Racial segregation in public schools and the controversial concept of "separate but equal" were unanimously declared unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court on this day in history, May 17, ...

Switzerland, neutral during the Second World War, hosted the 1954 World Cup. West Germany returned to the international fold and the Ferenc Puskas-inspired Hungary, who had handed England a historic 6 ...

Mercedes-Benz and parent automaker Daimler didn’t walk away from World War II unscathed. It was then-Daimler Chairman Wilhelm Haspel’s idea to take the Mercedes-Benz division back to motorsports in an ...

In 1954, everyday life moved at a measured pace shaped by routine, optimism, and familiar comforts. The world was settling into a postwar era, where families were safe, neighborhoods grew, and new ...

Long before streaming numbers and viral moments determined a song's success, one catchy tune captured the attention of millions of listeners and helped change the course of popular music. Released in ...

This story originally published in the July 1954 issue of National Geographic magazine and has been put online as part of our From the Vault series. See more digitized stories from our archives here.

Follow this author to personalize your feed and get instant alerts. WHY FOLLOW? Update your preferences in Account Settings Caption from LIFE. "Two slum buildings, soon to be razed and replaced by ...

On Thursday, it will be the five-year anniversary of the massive derecho or very damaging wind storm that swept through the Washington area (June 29, 2012), and left 1 million area residents without ...