Scrolling online these days often feels predictable. Social media is filled with either vitriolic, divisive content or the same manufactured images from creators who strive for perfection.
But sometimes we come across awesome content that compels us to share it or stop what we’re doing and dig deeper. You may find that kind of content in this subreddit, with a name that perfectly captures what it is all about.
Here are some posts from the group that may spark your curiosity today. Enjoy scrolling, and upvote the ones that hook you and make you want to know more.
#1
Meet Bessie Stringfield, the Black woman who rode a Harley solo across Jim Crow America eight times in the 1930s and 40s. She slept on her bike when hotels turned her away, won a flat track race disguised as a man, carried Army dispatches in WWII and became the Motorcycle Queen of Miami.
Image source: dannydutch1
#2
Elvis adjusting the robe he gave to Muhammad Ali before Ali’s fight against Joe Bugner that night., February 14, 1973. Photo by Neil Leifer. “I was the Elvis of boxing!” – Muhammad Ali.
Image source: dannydutch1
#3
The Volkswagen “Wedding Beetle,” a fully functional car with a floral wrought iron bodycreated by mexican blacksmith rafael esparza-prieto in 1968, it was originally built to attract customers to an auto parts business.
Image source: anon
Most of us use the word “cool” to describe something we deem amazing, yet many may not know where it came from. For the uninformed, the word’s modern usage traces back to the Second World War, thanks to African American Jazz musicians in the 1940s.
As author and educator Joel Dinerstein explains: “An icon of cool is a person who has created or inspired social change through art, protest, or popular culture.”
#4
Christopher Lee as Lord Summerisle, behind the scenes in the folk-horror The Wicker Man, 1972. He took no fee for his role and called it the best film he ever made. Edward Woodward said he’d “never been so frightened on any job”, and Britt Ekland insisted on a b*m double.
Image source: dannydutch1
#5
Apollo astronauts used a computer keyboard with just 19 keys to help land on the moon.
Image source: EaterofGrief
#6
Gustaf Håkansson “The grandfather made of iron” (bearded chap in the picture) was 65 years old 1951. He wanted to compete with the swedish elites on a bicycle race from Haparanda to Ystad which is around 1760 km. He was told he was too old but still came first.
Image source: dannydutch1
According to Dinerstein, the word itself first came from Lester Young, a star saxophonist from the Count Basie Orchestra. At the time, he used it to describe feeling safe, relaxed, and laid-back.
It also had a political context, as it was used as a protest for the racial segregation during the Jim Crow Era.
#7
Norwegian champion speed skater Oscar Mathisen (1888–1954), posing with his honors and victory medals in the 1910s.
Mathisen won the World Allround Championship five times, claimed three European titles, and set 14 world records.
Image source: GlitterDanger
#8
Carved from an abandoned limestone quarry in central Sweden, Dalhalla is a breathtaking open-air theatre. Located just north of Lake Siljan and the municipality of Rättvik in Dalarna,.
Image source: GlitterDanger
#9
Jorkiam Samba Mampuya, a young boy from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic Congo, built a football stadium model entirely from old cardboard. He would someday like to become an architect.
Artistic expression has no boundaries.
Image source: WithoutPrinciples
“‘I’m cool’ meant ‘I’m keeping it together—in mind and spirit—against oppressive social forces,’” Dinerstein wrote, explaining how people used the word in this context.
Dinerstein further noted that the word cool had been around a little while longer in the 1930s. At the time, people used it to calm someone down from emotional stress.
#10
In 1943 a man and his German Shepherd took some time out to pop into a photobooth in Grand Central, NYC. I’m glad they did.
Image source: ThreatLevelAldi
#11
Steve Wozniak and David Lee Roth backstage at the US Festival in May 1983. Wozniak, the Apple co-founder, actually organized and financed the massive music festival, where Van Halen headlined Heavy Metal Sunday.
Image source: EaterofGrief
#12
Bette Davis was the only white performer who agreed to be part of Hattie McDaniel’s performing troupe to entertain Black servicemen during WWII.
