Tag Archives: History
Film History: Federico Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita” (1960) At 60 Years (Video)
La Dolce Vita (“the sweet life” or “the good life”) is a 1960 comedy-drama film directed and co-written by Federico Fellini. The film follows Marcello Rubini (Marcello Mastroianni), a journalist writing for gossip magazines, over seven days and nights on his journey through the “sweet life” of Rome in a fruitless search for love and happiness. La Dolce Vita won the Palme d’Or (Golden Palm) at the 1960 Cannes Film Festival[ nd the Oscar for Best Costumes. The film was a worldwide box-office success.
From Wikipedia
History: Boston Defeats New York In 1897 To Open First Subway (Video)
In March 1895, Boston and New York City began an epic and highly competitive race to become the first American city with a working subway system.
1940’s History: “The Terrifying Physics Of WWII Dive Bombing” (Video)
The act of dive bombing during World War II was a death defying trial of skill and nerve. You aimed your plane down, four miles above the ocean, and plummeted at speeds of up to 275 miles per hour.
History Of Travel: “The Marketing Of Pan Am” From 1950 – 1980 (Podcast)
Moncocle.com spoke with Tom Geismar, founding partner of Chermayeff & Geismar, one of the top graphic design agencies in the world and the man responsible for the marketing of Pan Am in the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s.
From the Chermayeff & Geismar website:
The most important aspect of the identity design for Pan Am was to suggest that the name of the airline be changed to “Pan Am” from the long and cumbersome “Pan American World Airways.” The Pan Am logotype in capitals and lower-case letters was also adopted with an accompanying world symbol.
In addition to the corporate identity, our firm designed comprehensive graphics for the airline, including a poster campaign and the menus for the inaugural flight of the Boeing 747.
History: The Early Promise, Fiery Failure Of Eucalytus Trees In California
From a The Economist magazine article and podcast:
The real California, though, the California of immigrant dreams that break and get reborn, of lives as they turn out not as they are planned, is the California of the eucalyptus.
Like his friend John Muir, Lukens believed that California desperately needed more forests. Since the mid-19th century forests, and their loss, had been the principal focus of conservationist thought in America. According to Jared Farmer, who traces the history of the eucalyptus in California in “Trees in Paradise” (2013), Lukens and Muir were particularly keen on growing forests as a way to provide water—always a key to power in the state. Trees brought rain and captured fog and moisture; without forests, the men feared the state’s great cities would dry up.
“EUCALYPTUS PROMISES TO BE GREAT INDUSTRY”, announced the front page of the San Luis Obispo Daily Telegram, later claiming that what the speculators following where Lukens had led were planting “will be the largest artificial forest in the world when completed”.
History & Culture: Heard Museum Of American Indian Art In Phoenix Celebrates 90 Years
90 years ago today, Maie Bartlett Heard, curator Allie Walling BraMé along with a small group of friends and volunteers spent Christmas Day making final preparations for the opening of the Heard Museum. The next day, December 26, 1929, the Heard Museum began our now nine decade long and ongoing legacy of advancing American Indian Art.
This short video poem written, recorded and edited by longtime artist and friend of the Heard Museum, Steven J. Yazzie (Diné) is our very sincere thank you to you.
Heard Museum 90th Celebration Poem, December 2019
“Home” By Steven J. Yazzie (Diné)
Voiced by: Jenn Henry
Music: Better Now, Phillip Daniel Zach
Why do we come here to these walls painted shades of off white
In search of beauty
or memory
or place
Where the sounds of children can be heard echoing in these vast
and intimate spaces
And where everyone has just arrived here from a journey
What brings us to the feet of stone
or textile
or dried paint
In the galleries of our hearts and truths
Our histories are revealed
and our humanity ensured
This place of my youth and older age
This place of beauty
stewardship
and celebration
Is home
New Photography Books: “Stones From The Inside – Rare And Unseen Images”
Along with the images of the band at work and play, Wyman includes remarkable images of those along for the ride, from John Lennon, Eric Clapton, David Bowie and Iggy Pop to John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. To accompany his photographs, Wyman offers up wonderful insights, anecdotes and behind-the-photo stories, giving all us a front-row seat and backstage pass to what it was like to be there, as music history was made as a member of The Rolling Stones.
Known, unknown, rare and unseen images from former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman, capturing life on-stage, backstage and on the road
In addition to this trade edition, there will also be a limited edition of 300 copies, which comes in a slipcase, with an open-edition A4 print
As soon as Bill Wyman was given a camera as a young boy, he quickly developed a passion for photography. After joining what would become the world’s greatest rock ‘n’ roll band, Wyman continued his hobby. When he didn’t have his bass, he had his camera. The result is an arresting, insightful and often poignant collection of photographs, showing his exclusive inside view of the band. From travelling to relaxing, backstage and on, Stones From the Inside is a unique view captured by a man who was there, every step of the way.
History: “Aztec Art And The Fragility Of Empire” (Art Institute Chicago)
Aztec art drew on the Mesoamerican past, citing works from the ancient cities of Teotihuacan and Tula to lend authority and legitimacy to the new empire. But this engagement with the past also provoked reflection on the inevitable end of empire and the cyclicality of time, themes that resonate as the five hundredth anniversary of the Spanish invasion of Mexico unfolds this year. In this illustrated lecture, Claudia Brittenham, University of Chicago, discusses how Aztec art reflects this engagement with this historical past. This lecture delivered on October 31, 2019, was generously sponsored by the Boshell Foundation Lecture Fund.
Presidential Politics: Current Debates Still Have “Game Show” Format Of 1960 Kennedy Vs Nixon
From a TheConversation.com online article:
Between 1955 and 1959, America’s prime-time television schedule became dominated by quiz shows.
…(Television executive Frank) Stanton got both Vice President Richard Nixon – who had been a champion debater at Whittier College – and Senator John F. Kennedy to accept invitations to debate live on television. That’s when the really difficult negotiations began.
…Every detail took a long time to agree on, as the election drew ever closer in the late summer of 1960.
…Sure enough, the time pressures pushed everyone to agree on an established TV format Americans were familiar with: the quiz show. The required studios were easily available, the production staff already knew what to do, and journalists could easily moderate discussions in which candidates agreed not to directly question or answer each other.
Boomers Daily 