rapcat:

spastasmagoria:

fuckyeahhistorycrushes:

Josephine Baker (June 3, 1906 - April 12, 1975): She was not only an extremely talented singer, dancer, and actress; she also served as a spy for France in WWII. Unable to have children of her own, she adopted 12 children from around the world and lived with them in a castle in France. She was married to men four times and also had several notable female lovers, including French writer Colette as well as Frida Kahlo.

She also used her influence to support the Civil Rights Movement, refusing to perform for segregated audiences and speaking at the 1963 March on Washington with MLK Jr.

New History Crush: Unlocked

“she adopted 12 children from around the world and lived with them in a castle in France”

;-;

(via thehowardbealeshow)

neuroflux:

cucoo:

carbunculus:

swear to god henry IV looks like a little shit in every single one of his paintings

look at this asshole

look at him

god damn it henry

GOD DAMN IT STOP LOOKING SO SASSY YOU FRENCH FUCK

HENRY

DEAD

THE FIRST ONE OH MY GOD

a swarthy fuck he was

(via sukitoitte)

punkrockmuffinatrix:

A real armorer talks about practical design issues of armor for women, and what fantasy illustrations might look like if they struck a better balance between functionality and display.

cool read

(via merrytheknight)

theoddmentemporium:

Among the many medieval plague victims recently unearthed near Venice, Italy, one reportedly had never-before-seen evidence of an unusual affliction: being “undead. The partial body and skull of the woman showed her jaw forced open by a brick (above)—an exorcism technique used on suspected vampires.

Vampires were thought by some to be causes of plagues, so the superstition took root that shroud-chewing was the “magical way” that vampires spread pestilence. Inserting objects—such as bricks and stones—into the mouths of alleged vampires was thought to halt the disease. MORE.

I am so glad I don’t live in a time when there was a wider held belief in the supernatural

I have a hard enough time dealing with people not believing and even I not believing

and still being frightened 

(via sans-merci)

jaynajaynajayna:

When Joseph-Nicephore Niepce took the first photograph in 1828, his photographic plate required an exposure of eight hours. That exposure time was drastically reduced across the course of the nineteenth century, so that by the 1890s the Collodion process had cut exposure times to two or three seconds.

Nevertheless, a three second exposure meant that subjects had to stand very still to avoid being blurred, and holding a smile for that period was tricky. As a result, we have a tendency to see our Victorian ancestors as even more formal and stern than they might have been.

These pictures are drawn from the Flickr group “The Smiling Victorian” and show a perhaps surprising side to the people who’s “now” was a hundred years before our own.

it’s so interesting to think about photography and how different it is

so many people walk around with a photo taking device in their pocket

I read somewhere that in the past year 10% of all of the photos EVER taken were produced

crazy

(via merrytheknight)

breadstickfanclub:

The year is 2042. “I was born in the wrong generation” a teenage white girl sighs as she listens to One Direction and cleans the lens on her vintage iPhone 4S.

I do not doubt it

(via thehowardbealeshow)

teachingyou-isnotmyjob:

str8nochaser:

babeland:

“With the upcoming release of Hysteria from Sony Pictures Classics, everyone is all in a tizzy – or should we say “In hysterics” – about where the vibrator came from, why it was invented, and how it came to be the lovely little masterpiece it is today…” (via How Far We’ve Come)

YASSSSSSSSSSSSSS

I’m actually so excited to watch this.

just watched the trailer

dying

it looks great!

(via dabigbangtheory)

ellieiero:

you know in like 20 or 30 years or so theres gonna be a section in history books dedicated to this time period where gays were fighting for their right to marry and suffering from discrimination

and the kids learning about it in class are going to be disgusted by the mere fact that gays had to even try to fight for what was rightfully theirs

I hope so

I really really do

(Source: bloodchambers, via jjasmin)

anticapitalist:

Our real first gay president

The new issue of Newsweek features a cover photo of President Obama topped by a rainbow-colored halo and captioned “The First Gay President.” The halo and caption strike me as cheap sensationalism. I realize airport travelers look at a magazine for 2.2 seconds before moving on to the next one. I grant that this cover will probably get Newsweek a 4.4 second glance. I also understand that Newsweek is desperate for sales. Nevertheless, I doubt that the Newsweek of old, before it was sold for a dollar, would have pandered as shallowly.

The caption is a superficial way to characterize an important development of thought that the president — along with the country — has been making over recent years. It is also entirely wrong. Like the mini-furor a couple of months back about the claim that Richard Nixon was our first gay president, the story simply ignores that the U.S. already had a gay president more than a century ago.

There can be no doubt that James Buchanan was gay, before, during and after his four years in the White House. Moreover, the nation knew it, too — he was not far into the closet.

Today, I know no historian who has studied the matter and thinks Buchanan was heterosexual. Fifteen years ago, historian John Howard, author of “Men Like That,” a pioneering study of queer culture in Mississippi, shared with me the key documents, including Buchanan’s May 13, 1844, letter to a Mrs. Roosevelt. Describing his deteriorating social life after his great love, William Rufus King, senator from Alabama, had moved to Paris to become our ambassador to France, Buchanan wrote:

I am now “solitary and alone,” having no companion in the house with me. I have gone a wooing to several gentlemen, but have not succeeded with any one of them. I feel that it is not good for man to be alone; and should not be astonished to find myself married to some old maid who can nurse me when I am sick, provide good dinners for me when I am well, and not expect from me any very ardent or romantic affection.

Tl;dr Newsweek go fuck yourself. We’ve had a gay president before. Stop being a sensationalist piece of shit.

I didn’t care for this overgeneralized article either. 

But I think that there was also a certain amount of poking fun at those that really do call those that defend gay rights gay themselves and completely discount the idea of allies 

(via merrytheknight)

rookiemag:

geneparade:

In the 19th Century having a photograph taken was a lengthy process. Frustrated by the difficulties of getting children to sit still long enough to snap a proper photo , photographers in the 1800’s conceived of a technique called “The Hidden Mother”. Draping a sheet over the mothers head in an attempt to camouflage her as a part of the furniture to better emphasize the child, the mother was then able to hold her infant and keep them still long enough for the camera to get an exposure. Vintage photographs already have a eerie feel to them, but these images of moms as cloaked phantoms take the creep factor to the next level.

haha I’m so shocked this took off and worked though

(via thehowardbealeshow)