Lightweight boxing champ "Bat" Nelson in 1911. After retiring from the ring, Bat (short for Battling; aka the Durable Dane, born Oscar Nielsen) dabbled in fight promotion and vaudeville. In January 1954, "a pathetic little man of 80 pounds, his mind a complete blank," Bat was committed to the Chicago State Hospital; a month later he was dead of lung cancer at age 71. With 68 wins, 19 draws and 19 losses, Bat once said that although he had "lost several fights," he had never been beaten. 8x10 glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection. View full size.

1904. "Boy with dog." Oceanside, Long Island. 8x10 dry plate glass negative by the pioneering portrait photographer Gertrude Käsebier. View full size.

British Mandate Palestine circa 1937. "Shell oil tanks near Haifa close up." 5x7 dry plate glass negative, Matson Photo Service. View full size.

August 1942. Corpus Christi, Texas. "After seven years in the Navy, J.D. Estes is considered an old sea salt by his mates at the Naval Air Base." View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Howard Hollem, Office of War Information.

July 28, 1926. Washington, D.C. "Elephant at zoo." View full size. Nat'l Photo.

New York circa 1910. "Jack Barrett, Barnum's. 28 inches tall." View full size. 5x7 glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection, Library of Congress.

October 1942. Kansas City, Kansas. "B-25 bomber plane at North American Aviation being hauled along an outdoor assembly line." View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer for the Office of War Information.

Feb. 27, 1908. "A scrimmage." Polo team at Durland's Riding Academy in New York. View full size. 8x10 glass negative, George Grantham Bain Collection.

Washington, D.C., 1924. "Havoline Oil Company." View full size. National Photo Company Collection glass negative, Library of Congress.

Philadelphia, 1925. Stamping loudspeaker bells at the Atwater Kent radio factory. View full size. National Photo Company Collection glass negative.

The Atwater Kent radio factory in Philadelphia circa 1925. 8x10 glass negative, National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress. View full size.

September 25, 1924. "Professor Charles Gilmore of the Smithsonian Institution with dinosaur Diplodocus." View full size. National Photo Company Collection.

July 30, 1924. "Hazel Watson, Eleanor Howell and Marjie Peacock at Arlington Beach." View full size. National Photo Company Collection glass negative.

May 1912. Rock Hill, South Carolina. "J.A. Leazer, a 19-year-old weaver at Highland Park Mill, and his family. Began working at 9 years old. Makes $1.50 a day now and says he probably can't get any more as a weaver. Many of them marry young." View full size. Photo and caption by Lewis Wickes Hine.

October 1938. "Farmer at the National Rice Festival taking a rest. Crowley, Louisiana." View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Russell Lee for the FSA.