Image source: JohnWilkesLeg
Everyone wants to be branded as “cool” in their own right. So much so that academics have their own “Theory of coolness” and the four traits that may define a person as such.
According to behavioral scientist and marketing professor Dr. Lalin Anik, these four As are Autonomy, Authenticity, Attitude, and Association.
#13
Clotilde Olyff, a Belgian Type Designer, has collected several alphabets of rocks found on the beach.
Image source: onwhatcharges
#14
23 yr-old Hans Zimmer poses with the massive Moog synthesizer originally built by Robert Moog and used by Wendy Carlos for “Switched-On Bach.” (Purchased from Chris Franke of Tangerine Dream).
Image source: onwhatcharges
#15
H.R. Giger wearing his self-created safety pin sunglasses, 1979.
Image source: dannydutch1
According to Dr. Anik, autonomy is the “number-one dimension” of coolness. It refers to people who do their own thing and go against conventional expectations.
Authenticity needs no further explanation. But as Dr. Anik clarifies, it is also about carrying yourself in a way that is true to your own personality and character.
#16
This is Helen Hulick, a burglary witness, who caused a stir in a downtown LA courtroom by wearing slacks in 1938.…
Hulick was quoted in the LA Times saying, “You tell the judge I will stand on my rights. If he orders me to change into a dress I won’t do it. I like slacks. They’re comfortable.”.
Image source: EaterofGrief
#17
Sigourney Weaver trying out a flamethrower for Alien on the lawns at Shepperton Studios in 1978.
Image source: GlitterDanger
#18
Big Mama Thornton and Muddy Waters, alongside members of his Chicago Blues Band, pictured on the back stairs of the Boarding House Club in San Francisco – photo by Jim Marshall, 1965.
Image source: ExtremeInsert
In this context, attitude is about confidence. While it is the “rebellion against the mundane,” Dr. Anik says it should also capture “casual effortlessness.”
Finally, association is more about attaching to someone or something that has already attained “cool” status. Dr. Anik says it is “helpful but not essential.”
#19
Ella Fitzgerald at Mister Kelly’s nightclub, Chicago, 1958.
Image source: anon
#20
Ted Williams in the bat vault at Hillerich & Bradsby in Louisville, doing what he loved almost as much as hitting: choosing the wood.Williams signed with the company in 1937 when he was 18, for $15 and two bats. His first trip to the factory came in the spring of 1941 with Bobby Doerr.
Image source: JohnWilkesLeg
#21
At a birthday party at John Lennon’s New York apartment in 1984, Steve Jobs introduces the Macintosh to Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Kenny Scharf, and John Lennon’s son, Sean.
Image source: WithoutPrinciples
Coolness can be hard to define in a few simple words. But when you see it, you’ll recognize it immediately. It can be through a genius invention, a mesmerizing moment between two people, or just a snapshot with a fascinating backstory, much like what you saw on this list.
Now, let’s flip the conversation over to you, dear reader. Which of these images made you say, “Well, that’s pretty darn cool”? We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments!
#22
Henderson KJ Streamliner. The two-wheeled counterpart to the Phantom Corsair. (1934)
In the 1930s, designers became fascinated with streamlining. Trains, automobiles, airplanes and even household appliances acquired smooth curves intended to suggest speed and modernity.
Image source: CarkWithaM
#23
Roy Orbison, mid-1960s, riding a home-built go-kart.
Image source: GlitterDanger
#24
Shirley MacLaine with her brother, Warren Beatty in 1942.
Image source: EaterofGrief
#25
Inside the walls of Mont Saint-Michel, France.
Image source: CarkWithaM
#26
Susanna Hoffs jumping like an Olympian (with a nice Rickenbacker).
Image source: dannydutch1
#27
Keith Moon dressed as a Court Jester for the children of the Barnardo Day Centre, 1977.
Image source: WithoutPrinciples
#28
This is popularly known as the “Double Statue of Mephistopheles & Margaretta”, the sculpture is carved out of a single log of sycamore wood and has two distinct images on either side. It was acquired by Mir Turab Ali Khan (Salar Jung I), in 1876 during his travels in France.
