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Ever see an 80-Carat diamond before? Now you have. Well… how about a 3,106-carat diamond? On this day in 1905, the largest diamond (ever), a 3,106 carat diamond was found at the Premier Mine in Pretoria, South Africa. These may not be quite as large — but diamonds are a girls best friend, right? Here, feast your eyes on some more very large and beautiful diamonds…

Ever see an 80-Carat diamond before? Now you have.

Well… how about a 3,106-carat diamond? On this day in 1905, the largest diamond (ever), a 3,106 carat diamond was found at the Premier Mine in Pretoria, South Africa.

These may not be quite as large — but diamonds are a girls best friend, right? Here, feast your eyes on some more very large and beautiful diamonds…

Did you know? Today marks 88 years since the very first Winter Olympics. Here’s a flashback to a classic 1960 LIFE photo essay — The 1960 games were notable on a number of levels. It was the first time an “Olympic Village” was built to house the athletes (largely because the location was so remote and undeveloped that there was little there before the games; Squaw Valley remains the smallest place in the world to ever host an Olympics). The U.S. men’s hockey team won gold over powerhouse Canadian, Russian, Sweden, and Czechoslovakian squads. And none other than Walt Disney was the games’ “Head of Pageantry.” (see more — Winter Olympics 1960)

Did you know? Today marks 88 years since the very first Winter Olympics.

Here’s a flashback to a classic 1960 LIFE photo essay — The 1960 games were notable on a number of levels. It was the first time an “Olympic Village” was built to house the athletes (largely because the location was so remote and undeveloped that there was little there before the games; Squaw Valley remains the smallest place in the world to ever host an Olympics). The U.S. men’s hockey team won gold over powerhouse Canadian, Russian, Sweden, and Czechoslovakian squads. And none other than Walt Disney was the games’ “Head of Pageantry.”

(see more — Winter Olympics 1960)

Clothed Descending a Staircase No. 2… In an homage to Marcel Duchamp’s masterpiece Nude Descending a Staircase No. 2 (itself inspired by Eadweard Muybridge’s photographs), Eliot Elisofon photographed Duchamp performing the act himself in 1952, and used multiple exposures to mimick the artist’s famous time-lapse-style painting. (see more of innovative LIFE photos here)

Clothed Descending a Staircase No. 2…

In an homage to Marcel Duchamp’s masterpiece Nude Descending a Staircase No. 2 (itself inspired by Eadweard Muybridge’s photographs), Eliot Elisofon photographed Duchamp performing the act himself in 1952, and used multiple exposures to mimick the artist’s famous time-lapse-style painting.

(see more of innovative LIFE photos here)

Short and (very) sexy love notes you can use for Valentine’s Day (via LIFE’s editor Bill Shapiro) Be sure to follow him on tumblr — you can purchase the book here.

Short and (very) sexy love notes you can use for Valentine’s Day (via LIFE’s editor Bill Shapiro) Be sure to follow him on tumblr — you can purchase the book here.

(Source: facebook.com)

Reblogged from loveletterbook

Look carefully: You can just make out Air Force Colonel Joseph Kittinger, Jr. in a record-shattering free fall from the very edge of space on August 16, 1960, after jumping from a balloon-supported gondola 102,800 feet above New Mexico. During his descent, Kittinger reached approximate speeds of 614 miles an hour. The clouds beneath him are 15 miles away. Kittinger’s leap was part of the Air Force’s “Project Excelsior,” which conducted research into high altitude bailouts from aircraft. Incredibly, almost 50 years later, Kittinger’s record for the longest-ever free fall and highest parachute jump still stand. (see more — 21 Greatest-Ever Space Photos)

Look carefully: You can just make out Air Force Colonel Joseph Kittinger, Jr. in a record-shattering free fall from the very edge of space on August 16, 1960, after jumping from a balloon-supported gondola 102,800 feet above New Mexico.

During his descent, Kittinger reached approximate speeds of 614 miles an hour. The clouds beneath him are 15 miles away. Kittinger’s leap was part of the Air Force’s “Project Excelsior,” which conducted research into high altitude bailouts from aircraft. Incredibly, almost 50 years later, Kittinger’s record for the longest-ever free fall and highest parachute jump still stand.

