Naval dispatch seventy years ago this day. More at the Library of Congress.

Via Reddit

Via nevver

This gold heart-shaped locket contains a lock of Marie Antoinette’s hair, set under glass or rock crystal; on the other side of the curl [alternate view here] is an inscribed card that reads ”A lock of hair of MARIE ANTOINETTE, Queen of FRANCE given by her to Lady Abercorn by whom it was given to her sister Lady Julia Lockwood, whose daughter Lady Napier gave it to W.S. 1853.” 

A curator at the British Museum, where the locket is held, provides some historical context:

Text from the catalogue of the Hull Grundy Gift (Gere et al 1984) no. 579:

If this blonde lock of hair is indeed that of Marie Antoinette it must have been presented before the abortive flight to Varennes in 1791, when the King and Queen tried to escape from France. Marie Antoinette’s hair went white overnight, and on her return to Paris she presented a ring to the Princesse de Lamballe containing a lock of her hair which was inscribed ‘Blanchis par la douleur (whitened by sorrow; see Campan 1833). The ring is now in the Musée Carnavalet, Paris. (C.Gere)

Discovered via all things amazing

1920s navigation system, called a TomTom, which consisted of a wristwatch and tiny scrolls that a driver would insert before departure, then wind as he went along. The invention never took off, probably, as the Daily Mail notes, because there were too few motorists at the time.

Via szymon, via hoveringcat

San Francisco Earthquake and Fire, April 18, 1906, archived by the Library of Congress, which writes:

“This film shows the aftermath of the San Francisco earthquake of April 18, 1906, and the devastation resulting from the subsequent three-day fire…. The scenes in the film are preceded by titles, many of which are sensationalized. One entire scene showing a family eating in the street was almost certainly staged for the camera. The film was probably made in early May, as one scene can be precisely dated to May 9, and another to sometime after May 1.”

See also: San Francisco Earthquake and Fire, a 2009 compilation of more footage.

“World War II Today presents what happened on the day, seventy years ago. It focuses on individual incidents and experiences, rather than attempting a complete narrative history. So the history of the Second World War emerges with the progress of time.”

(HT to apatientboy, as usual.)

Via futurisms:

Red army at Brandenburg Gate

Via futurisms:

German school teachers and children wear gas masks as they are drilled in how to conduct themselves in the event of a war in Berlin, Germany, Aug. 31, 1939. (AP Photo)

Soviet schoolboy Alexey Kutskov, Moscow, 1958. Background at English Russia.

My mistress and friend:  I and my heart put ourselves in your hands, begging you to have them suitors for your good favour, and that your affection for them should not grow less through absence.  For it would be a great pity to increase their sorrow since absence does it sufficiently, and more than ever I could have thought possible reminding us of a point in astronomy, which is, that the longer the days are the farther off is the sun, and yet the more fierce.  So it is with our love, for by absence we are parted, yet nevertheless it keeps its fervour, at least on my side, and I hope on yours also:  assuring you that on my side the ennui of absence is already too much for me:  and when I think of the increase of what I must needs suffer it would be well nigh unbearable for me were it not for the firm hope I have and as I cannot be with you in person, I am sending you the nearest possible thing to that, namely, my picture set in a bracelet, with the whole device which you already know.  Wishing myself in their place when it shall please you.  This by the hand of

Your loyal servant and friend

H. Rex

_____________

More here: “These famous love letters from King Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn are undated.  They were found in the Vatican Library, possibly stolen from Anne and sent to the papacy during Henry VIII’s struggle for an annulment of his marriage to Katharine of Aragon.  Though Henry argued for an annulment on the basis of his conscience (he stated that the marriage was in direct contradiction to the Bible), most people believed he simply wanted to marry Anne Boleyn.

“Anne’s replies to these letters are lost.

“The letters were written in French.”

Via

Via uncertaintimes, via yamswool:

Lee Miller sneaks a bath in Hitler’s apartment after the fall of Berlin, 1945. She later explained blithely, “I had his address in my pocket for years.” [Photo by David E. Scherman; source NYT]

Still from Die Brücke, via vintagephoto