Image source: CarkWithaM
#29
On this day in 1957, Carrie Fisher was born in Burbank, California, USA. She was best known for playing Princess Leia in the Star Wars film series. Here she is watching her mother Debbie Reynolds perform on stage. (1963).
Image source: GlitterDanger
#30
Joan Baez posing with Charlie Watts, Mick Jagger, Brian Jones, and Keith Richards in Glasgow, October 1965. Photo by Rene Hollinger.
Image source: dannydutch1
#31
Andre the Giant (left) with Lee Majors in a promotional shot for the Bigfoot episode of The Six Million Dollar Man in 1976.
Image source: CarkWithaM
#32
British TV, film and stage actor Peter Wyngarde pointing at his smashing triple pleated trousers along side Sally Anne Howes. I’m unsure about the exact date but I think its safe to say it was from the 1970s.
Image source: dannydutch1
#33
In April 1956, the 21-year-old rising star Sophia Loren participated in the “Rally del Cinema”, a highly publicized celebrity car race across Italy that blended post-war cinematic glamour with mid-century sports car culture.
Image source: JohnWilkesLeg
#34
Meet Aviator Bessie Coleman, the first African-American woman and first Native-American woman hold a pilot’s licence. Also the earliest known black person to obtain an international pilot’s license from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale in 1921.
Image source: EaterofGrief
#35
Since 2009, artist Harriet Mena Hill has collected concrete fragments from London’s Aylesbury Estate as the massive social housing complex is demolished in phases.
On these irregular chunks of rubble, Hill paints precise miniature facades of the building as it once stood.
Image source: GlitterDanger
#36
Steven Meisel photographed Audrey Hepburn for the May 1991 issue of Vanity Fair, with makeup by Kevyn Aucoin. It turned out to be one of the last major photo sessions of her life. By then she was spending most of her time working as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
Image source: No_Dig_8299
#37
In 1859, a bankrupt San Francisco businessman called Joshua Norton declared himself Emperor of the United States. Instead of locking him up, the city fed him for free, saluted him in the street, and gave him a full ceremonial reburial when he passed. His funeral drew up to 30,000 mourners.
Image source: dannydutch1
#38
Welsh musician and record producer John Cale, in London in 1977, looking very comfortable with his 1970 Dino 246 GT Ferrari. Photograph by Kate Simon.
Image source: JohnWilkesLeg
#39
Jack Nicholson celebrating his 89th birthday with Joni Mitchell earlier this week.
Image source: ExtremeInsert
#40
Carrie Fisher trying on Peter Weller’s glasses during a Giorgio Armani fashion show, 1980.
Image source: No_Dig_8299
#41
In 1982, a 23-year-old architecture student named Elspeth Beard left London on a motorcycle with £2,500 and no real plan. She crashed twice, got hepatitis, forged her own travel permits in the Himalayas, and used her helmet as a burka to cross Iran in seven days during a health crisis.
Image source: dannydutch1
#42
Behind the scenes of The Misfits, the final completed film from both Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable. Released in 1961.
Image source: dannydutch1
#43
These images feature a 12-year-old Christopher Walken (or Ronald “Ronnie” Walken as he was known then), preparing to perform as a clownphotographed circa 1955 by Al Barry for the Three Lions agency at Walken’s family home in Bayside, Long Island.
Image source: dannydutch1
#44
Earliest known drawings of Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner by Chuck Jones, circa 1945.
Image source: ExtremeInsert
#45
Metallica bassist Cliff Burton showing off his skull rings backstage in the 1980s, and his dad Ray recreating the exact same pose in 2016 at age 90, for the book Metallica: Back to the Front.
Image source: dannydutch1
#46
Eric Idle, Mick Jagger and John Belushi. Doesn’t get much more 70s than this.
Image source: CarkWithaM
#47
Cher, Sonny Bono, Twiggy, Steve McQueen, and Dean Martin’s son, Dean Paul Martin The car is Steve McQueen’s Jaguar XKSS and only 9 were sold at the time. It’s value today, about $35,000,000.
