Will We Move Around the Town Like This?

(Illustration by Walter Molino, 1962)

Translation from Italian:

“Will we move around the town like this?

Here’s how the traffic problem could be, if not eliminated, at least lessened: instead of the current bulky cars, some tiny single seat ones occupy only a small surface; they could be called “singulette”. Walter Molino imagined how a city road would look like if this new solution was adopted on a large scale.”

(via reddit)

20 Vintage Photos Captured People Gargling to Against the Flu From the Early 20th Century

The flu arrived as a great war raged in Europe, a conflict that would leave about 20 million people dead over four years.

In 1918, the flu would kill more than twice that number – and perhaps five times as many – in just 15 months. Though mostly forgotten, it has been called “the greatest medical holocaust in history.”

Experts believe between 50 and 100 million people were killed. More than two-thirds of them died in a single 10-week period in the autumn of 1918.

Never have so many died so swiftly from a single disease. In the United States alone, it killed about 675,000 in about a year – the same number who have died of AIDS in nearly 40 years.

As the country muddles through a particularly nasty flu season – one that the Centers for Disease Control says has killed 24 children in the first three weeks of January and 37 since the start of the flu season – the 1918 nightmare serves a reminder. If a virulent enough strain were to emerge again, a century of modern medicine might not save millions from dying.

As protection against the influenza virus, here are 20 vintage pictures of people are seen gargling with salt and water after a day spent working.

Practicing gargling at the spa resort of the Allier, Vichy, France, ca. 1915.

As protection against the influenza virus, men are seen gargling with salt and water after a day spent working in the War Garden at Camp Dix, New Jersey, September 1918. This was a preventative measure against the influenza epidemic that had spread to army camps.

Children at Sneed Road school gargling as a defense against influenza, 1931.

Staff at the Mutual Property Insurance Co., in London, gargling under the supervision of a trained nurse, teaching the staff to safeguard themselves from influenza, 1932. Hygienic paper cups are used and tablets are also provided.

Sailors from the training ship ‘Warspite’ gargling to prevent flu, 1933.

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Italian Sex Symbol: 25 Stunning Pics of Sabrina Salerno in the 1980s and ’90s

Born 1968 in Genoa, Liguria, Sabrina Salerno is an Italian singer, songwriter, record producer, glamour model, actress and television presenter.

During her career, Sabrina has sold over 20 million records worldwide and scored 10 international hits, including 3 number ones.

Internationally, Sabrina is best known for her 1987 single “Boys (Summertime Love)”, which topped the charts in France and Switzerland, and peaked at No. 3 in the UK. The song was accompanied by a provocative music video, which established Sabrina’s image as a sex symbol.

Sabrina’s other popular recordings include “All of Me (Boy Oh Boy)”, “My Chico”, “Like a Yo-Yo”, “Gringo”, “Siamo donne” and “Call Me”.

Take a look at these stunning pics to see glamorous beauty of young Sabrina Salerno in the 1980s and early 1990s.

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32 Amazing Found Photos Show Australian Post Offices in the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries

A cool set of found photos from NSW State Archives that shows what New South Wales post offices looked like from between the 1880s and early 1900s.

Adamstown Post Office

Adamstown Post Office

Albury Post and Telegraph Office

Annandale Post Office

Balmain Post Office and Court House

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On 26 March 1976: HM Queen Elizabeth II Became the World’s First Monarch to Send an Email

While visiting the Royal Signals & Radar Establishment, HM Queen Elizabeth II sent her first email on 26 March 1976 – before the Internet was even invented.

The network she was using was called ARPANET; a precursor to the World Wide Web as we know it today. It was set up in 1969 and over the course of the following decade expanded to include networks in multiple locations across the world, all joined up to a larger network; a trans-Atlantic link connected networks in the US to networks in the UK and Norway.

British computer scientist Peter Kierstein – sometimes referred to as “the father of the European Internet” – was on hand to assist, and set The Queen up with her own email account on the network, and the username HME2 – standing for Her Majesty, Elizabeth II.

A diagram of the area network logical map.

The email she then sent was announcing the arrival of a new programming language that had been developed at the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment, and to that end may sound somewhat cryptic to the uninitiated:

“This message to all ARPANET users announces the availability on ARPANET of the Coral 66 compiler provided by the GEC 4080 computer at the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment, Malvern, England. Coral 66 is the standard real-time high level language adopted by the Ministry of Defence.”

The email was headed ‘A Message from Her Majesty the Queen’, and signed off with the delightfully informal ‘Elizabeth R.'

In 1983, the ARPANET became the first network to use the TCP/IP language which, to this day, is the set of rules that computers use to communicate with the Internet. Much like Queen Elizabeth II, the ARPANET was ahead of its time, and ended up playing a significant role in paving the way for a new era in modern communications.

(via True Royalty)

35 Fascinating Pics Capture Street Scenes of Budapest in the 1980s

Budapest is the capital and the most populous city of Hungary, and the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits.

Budapest is an Alpha − global city with strengths in commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and entertainment. It is Hungary's financial centre and was ranked as the second fastest-developing urban economy in Europe.

The central area of the city along the Danube River is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has several notable monuments, including the Hungarian Parliament, Buda Castle, Fisherman's Bastion, Gresham Palace, Széchenyi Chain Bridge, Matthias Church and the Liberty Statue.

Budapest also ranks as one of the best European cities.

These fascinating pics were taken by Sandor Somkuti that show street scenes of Budapest in the 1980s.

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Mesmerizing Photos of Kim Novak in ‘Bell, Book and Candle’

Bell, Book and Candle is a 1958 comedy-drama film based on the successful Broadway play of the same name, featuring James Stewart and Kim Novak as the leading roles. It tells the story of a modern-day witch who takes a liking for her publisher neighbor, so she enchants him to abandon his fiancée to love her instead, only to later realize that she does fall in love with him for real. This was James Stewart’s final appearance as a romantic lead. At the 31st Academy Awards, the film received two nominations for Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design.

There were several Siamese cats who played Pyewacket in the film, one of whom was an untrained pet called Houdini, who was chosen for being particularly photogenic and well-socialized, while the other Siamese used were professionally trained. Despite being an untrained cat, he was still required to do a few stunts, which could only be done by startling or chasing him. The unpleasant experience severely stressed Houdini that by the end of the shooting, he became extremely fearful of human. It was said that he never be able to fully recover from his ordeal.

Let’s take a look at a very mesmerizing Kim Novak in the film:

Photo by Eliot Elisofon/LIFE.

Photo by Mondadori.

Photo by Mondadori.

Photo by Columbia Pictures/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis.

Photo by Ralph Crane/LIFE.

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