…nation’s history, and most of its victims were children. News of the vaccine’s success was first made public on April 12, 1955. Salk was immediately hailed as a “miracle worker”,… […]

Anthony Eden, 1949 Anthony Eden was born on this day, June 12, in 1897. He became Prime Minister of Great Britain after Winston Churchill‘s resignation in 1955. Karsh photographed The… […]

On January 7, 1955, Marian Anderson became the first African American to perform at the Metropolitan Opera in New York……. […]

Sir Alexander Fleming, 1954 Scottish biologist, physician, microbiologist, and pharmacologist Alexander Fleming died on this day, March 11, in 1955. Known best for his discovery of the world’s first antibiotic… […]

In 1955, Yousuf Karsh was commissioned to produce photographs for an advertising campaign for Bradings, a Canadian brewery. The images included some still lifes and a few scenes such as… […]

Clement Attlee, 1949 Clement Attlee was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1935… […]

Clement Attlee, 1949 Clement Richard Attlee (1883 – 1967) was a British politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and the Leader… […]

Earl Warren, 1955 On this day, November 29, in 1963, one week after President John F. Kennedy was fatally shot, President Lyndon B. Johnson established the Warren Commission. Leading the… […]

…American or otherwise, to perform at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City on January 7, 1955. At Eleanor Roosevelt’s behest, President Roosevelt and Walter White, then-executive secretary of the… […]

Jonas Salk, 1991 On this day, April 26, in 1954, Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine began field trials. “The polio vaccine field trials of 1954, sponsored by the National Foundation for… […]

…was born on December 5, in 1901. Disney was photographed by Karsh in May, 1954, two months before construction began on the Disneyland theme park, which opened in July, 1955…. […]

In 1955, Yousuf Karsh was commissioned to produce photographs for an advertising campaign for Bradings, a Canadian brewery. The images included some still lifes and a few scenes such as… […]

Harold McMillan, 1955 Harold Macmillan was born on this day, February 10, in 1894. After serving in the First World War, Macmillan entered the United Kingdom parliament in 1924. He… […]

Leslie Caron, 1963 French-American actress and dancer Leslie Caron was born on this day, July 1, in 1931. She appeared in 45 films between 1951 and 2003 and is well… […]

Gian Carlo Menotti, 1956 Italian-American composer and librettist Gian Carlo Menotti was born on this day, July 7, in 1911. Among his many honors and achievements, he won a Pulitzer… […]

Vladimir Nabokov, 1972 Vladimir Nabokov’s controversial novel Lolita was first published in the U.S. on this day, August 18, in 1958. The novel was originally written in English and first… […]

Winston Churchill, 1941 Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, DL, FRS, RA, was born on this day, November 30, in 1874. He was Prime Minister of the… […]

Tennessee Williams, 1956 American playwright Tennessee Williams died on February 25, in 1983. Born Thomas Lanier Williams III in 1911, he became famous with the success of The Glass Menagerie… […]

Albert Einstein, 1948 German-born theoretical physicist Albert Einstein was born on March 14, in 1879 (d. 1955). Einstein is known widely for developing the theory of relativity, but he also… […]

Thomas Mann, 1946 Thomas Mann (1875-1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His 1918 book “Reflections of… […]

…seven years, Salk devoted himself towards developing a vaccine against polio. The vaccine’s success was first made public in April, 1955. By 1959, the Salk vaccine had reached about 90… […]

Harold Macmillan, 1955 British politician Harold Macmillan became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on this day, January 10, in 1957, serving in the role until 1963. Macmillan was the… […]

Sir Alexander Fleming, 1954 Sir Alexander Fleming (1881-1955) was a Scottish physician and microbiologist, best known for discovering the world’s first broadly effective antibiotic substance, which he named penicillin. His… […]

Albert Einstein, 1948 Theoretical physicist Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879 (d. 1955). Karsh wrote: “At Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study, I found Einstein a simple, kindly, almost… […]

Anna Magnani, 1958 Anna Magnani (1908-1973) was an Italian actress who worked her way through Rome’s Academy of Dramatic Art by singing at night clubs. Known for her realistic portrayals… […]

Leslie Caron, 1963 French-American actress and dancer Leslie Caron was born on this day, July 1, in 1931. She appeared in 45 films between 1951 and 2003 and is well… […]

Arthur Miller, 1990 Arthur Miller was born on this day, October 17, in 1915 (d. 2005). Miller was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among… […]

Simon Rattle, 1988 Simon Rattle was photographed by Karsh on this day, October 24, in 1988. Rattle (b. 1955) is a British-German conductor who rose to international prominence while he… […]

Albert Einstein, 1948 German-born theoretical physicist Albert Einstein was born on March 14, in 1879 (d. 1955). Einstein is known widely for developing the theory of relativity, but he also… […]

John D. Rockefeller, 1955 John Davison Rockefeller Jr. was an American financier and philanthropist. He was photographed by Karsh in 1955, and the sitting says the assignment was for the… […]

…6, in 1875 (d. 1955). Mann was photographed by Karsh for LIFE magazine in 1946, one of more than 50 people Karsh photographed for that publication between 1943 (M. Jan… […]

Billy Wilder, 1991 Austrian-born filmmaker Billy Wilder was born on this day, June 22, in 1906 (d. 2002). His career in Hollywood spanned five decades, and he received seven Academy… […]

John D. Rockefeller, 1955 John Davison Rockefeller Jr. was an American financier and philanthropist. He was photographed by Karsh in 1955, and the sitting record says the assignment was for… […]

Anna Magnani, 1958 Anna Magnani was an Italian actress who worked her way through Rome’s Academy of Dramatic Art by singing at night clubs. Known for her realistic portrayals of… […]

Vincent Massey, 1952 His Excellency The Right Honorable Vincent Massey (1887-1967) was a Canadian politician and diplomat who served as Governor General of Canada from 1952 to 1959. Massey was… […]