Jerrie Cobb, 1960
People often think of astronauts as being overwhelmingly men, but did you know that women have been part of the global space travel effort for many decades, even though they’ve had to fight through various glass ceilings to make their way through.
Here we can see Jerrie Cobb in her astronaut training, learning how to control the spin of a tumbling spacecraft as it moves through space. Cobb made history when she was the first woman to pass all three phases of the Mercury Astronaut Program. Out of this world!
Jean Cocteau, 1961
French playwright Jean Cocteau was a creative master of many trades, excelling as a poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist, and critic throughout the course of his long and varied career.
Here he can be seen at a cocktail party he threw in Paris in 1961, posing inside a giant bird cage. The party was in honor of his new play Théâtre Forain, just one of the many masterpieces this creative genius gave to the world of French theater. Oo la la!