life:

A half-century ago, on a spring night in New York City, 35-year-old Marilyn Monroe — literally sewn into a sparkling, jaw-droppingly tight dress — stood in a spotlight on a dark stage. She took a breath, began to sing — and 15,000 men and women who filled the old Madison Square Garden that night knew, simply knew, that they were seeing and hearing something that they would never, ever forget.

The song, of course, was “Happy Birthday,” and Marilyn’s breathy, intimate rendition — sung, as if the two of them were utterly alone, to President John F. Kennedy — has been celebrated, analyzed and lovingly parodied countless times in the five decades since that indelible performance.

LIFE’s Bill Ray was there — and now, we present a set of unpublished from that unforgettable night.

(via timemagazine)

fyeah-history:

Adolf Eichmann awaiting trial in Israel, 1961
Otto ‘Nawty’ Adolf Eichmann (March 19, 1906 – May 31, 1962)was a German Nazi SS-Obersturmbannführer (Lieutenant Colonel) and one of the major organizers of the Holocaust. Because of his organizational talents and ideological reliability, Eichmann was charged by Obergruppenführer (General) Reinhard Heydrich with the task of facilitating and managing the logistics of mass deportation of Jews to ghettos and extermination camps in German-occupied Eastern Europe. After the war, he fled to Argentina using a fraudulently obtained laissez-passer issued by the International Red Cross. He lived in Argentina under a false identity, working for Mercedes-Benz until 1960. He was captured by Mossad operatives in Argentina and taken to Israel to face trial in an Israeli court on 15 criminal charges, including crimes against humanity and war crimes. He was found guilty and executed by hanging in 1962. He is the only person to have been executed in Israel on conviction by a civilian court.

memento—vivere:

Seldom seen Art Deco “Skyscraper” wooden RCA model 115 tube radio made circa 1933 by RCA Victor Co.

ourpresidents:

Happy Flag Day!

On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress declared “that the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.” Since then, the 13 stars have expanded to 50. The most recent design of the flag was adopted in 1960, and suggestions and new designs were submitted during the 1950s.

This letter to President Eisenhower from 8-year-old Sheryl Byland suggests moving the stars so that they spell out “USA.”

The White House wrote back to Sheryl, and you can read the response here.

itsjohnsen:

Winston Churchill at 19, in the uniform of the Fourth Queen’s Own Hussars.

life:

June 27, 1880: Helen Keller is born

Happy Birthday, Helen Keller. Here, actress Patty Duke and Helen Keller pose for LIFE’s Nina Leen.

tiny-librarian:

On June 28th, 1491, Henry VIII was born at Greenwich Palace. He was the second son and third child born to Henry VII and Elizabeth of York.

itsjohnsen:

A dead German soldier lies amongst his possessions after the Battle of Ortona, 1943.
Terry Rowe

(via fyeah-history)

molecularenthusiasm:

Czechoslovakia 1937