I am two days late for this year’s anniversary, but this is just too impressive: Omaha Beach, June 6, 1944.

Make sure to click on the picture to see bigger versions.

(via Justin, thanks! Source: US or Canadian National Archives, via Wikipedia. Public Domain.)

In a New York Times article about the fall of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago, they add a schema of a typical section of the German-German border, showing that the “Wall” was not really only a wall, but rather an elaborate combination of measures to keep people from fleeing their own country. Pretty impressive and sad at the same time.

This past valentine’s day a few days ago was not only even cheesier than last year’s (on the radio, they were making up a “Valentine’s Eve” on the 13th already — how long until Valentine’s week, month or year emerge?), it was also the 150th birthday of the State of Oregon. If I had to choose what American state I’d like to be a Citizen of, Oregon would rank pretty high on the list.

Just in time for the big one-five-oh, Oregon State University’s archives joined the flickr commons, publishing some nice photos from the state’s past for everybody to enjoy. I am delighted! Needless to say, the pictures are in the public domain (or so they assume).

Before the OSU Archives joined the “commons” project, they had already added another flickr account on their owns, publishing other gems from their vault, such as these great, historic football programs:

(Thanks for the link, Jean Pierre!)

Searching for “Karlsruhe” on Amazon.com, I found a few sellers that reprint old photochrom (sic) photographs from the collection of the Library of Congress. Among them, these three beautiful old photos of my university city Karlsruhe (Baden), dated somewhere around the turn of the last century:

First, the “General View of Karlsruhe” as seen from the residence castle, facing south.

This one, “Lake in Public Garden” shows the Stadtgartensee, which is now inside the Karlsruhe Zoo.

At last, the Vierordtbad — a public, in-door pool, that’s been built in the 1870s. Completely renovated in the early aughts, it has now as “young” a look as ever. (Side note: The picture title is, incorrectly, “Vierortsbad” = “four city bath”, but it was actually called after a gentleman named “Vierordt” who donated some 40 % of the original building costs back in the day).

Very nice photos! But, while this makes the city look “old”, Karlsruhe is actually quite the kid, compared to other German cities. It was not founded until 1715, when the Margrave of Baden-Durlach decided to build a new residence — and a nice little city to go with it.