From the 1940s through the 1960s, the Alfred Mainzer Company of Long Island City, NY published a series of linen and photochrome humorous cat postcards illustrated by Eugen Hartung (or Hurtong) (1897–1973), sometimes referred to as “Mainzer Cats”. These postcards normally illustrate settings that are filled with action, often with a minor disaster just about to occur. While the dressed cats were by far the most popular and most plentiful cards, Hartung also painted other dressed animals – primarily mice, dogs, and hedgehogs.

Zhang Shifan's sixth-generation facekinis in Shandong Province, Qingdao, East China. A woman credited with inventing the bizarre swimwear known as the “facekini” has now proudly presented the sixth generation of the iconic beach clothing. The new facekini models are not only more comfortable, they also come in a wider variety of colours and patterns, bringing both style and practicality to beach-goers in Qingdao City, in East China's Shandong Province, who fear tan lines. (Photo by CEN)

File photo dated 21/04/66 of Pattie Boyd in London's West End wearing a mini skirt, as the British designer Mary Quant, widely credited with popularising the mini skirt has recalled its “feeling of freedom and liberation” 50 years after she took the fashion world by storm. Quant, who named the skirt after her favourite make of car, said she “couldn't have imagined” in 1964 that it would become a staple of women's clothing, but added: “It seemed then to be obvious, and so right”. (Photo by PA Wire)

Occupy Denver protesters dance on an American flag on November 5, 2011 in Denver, Colorado. Hundreds of the demonstrators marched through downtown Denver, denouncing the U.S. Federal Reserve and urging customers to close their accounts with large banks and deposit their funds into local credit unions. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

Tim Laman is a field biologist and wildlife photojournalist. His pioneering research in the rain forest canopy in Borneo led to a PhD from Harvard and his first National Geographic article in 1997. Since then, he has pursued his passion for exploring wild places and documenting little-known and endangered wildlife by becoming a regular contributor to National Geographic. He has eighteen articles to his credit to date, all of which have had a conservation message. Some have focused on endangered species such as Orangutans or Hornbills, while others, such as a series of articles on Conservation International’s Biodiversity Hotspots, have highlighted regions under intense pressure.

Cheng Liping, whose husband Ju was onboard Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 which disappeared on March 8, 2014, shows a picture of she and her husband together and an old card with a message given by her husband, at a park near her house where she and her husband used to visit during an interview with Reuters in Beijing July 24, 2014. Cheng said her life has been totally changed since the incident. Their two little sons, who don't know about this incident, keep asking her when their dad is coming back. Six months after Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, with 239 mostly Chinese people on board, disappeared about an hour into a routine journey from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing March 8, loved ones of missing passengers derive what comfort they can from what's left behind after the world's greatest aviation mystery. More than two dozen countries have been involved in the air, sea and underwater search for the Boeing 777 but months of sorties failed to turn up any trace – even after narrowing the search area to the southern Indian Ocean – long after batteries on the black box voice and data recorders had gone flat. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

“Der Jen (Dezhen; 德珍繪館) has achieved fame in her homeland and that fame is now spreading to other parts of the world as more and more people become familiar with her beautiful paintings. This Taiwanese artist depicts these beautiful ladies in classic, traditional dress that would have been worn by members of the royal court or an empress herself. Traditional hair styles and jewelry depicted in her pieces are also considered authentic. Der Jens art can be found in Chinese advertising, childrens magazines, romance novels, tarot cards, and even on public transit tickets. Its also making its way to our pcs as desktop wallpaper”.

Photo: Der Jen (Dezhen; 德珍繪館) – “The beauty of Brocade” (please click to enlarge).