Happy 130th to the Brooklyn Bridge!

When it opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world. Designed and built by German-born John A. Roebling and his son, Washington A. Roebling, the bridge connected New York and Brooklyn. The remarkable design used Roebling’s patented system of steel wire cable construction. Its graceful limestone and granite towers, pictured here, took five years to build.

• Photograph of the Brooklyn Bridge Across the East River, 04/1974. From the EPA’s DOCUMERICA Series
• Plan of One Tower for the East River Bridge, 1867
• Pedestrians on the upper deck promenade of Brooklyn Bridge, New York City, ca. 1910

via: todaysdocument

(via pbsthisdayinhistory)

Samurai with Katana and Wakizashi

Felice Beato’s 1860 photograph of a Japanese samurai.

Ed note: Meet Jinichi Kawakami, Japan’s last ninja.

Photo of the Day: Central Asian Turkic game “Buzkashi” meaning “goat grabbing”

Photo by: Mahdi Bemani (Dushanbe, Tajikistan); Hisar City in Tajikistan

Delivering a dinosaur to the Boston Museum of Science - Arthur Pollock - 1984

via atlasobscura

April 25, 1947: The White House Bowling Alley Opens

On this day in 1947, President Truman inaugurated the two-lane White House bowling alley. 

Although Truman did not play much (he was more into poker), he helped start the White House Bowling League. The bowlers included Secret Service agents and groundskeepers. Unfortunately, the alley was closed in 1955, but a new one was built in the Eisenhower Building. 

Love bowling? Check out Independent Lens’ “Bowling through the Decades” timeline .  

Images (top to bottom): View from the end of the bowling alley in the White House 1948, bowling alley in the White House 1948, long view of the bowling alley in the White House 1948 (Truman Library/National Archives).

Via: pbsthisdayinhistory

April 15, 1947: Jackie Robinson breaks the “baseball color line”.

Professional American baseball was established in 1869, four years after the end of the Civil War; while African-Americans did have their own clubs and professional leagues, Major League Baseball was de facto segregated from its founding until 1946 (non-whites had previously played in the MLB, however), when Jackie Robinson, a Georgian and a Negro League baseball player, signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers. 

Robinson played his first game with the Dodgers on April 15, 1947, at Ebbets Field in front of a crowd of 26,000, over half of whom were black. Robinson received torrents of racist hatred and resentment from spectators, from opposing teams, and from even his own teammates. When Robinson, who had once been court-martialed during his time as an army officer for refusing to move to the back of a bus asked Branch Rickey, “are you looking for a Negro who is afraid to fight back?” Rickey famously responded that he was looking for a player “with guts enough not to fight back”. Robinson’s first step toward the integration of Major League Baseball was neither smooth nor simple - Robinson was heckled with slurs and even injured while playing, he and his family were met with death threats and violence, and some of his own teammates refused to play alongside a black player (though others, like Pee Wee Reese and Hank Greenberg defended Robinson). But his debut was a monumental moment in baseball history; in 1948, 1951, and 1956, baseball greats like Satchel Paige, Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron all signed with major league teams. 

In 1962, Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. His jersey number, 42, has since been retired by all Major League Baseball Teams. Later in his life, he served on the board of directors of the NAACP, supported the SCLC and CORE, and worked to promote civil rights - writing that he wouldn’t “‘have it made’ until the most underprivileged Negro in Mississippi can live in equal dignity with anyone else in America.” 

via unhistorical

Photo of the Day: Child from the Jisu Ashram Orphanage drinking water

Photo by Javier Arcenillas (Alcobendas, Madrid); Kolkata, India

Photo of the Day: A riot police officer takes a photo of a protest with his tablet

Photo by Jeremy Sinsimer (Norwell, MA); Bangkok, Thailand

Photo of the Day: Kids and puppies brawl in the streets of a remote village

Photo by Anjan Kumar Kundu (Kolkata, India); West Bengal India

wiscohisto:

What’s the best snowman you ever built? Share your Wisconsin winter stories at RecollectionWisconsin.org.

via: Big Streets in a Little City: Kiel, Wisconsin, 1860-1980, Heritage Collection, Kiel Public Library by way of University of Wisconsin Digital Collections

Ed note: Before the age of Frosty, the snowman was abused by children and exploited by advertisers.