Iraq's second largest city, Mosul, is locked under the rule of extremists from the Islamic State group trying to purge it of everything they see as contradicting their stark vision of Islam. A trove of photographs now housed at the Library of Congress offers a glimpse of a different Mosul – before wars, insurgency, sectarian strife and now radicals' rule. The scenes were taken in the autumn of 1932 by staff from the American Colony Photo Department during a visit to Iraq at the end of the British mandate. (Photo by AP Photo)

Performers wearing 19th century French military uniforms fire their weapons as they attack Allied forces during a reenactment of the Battle of the Nations, in a field in the village of Markkleeberg near Leipzig October 20, 2013. The east German city of Leipzig commemorated the 200th anniversary of the largest battle of the Napoleonic Wars on Sunday by reenacting the Battle of the Nations, with 6,000 military-historic association enthusiasts from all over Europe. The decisive encounter in which tens of thousands of soldiers were killed, took place from October 17-19, 1813, just outside of Leipzig. At the height of the hostilities Napoleon fielded more than 200,000 men against an Allied force of some 360,000 soldiers which included troops from Russia, Austria, Prussia and Sweden. (Photo by Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters)

A female referee counts as member of Uganda's Soft Ground Wrestling is pinned to the ground during a training session at their camp in Mukono on February 28, 202. Uganda's Soft Ground Wrestling is getting attention worldwide and becoming an Internet sensation. Members showcase their wrestling skills on their YouTube channel, performing inside makeshift bamboo ring posts with string ropes and soil. Currently, Soft Ground Wrestling has 200 members, most of them from unprivileged backgrounds, and include both men and women training vigorously as they dream of becoming professional wrestlers. (Photo by Badru Katumba/AFP Photo)

Online hostess Xianggong (L) and other hostesses check their pictures as they gather around the photographer while taking part in a football-themed photoshoot at a photography studio in Beijing March 4, 2015. In China's online hostessing world, men find virtual company and the women can find riches. Xianggong is one of more than 10,000 hostesses on the internet site bobo.com, a live broadcasting web platform where anyone can record themselves singing, playing piano, dancing or just chatting. (Photo by Jason Lee/Reuters)

People fall down as they try to form a human pyramid to break the “Dahi handi”, an earthen pot filled with curd, an integral part of celebrations to mark Janmashtami in Mumbai, India, Monday, August 18, 2014. Hindu devotees take part in the celebration in which an earthen pot is suspended high above the ground and groups of young men and children form a human pyramid to reach the pot and break it. The festival celebrates the birth of Hindu god Lord Krishna, one of the most popular gods in Hinduism. (Photo by Rafiq Maqbool/AP Photo)

“By 1969, the fashion choices of tens of millions of young American men and women were as variegated and ever-evolving as the world around them. Cultural transformation was an irresistible force during the Sixties, and across America and around the globe civil rights, women’s and gay liberation, the sexual revolution and, of course, the explosive soundtrack of R&B, soul and rock and roll informed everything from politics to fashion”. – LIFE. Photo: Corona del Mar High School students Kim Robertson, Pat Auvenshine and Pam Pepin wear “hippie” fashions, 1969. (Photo by Arthur Schatz/Time & Life Pictures)

A Maasai warrior makes the high jump, in which athletes must touch a high line with the top of their heads, at the annual Maasai Olympics in the Sidai Oleng Wildlife Sanctuary near to Mt. Kilimanjaro, in southern Kenya, Saturday, December 13, 2014. Maasai men and women from the Amboseli and Tsavo region compete for medals and prizes in the event which aims for a sports competition of Maasai skills such as running, jumping, and throwing, to replace lion-hunting as the traditional warrior activity. (Photo by Ben Curtis/AP Photo)

A competitor tries to swipe away some grease as he slips off the “gostra”, a pole covered in grease, during the celebrations for the religious feast of St Julian, patron of the town of St Julian's, outside Valletta August 30, 2015. In the traditional “gostra”, a game stretching back to the Middle Ages, young men, women and children have to make their way to the top of a pole and try to uproot one of the flags to win prizes. Photo by Darrin Zammit Lupi/Reuters)