Whitechapel slum in 1888, the year Jack The Ripper struck

Jack The Ripper’s ‘From Hell’ letter. From hell. Mr Lusk, Sor I send you half the Kidne I took from one woman and prasarved it for you tother piece I fried and ate it was very nise. I may send you the bloody knif that took it out if you only wate a whil longer signed Catch me when you can Mishter Lusk

Mullen’s Alley, Cherry Hill, New York, 1888

Four Penny Coffin in England, 1900. The shelter was named the “four penny coffin” because its sleeping quarters consisted of rows of coffin-shaped beds where homeless people could spend the night for a sum of four pennies. The four penny coffin was popular because it was cheaper than several small shelters that existed at the time, and its clients praised it because the Salvation Army allowed them to actually lie down and sleep on their backs.

Those who could only come up with a single penny were allowed to sit on the shelter’s benches and rest, but they weren’t allowed to sleep and the shelter’s officials monitored the rooms at night to shake any poor folks who closed their eyes and drifted into a troubled slumber.

The final moments of a Japanese dive bomber, after being hit by the gunners of the USS Hornet, 1945

Deep sea diver entering the water 1915

Eva Fridell receives the winners cup at the Washington Tidal Basin beauty contest 1922

A Chicago policewoman checking for violations of the bathing suit-length laws 1921

11 a.m. Newsies at Skeeter’s Branch, Jefferson near Franklin. They were all smoking. 1910, St. Louis, Missouri.

Strongmen at the Thule Athletic Club, Trelleborg, Sweden 1898

Baseball team composed mostly of child laborers from a glassmaking factory in Indiana 1908

A group of immigrants aboard a ship celebrate as they catch their first glimpse of the Statue of Liberty 1900

Dutch resistance members celebrate at the moment they heard of Adolf Hitler’s death over the radio, May 1945

Major General Horatio Gordon Robley with his collection of tattooed Maori heads, 1895