32 of the Most Popular Toys From the Last 145 Years

via Wired

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  Zoetrope reel, 1870s — Before there was Pixar, there was the Zoetrope. The optical illusion was first demonstrated in 1836, over a hundred years before the first Saturday morning cartoons. The device was patented in 1867 by Milton Bradley, the man, not the company, and in many ways can be considered one of the first mass-market toys. Photo: Andy Brown
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  Sindy, 1960s — While she doesn't have the name recognition of Barbie, this doll has friends in important places. "My favorites are the Sindy doll—I had one myself—and any of the teddy bears," says Howell who helped curate the photo subjects. "I always preferred soft toys to dolls and now I get to look after them in the Museum." Photo: Andy Brown
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  Paper soldiers, 1890s — "This is my favorite image," says Brown. "I love how camp they look today." Photo: Andy Brown
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  Clackers, 1970s — Paradoxically, some of the best selling toys were the hardest to track down. Clackers were a popular noise making toy in the 1970s, but was fairly cheap, disposable, and liable to crack. "Loads of people can remember them," says Brown. "But very few people thought to hang on to them." As children's playthings become more ephemeral, this lack of a cultural record will only be exacerbated. Photo: Andy Brown

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BMW roadsters: A journey from 1929 - 2013

BMW is a company that pretty much everyone loves. The cars it produces are regarded as some of the best in the world, and as it covers all niches there's a BMW for pretty much everyone. We took a look at the history of its roadsters to see just how far the firm's come since the early 20th century.

CNET - Drew and Alex love their sports cars - the freedom they afford the driver combined with speed and eye catching looks are, all told, rather lovely. BMW does roadsters really very well indeed.

Using traditional BMW design cues and engineering to create fast, good looking, brilliant to drive cars that are attainable dreams for the vast majority of people. The boys decided to look at BMW's roadster background, Drew casting a bearded eye over the classics and Alex looking at the more modern 'Z' cars. There's some real unicorn cars in there. The 328, for example, is a pre-war race car that boasts a 2.0-litre six cylinder engine and a 90mph top speed. However, it's also achingly beautiful and is an utter joy to drive.

BMW's roofless legacy: The roadsters - Picture Gallery

 

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Nat Geo - Excellent Vintage Photos

 

Great Pyramid and Sphinx, Giza

Photograph by Hans Hildenbrand, National Geographic

Men on camelback ride past the Sphinx and Great Pyramid in Giza, Egypt.

 

Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C.

Photograph by Walter Edwards, National Geographic

A man and woman look out at the Reflecting Pool and Washington Monument from the Lincoln Memorial.

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Titanic: How the News Covered It: Photos

Discovery News - April 15, 2012 — Exactly 100 years ago, at 11:40 p.m. on Sunday, April 14, 1912, the Royal Mail Steamer Titanic struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic. At 1:20 a.m. on Monday, April 15, the ship sank to a depth of more than 12,400 feet. More than two-thirds of the 2,224 passengers and crew died.       More

What Ever Happened to Quicksand?

Slate - The fourth-graders were unanimous: Quicksand doesn’t scare them, not one bit. If you’re a 9- or 10-year-old at the P.S. 29 elementary school in Brooklyn, N.Y., you’ve got more pressing concerns: Dragons. Monsters. Big waves at the beach that might separate a girl from her mother. Thirty years ago, quicksand might have sprung up at recess, in pools of discolored asphalt or the dusty corners of the sandbox—step in the wrong place, and you’d die. But not anymore, a boy named Zayd tells me. “I think people used to be afraid of it,” he says. His classmates nod. “It was before we were born,” explains Owen. “Maybe it will come back one day.”

For now, quicksand has all but evaporated from American entertainment—rejected even by the genre directors who once found it indispensable. There isn’t any in this summer’s fantasy blockbuster Prince of Persia: Sands of Time or in last year’s animated jungle romp Up. You won’t find quicksand in The Last Airbender or Avatar, either. Giant scorpions emerge from the sand in Clash of the Titans, but no one gets sucked under. And what about Lost—a tropical-island adventure series replete with mud ponds and dangling vines? That show, which ended in May, spanned six seasons and roughly 85 hours of television airtime—all without a single step into quicksand. “We were a little bit concerned that it would just be cheesy,” says the show’s Emmy-winning writer and executive producer, Carlton Cuse. “It felt too clichéd. It felt old-fashioned.”         More