where William Frisbie opened the Frisbie Pie Company in 1871. Students from nearby universities would throw the empty pie tins to each other, yelling “Frisbie!” as they let go. In 1948, Walter Frederick Morrison and his partner Warren Franscioni invented a plastic version of the disc called the “Flying Saucer” that could fly further and more accurately than the tin pie plates. After splitting with Franscioni, Morrison made an improved model in 1955 and sold it to the new toy company Wham-O as the “Pluto Platter”–an attempt to cash in on the public craze over space and Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs).

In 1958, a year after the toy’s first release, Wham-O—the company behind such top-sellers as the Hula-Hoop, the Super Ball and the Water Wiggle—changed its name to the Frisbee disc, misspelling the name of the historic pie company. A company designer, Ed Headrick, patented the design for the modern Frisbee in December 1967, adding a band of raised ridges on the disc’s surface–called the Rings–to stabilize flight. By aggressively marketing Frisbee-playing as a new sport, Wham-O sold over 100 million units of its famous toy by 1977.

High school students in Maplewood, New Jersey, invented Ultimate Frisbee, a cross between football, soccer and basketball, in 1967. In the 1970s, Headrick himself invented Frisbee Golf, in which discs are tossed into metal baskets; there are now hundreds of courses in the U.S., with millions of devotees. There is also Freestyle Frisbee, with choreographed routines set to music and multiple discs in play, and various Frisbee competitions for both humans and dogs–the best natural Frisbee players.

Today, at least 60 manufacturers produce the flying discs—generally made out of plastic and measuring roughly 20-25 centimeters (8-10 inches) in diameter with a curved lip. The official Frisbee is owned by Mattel Toy Manufacturers, who bought the toy from Wham-O in 1994.

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Amazing Vintage Photos of 1937 Cadillac V16 Series 90 Hartmann Cabriolet

This custom Cadillac is probably the most extreme cabriolet ever built. The car was originally commissioned by wealthy playboy Philippe Barraud. He wanted a custom car constructed on a grand scale and in late 1936 ordered a 452 cu in Cadillac V16 chassis through the Edelweiss Garage in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Cadillac shipped a bare chassis, one of only two that year, around the world to Switzerland and there it was bodied in Lausanne by Willy Hartmann. Barraud wanted to body the chassis in his own home town so he could personally supervise the work.

Philippe Barraud, his new car, his Jack Daniel dog “Lila”, in Bussigny, Switzerland, August 1937.

After two year’s war broke out and the Cadillac was stored for ten years. It was then brought back to life and Phillipe had it repainted white over pale blue to use it over the next ten years. It was again repainted light over dark brown after a crash which destroyed the front end and its lights. New bullet lights were fitted to replace the small driving lights that did little for the grace of the design. Additionally a full width bumper was constructed.

Abandoned by its owner in the mid-sixties, the car was “discovered” 31 years later, in derelict condition, in a field near Geneva, Switzerland. That was in the summer of 1968. It was acquired in April the following year by the 2nd owner, Mr. Jean-Jacques Belet of Lausanne, for just CHF4000 (the equivalent at that time of approximately $925).

The car has changed hands 10 times since then. Restored four times (the last time in 2017–18) and probably owing in a large part to a “tampered” dash-mounted coachbuilder’s nameplate (added around 1985), the value of the Hartmann roadster has soared out of all normal proportions. The actual price paid by the current owner has not been disclosed but may be estimated to be around “a few million” dollars.

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Vintage Photos Capture Times Square’s Depravity in the 1970s and 1980s

Before Times Square became a global spots, the neighborhood was once defined by burlesque shows, porn theaters, grindhouses, go-go bars, peep shows and sex shops. A symbol of New York’s decay, 42nd Street was called the “worst” block in the city by the New York Times in 1960, with nearly every block became crammed with these seedy businesses. One of the city’s busiest corridors, every day thousands of people would have to pass under the marquees of numerous adult theaters lining the street. These 18 vintage black-and-white photographs from the late 1970s to mid-1980s, taken by renowned photographer Andreas Feininger, will give us a glimpse of the area during the time it was bound with the social decline of urban America:

Posters advertising burlesque shows at the Follies Burlesk and Gaiety Theater in in Times Square, New York City, 1975.

A man walking past the entrance to a topless bar in Times Square, New York City, 1975.

Men walking past the entrance to one of the strip clubs around Times Square, New York City, circa 1975.

Street scene showing a sex shop and massage parlour titled 'Porno House', New York City, 1975.

The 'Follies Burlesk' showing the upcoming shows for 'Valerie Craft' and 'Marinka', 46th St. and Broadway, New York City, 1978.

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Ramón Novarro: Handsome Hero of the Silent Era Who Had a Tragic End

Born 1899 as Jose Ramón Gil Samaniego in Durango City, Durango, Mexican film, stage and television actor Ramón Novarro began his career in silent films in 1917 and eventually became a leading man and one of the top box office attractions of the 1920s and early 1930s.

Novarro was promoted by MGM as a "Latin lover" and became known as a sex symbol after the death of Rudolph Valentino, but he was troubled all his life by his conflicted feelings toward his Roman Catholic religion and his homosexuality.

In the early 1920s, Novarro had a romantic relationship with composer Harry Partch, but he broke off the affair as his acting career began to become successful. He was romantically involved with Hollywood journalist Herbert Howe, who was also his publicist in the late 1920s, and with a wealthy man from San Francisco, Noël Sullivan.

Novarro was murdered on Halloween eve of 1968, by brothers Paul and Tom Ferguson, aged 22 and 17, who called him and offered their sexual services. He had in the past hired prostitutes from an agency to come to his Laurel Canyon home for sex, and the Fergusons obtained Novarro's telephone number from a previous guest.

Novarro had a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is at 6350 Hollywood Boulevard.

These vintage photos captured portrait of a young and handsome Ramón Novarro in the 1920s and 1930s.

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35 Cool Pics Show Victorian Interior Styles of the Late 19th Century

Victorian interiors feature beautiful colors, lots of ornate details, and skilled fakery to make the home a welcoming and beautiful place. The industrial revolution led to a revolution in interior decorating, and for the Victorians, high style was all about the appearance of luxury, whether real or imitation.

Furniture of the 19th century was often made of walnut, mahogany, or rosewood, tables, chairs and sofas have cabriole legs and often feature naturalistic carvings of fruit, flowers, and leaves.

Take a look at these cool pics to see what Victorian furniture looked like in the 1880s and 1890s.

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