Before they were the famous landmarks they are today, the Lincoln Memorial, the Empire State Building, and the U.S. Capitol were little more than ideas in the minds of their designers. Then they were brought to life thanks to the immense efforts of countless laborers, at times risking their lives in the process. The following stunning photographs capture the world’s most iconic structures whilst they were being built, showing them in a fascinating new light.
Grave-robbing is a grim practice. Really, is there anything more disrespectful than digging up a coffin, breaking it open, and stealing whatever valuable jewels or ornaments happen to be laying in there alongside the deceased? Well, there is one thing that’s worse: stealing the body itself! Sadly, there was a time, not too long ago, when that terrible phenomenon was unthinkably commonplace on both sides of the Atlantic. Body-snatching within so-called “civilized” countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom was way more prevalent than we might like to admit.
The advance of technology means that the job market of today looks drastically different to that of the early 20th century. Social media manager certainly wouldn’t have been an option 100 years ago, for example! And there are several professions from the Roaring Twenties that no longer exist, too. From lamp-lighters to lectors, here’s a look at 40 of the most popular jobs held back then, according to the 1920 American Census and other sources.
The story of widowed seamstress Betsy Ross painstakingly stitching the Stars and Stripes of the first American flag has been lovingly taught to every elementary school kid in the nation. Betsy is a national icon who embodies everything Americans love to believe they are: patriotic, skilled, and noble. Yet over the years, the provenance of Betsy’s tale has been picked over and questioned so much that many historians now believe it to be little more than a well-intentioned myth.