Photochromes are vibrant and nuanced prints hand-coloured from black-and-white negatives. Created using a process pioneered in the 1880s, these images offer a fascinating insight into the world when colour photography was still in its infancy. A Tour of the World in Photochromes is at the Swiss Camera Museum, Vevey, until 21 August. Here: Street food in the Strada del Porto in Naples, Italy, 1899. (Photo by Swiss Camera Museum/The Guardian)

“Igor Sikorsky (May 25, 1889 – October 26, 1972), born Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky was a Russian American pioneer of aviation in both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. He designed and flew the world's first multi-engine fixed-wing aircraft, the Russky Vityaz in 1913, and the first airliner, Ilya Muromets, in 1914. After immigrating to the United States in 1919, Sikorsky founded the Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation in 1923, and developed the first of Pan American Airways' ocean-conquering flying boats in the 1930s. In 1939 Sikorsky designed and flew the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300, the first viable American helicopter, which pioneered the rotor configuration used by most helicopters today. Sikorsky would modify the design into the Sikorsky R-4, which became the world's first mass-produced helicopter in 1942”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Westland Sikorsky H-5's, used by British European Airways Helicopters, which fly between London and Birmingham. The Sikorsky H-5, (aka R-5, S-51, HO3S-1, or Horse) (R-5 until 1948; company designation VS-327) is a helicopter built by Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, formerly used by the United States Air Force, and its predecessor, the United States Army Air Forces, as well as the United States Navy and United States Coast Guard (with the designations HO2S and HO3S). (Photo by Harrison /Topical Press Agency/Getty Images). 22nd May 1951

“John Thomson (14 June 1837 – 29 September 1921) was a pioneering Scottish photographer, geographer and traveller. He was one of the first photographers to travel to the Far East, documenting the people, landscapes and artifacts of eastern cultures. Upon returning home, his work among the street people of London cemented his reputation, and is regarded as a classic instance of social documentary which laid the foundations for photojournalism. He went on to become a portrait photographer of High Society in Mayfair, gaining the Royal Warrant in 1881”. – Wikipedia. Photo: Ex Omnibus Driver. (Photo by John Thomson/LSE Digital Library)

Light painting photographer Trevor Williams, also known as TDUB303, is a present day light painting pioneer. He creates some of his light painting imagery alone and also works with the group Fiz-iks, which he founded. Trevor is from Canada, he has lived in Japan since 2002 which is where he creates the majority of his work. His light painting images are produced with special attention to location, Trevor says, ““If you want to take an epic picture you need to go to an epic location.”

The Spirit of Ecstasy, also called “Emily”, “Silver Lady” or “Flying Lady,” was designed by English sculptor Charles Robinson Sykes and carries with her a story about a secret passion between John Walter Edward Douglas-Scott-Montagu (second Lord Montagu of Beaulieu after 1905, a pioneer of the automobile movement, and editor of The Car Illustrated magazine) and his love and the model for the emblem, his secretary Eleanor Velasco Thornton. Photo: Worker Ronald Little displays a finished “Spirit of Ecstasy”. (Photo by Stefan Wermuth/Reuters)

William Gibson is not one of the authors that spits out novels like a machine – in his long and fruitful career he has only published 11 novels andof short stories and articles in the tens each. Still his impact on modern literature was huge – the “noir prophet” of the cyberpunk subgenre (that he was one of the pioneers of) has predicted the rise of reality television, virtual reality, video games and the internet. He is a Hugo and Nebula award winning science fiction writer, with a special eye for what the future might bring.

Pooh, a one-year-old cat, who lost his hind legs in an accident and has been given bionic paws, walks in a vet clinic in Sofia on January 31, 2017. Pooh, who is thought to have lost his legs in a car or train accident last April, is back on the prowl thanks to Bulgarian veterinary surgeon Vladislav Zlatinov. He is the first vet in Europe to successfully apply the pioneering method of Irish neuro-orthopaedic surgeon Noel Fitzpatrick, who shot to fame in 2009 when making Oscar the first bionic cat by fitting him with new hind legs in Britain. (Photo by Nikolay Doychinov/AFP Photo)