(see more — 21 Greatest-Ever Space Photos)

Living on the fringes of society, and demonstrating the more eccentric, and sometimes darker, edges of human nature, the sideshow of old was an occasion for the general public to be amazed, disgusted, frightened … and generally have their minds blown.. Pictured: Midget Czech showman Baron Richard Nowak, seen here at age 19 in 1940, stood 21 inches high and weighed 17 lbs. (see more — Old-Time Side Show Acts)

Living on the fringes of society, and demonstrating the more eccentric, and sometimes darker, edges of human nature, the sideshow of old was an occasion for the general public to be amazed, disgusted, frightened … and generally have their minds blown..

Pictured: Midget Czech showman Baron Richard Nowak, seen here at age 19 in 1940, stood 21 inches high and weighed 17 lbs.

(see more — Old-Time Side Show Acts)

scanzen: Winston’s shell. Designer Graham demostrates Winston Churchill’s personal pressure chamber, created to enable him to make high-altitude flights safely. In: Life, 10 Feb 1947. To protect the precious bulk of Winston Churchill in wartime a special one-man pressure chamber was built for the personal plane which carried him many times across the Atlantic and to Casablanca, Moscow and Yalta. Churchill was warned by his doctors that it was dangerous for a man of his age and physical condition to fly above 8,000 feet. The solution was a pressure chamber complete with ash trays, telephone and an air-circulation system good enough to prevent smoke from the ubiquitous cigar from fogging the atmosphere.

scanzen:

Winston’s shell. Designer Graham demostrates Winston Churchill’s personal pressure chamber, created to enable him to make high-altitude flights safely. In: Life, 10 Feb 1947.

To protect the precious bulk of Winston Churchill in wartime a special one-man pressure chamber was built for the personal plane which carried him many times across the Atlantic and to Casablanca, Moscow and Yalta. Churchill was warned by his doctors that it was dangerous for a man of his age and physical condition to fly above 8,000 feet. The solution was a pressure chamber complete with ash trays, telephone and an air-circulation system good enough to prevent smoke from the ubiquitous cigar from fogging the atmosphere.

Reblogged from scanzen

The last of the ‘41 Horns is gone, but magazine cover keeps players, season timeless. The black and white photos of the 14 young men, all handsome, all in their prime, still stare from the cover of a Life magazine that was published seven decades ago. The story of how those 14 University of Texas football players arrived on the cover of the country’s popular magazine, and what they accomplished - first as Longhorns, then later as husbands, fathers and businessmen - has survived the decades. But now, none of them are left. The last Longhorn that was immortalized on Life’s Nov. 17, 1941, cover died this month. (read the rest of the article here) Interesting read. Check it out.

The last of the ‘41 Horns is gone, but magazine cover keeps players, season timeless.

The black and white photos of the 14 young men, all handsome, all in their prime, still stare from the cover of a Life magazine that was published seven decades ago.

The story of how those 14 University of Texas football players arrived on the cover of the country’s popular magazine, and what they accomplished - first as Longhorns, then later as husbands, fathers and businessmen - has survived the decades.

But now, none of them are left. The last Longhorn that was immortalized on Life’s Nov. 17, 1941, cover died this month.

(read the rest of the article here)

Interesting read. Check it out.

ourpresidents: Memorial service for President Lyndon B. Johnson - Washington D.C. January 25, 1973. Yesterday marked the anniversary of Lyndon Baines Johnson’s death on January 22, 1973.  Our 36th President died at the LBJ Ranch in Stonewall,Texas and is buried in the family grave site near his birthplace.  LBJ - A Life -from the LBJ Library

ourpresidents:

Memorial service for President Lyndon B. Johnson - Washington D.C. January 25, 1973.

Yesterday marked the anniversary of Lyndon Baines Johnson’s death on January 22, 1973.  Our 36th President died at the LBJ Ranch in Stonewall,Texas and is buried in the family grave site near his birthplace. 

