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An aerialist smoking while rehearsing for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in Sarasota, FL in 1949. (Photo By Nina Leen/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)

In 1949, LIFE magazine sent famed photographer Nina Leen to document the daily life of a sassy troupe of young women who had run off and joined the famous Barnum & Bailey Circus in Sarasota, Fla. What developed was a portrait of a sisterhood formed over acrobatics that mixed high-flying wire acts with fashionable high-waisted shorts. Sarasota was once considered “the home of the American circus”. Here: an aerialist smoking while rehearsing for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in Sarasota, FL in 1949. (Photo By Nina Leen/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)
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06 Sep 2015 14:22:00


A member of the Eton public school O.T.C. (Officers Training Corps) practising shouting out orders during a training session, 20th January 1940. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
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04 Jun 2011 06:46:00


Couples take part in a Valentine's Day attempt to break the record for the world's largest simultaneous gay kiss on February 14, 2004 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images)
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06 May 2011 10:34:00
1912:  Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (1874 - 1965), British Statesman and Prime Minister inspecting the boys from a training ship

Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (1874–1965), British Statesman and Prime Minister inspecting the boys from a training ship. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images). 1912
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17 Feb 2012 12:51:00
The moon shines through trees at a United Nations displacement camp at dusk

The moon shines through trees at a United Nations displacement camp at dusk on March 14, 2011 in Ras Jdir, Tunisia. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
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21 Feb 2012 13:03:00
1955: A pornographer posing as a fashion photographer sets up a photoshoot with an unsuspecting model, in the hope of getting some illicit footage. He suggests she try wearing something a little more suggestive

A pornographer posing as a fashion photographer sets up a photoshoot with an unsuspecting model, in the hope of getting some illicit footage. He suggests she try wearing something a little more suggestive. (Photo by Pryor/Three Lions/Getty Images). Circa 1955
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01 Oct 2011 12:48:00
Women in Chicago being arrested for wearing one piece bathing suits, without the required leg coverings, 1922

Women in Chicago being arrested for wearing one piece bathing suits, without the required leg coverings. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images). 1922
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25 Oct 2011 13:39:00
Imagine living in the sea where it is permanently dark, cold, and food is hard to find. For many animals at depth, it may be weeks to months between meals. If you find something to eat, you have to hang on to it

Imagine living in the sea where it is permanently dark, cold, and food is hard to find. For many animals at depth, it may be weeks to months between meals. If you find something to eat, you have to hang on to it. This is why so many deep-sea fishes have lots of big teeth. This dragonfish, spotted off the coast of Australia, even has teeth on its tongue. They would be terrifying animals ... if they weren’t the size of a banana. (Photo by Julian Finn/Museum Victoria)
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21 May 2012 12:14:00