LBJ - A Life

-from the LBJ Library

(Source: )

Reblogged from ourpresidents

Roosevelt “Rosey” Grier spoke with us about a series of recently discovered, previously unpublished photographs of the New York Giants by LIFE photographer George Silk. “So much about the game was different back then, of course. For example, almost all the players had to have other jobs in the off-season, because you couldn’t live off of what they were paying us at that time. So, again, there goes your year-round workout — because you had to go out and earn a living. I was extremely fortunate in that I made more money in entertainment than I did in football. In the summer months, I went on tours with rhythm and blues groups, MCing the shows, sometimes singing. But for most of the other players, as much as they loved the game, they had to focus on other jobs in order to take care of their families throughout the year.”

Roosevelt “Rosey” Grier spoke with us about a series of recently discovered, previously unpublished photographs of the New York Giants by LIFE photographer George Silk.

“So much about the game was different back then, of course. For example, almost all the players had to have other jobs in the off-season, because you couldn’t live off of what they were paying us at that time. So, again, there goes your year-round workout — because you had to go out and earn a living. I was extremely fortunate in that I made more money in entertainment than I did in football. In the summer months, I went on tours with rhythm and blues groups, MCing the shows, sometimes singing. But for most of the other players, as much as they loved the game, they had to focus on other jobs in order to take care of their families throughout the year.”

You might know this guy… Ryan Gosling — have you ever heard of him? Kidding, of course. For those of us who haven’t made it out to the Sundance Film Festival, take a look at Jeff Vespa’s exclusive celeb portraits from the festival for LIFE.com here.

You might know this guy… Ryan Gosling — have you ever heard of him?

Kidding, of course. For those of us who haven’t made it out to the Sundance Film Festival, take a look at Jeff Vespa’s exclusive celeb portraits from the festival for LIFE.com here.

By war’s end, more than 400,000 American troops had been killed. Here, a look at the American home front during the defining conflict of the 20th century.

By war’s end, more than 400,000 American troops had been killed. Here, a look at the American home front during the defining conflict of the 20th century.

In the mid-1950s LIFE magazine published a five-part series titled The Background of Segregation, exploring in depth how the politically charged issue played out, in human terms, from the post-Civil War Jim Crow South to the first fiery stirrings of the Civil Rights movement. Here — on the eve of the 2012 South Carolina GOP primary, in which the issue of race is again making headlines — LIFE.com presents rare and unpublished color photographs by the great Margaret Bourke-White. 

What a day for birthdays, huh? Muhammad Ali, Betty White, Michelle Obama, Zooey Deschanel, Benjamin Franklin… (to name a few) It’s also the birthday for a different kind of American icon — the corvette. On this day in 1953, the first prototype for the corvette was unveiled at the GM Motorama Auto Show. Pictured: A new Corvette looks to be racing while standing still in a showroom in 1953. Built by hand, the first Corvette numbered only 300 (John Wayne owned one) and took its name from sleek fighting ships. (see more — American Classic: The Corvette)

What a day for birthdays, huh? Muhammad Ali, Betty White, Michelle Obama, Zooey Deschanel, Benjamin Franklin… (to name a few)

It’s also the birthday for a different kind of American icon — the corvette. On this day in 1953, the first prototype for the corvette was unveiled at the GM Motorama Auto Show.

Pictured: A new Corvette looks to be racing while standing still in a showroom in 1953. Built by hand, the first Corvette numbered only 300 (John Wayne owned one) and took its name from sleek fighting ships.

(see more — American Classic: The Corvette)

timelightbox: Steve Schapiro–courtesy of Fahey/Klein Gallery On his 70th birthday, TIME presents 70 iconic images (and one for good luck!) of the boxing legend and Civil Rights activist, as athletes, celebrities and photographers recall their favorite memories of The Greatest. See more here. 

timelightbox:

Steve Schapiro–courtesy of Fahey/Klein Gallery

On his 70th birthday, TIME presents 70 iconic images (and one for good luck!) of the boxing legend and Civil Rights activist, as athletes, celebrities and photographers recall their favorite memories of The Greatest. See more here. 

Reblogged from timelightbox