Image source: dannydutch1
#48
A 1967 Oldsmobile Toronado that had been customized by George Barris for Expo 67 in Montreal.
Image source: EaterofGrief
#49
Tough One-Eye Pete circa 1890.
Sending love to Pete, psps psps from 2026.
Image source: EaterofGrief
#50
Actors Cesar Romero (foreground) and Adam West (background) photographed on set for the Batman episode “Surf’s Up! Joker’s Under!”. Circa 1966.
Image source: dannydutch1
#51
Meet Aimée Crocker, she inherited $10m at the age of 10. By the time she passed in 1941, she’d survived a train wreck on her honeymoon, had a custody fight that involved a drawn pistol, been given an island by the King of Hawaii, married 5 men and had been tattooed by a Japanese master.
Image source: dannydutch1
#52
James Dean and Elizabeth Taylor having fun together at the Texas State Fair in Dallas during a weekend break from filming their movie, Giant, in 1955.
Image source: EaterofGrief
#53
Diana Dors posing with her custom 1949 Delahaye Type 175 S Saoutchik Roadster, 1955.
Image source: EaterofGrief
#54
Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford photographed at the “The Empire Strikes Back” premiere. (1980).
Image source: onwhatcharges
#55
The Eero Saarinen-designed TWA Terminal at JFK Airport, New York City, 1964. Flying used to be a very cool thing. Photo by Thomas Nebbia.
Image source: SausageandTits
#56
Muhammad Ali visiting Bob Dylan backstage at Madison Square Garden during the star-studded Night of the Hurricane benefit concert, December 8, 1975. Photo by Ken Regan.
Image source: EaterofGrief
#57
People going about their day looking super smooth. Harlem, New York. 1971. Photo by Jack Garofalo.
Image source: onwhatcharges
#58
Various images from old school Hollywood at play. Starting with Clark Gable and his 1932 Packard Twin Six 905 Coupe Roadster.
Image source: ExtremeInsert
#59
Jugendstil hydroelectric power station, built in 1905 in Heimbach, Germany. Designed by architect Georg Frentzen (1854–1923), the power station is still in operation.
Image source: JohnWilkesLeg
#60
Ann-Margret leading Elvis Presley on a pair of Honda scooters on the MGM lot during the filming of Viva Las Vegas, summer 1963.
Image source: dannydutch1
#61
Tina Turner, Nicole and Nikita Blount in the Mojave Desert, 1993. Photo by Peter Lindbergh.
Image source: dannydutch1
#62
Meryl Streep as Daisy Mae in Bernards High School’s production of Li’l Abner, Bernardsville, New Jersey, 1966.
Image source: GlitterDanger
#63
Patti Smith and John Belushi backstage at Saturday Night Live, April 17, 1976. Photo by Allan Tannenbaum. The host was Ron Nessen, President Gerald Ford’s press secretary, and Ford himself turned up on film to say “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night”.
Image source: dannydutch1
#64
Meet the Fifth Marquess of Anglesey, Henry Cyril Paget, 1900. One of history’s most eccentric aristocrats who lived fast and passed aged 29 after frittering away £200 million (in today’s money)on fancy dress.
Image source: GlitterDanger
#65
Just a reminder that Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart’s Halloween costumes are always on peak.
Image source: dannydutch1
#66
The cast warm up and stretch prior to shooting the Prologue number in West Side Story (1961).
Image source: EaterofGrief
#67
Buddy Holly hanging out in a hotel room with Don and Phil Everly in 1958.
Image source: dannydutch1
#68
A brilliant publicity photo for Buster Keaton’s 1922 short film, The Electric House.
Image source: dannydutch1
#69
Butterfly Boy, by Jerome Liebling, New York, 1949.
Image source: EaterofGrief
#70
A swagman using a hollowed gum tree as a campsite, 1880. A swagman was a transient labourer who travelled by foot from farm to farm carrying his belongings in a swag (bedroll).
The term originated in Australia in the 19th-century and was later used in New Zealand.
Image source: GlitterDanger
#71
Elvis Presley (left) B.B. King (right) at the Goodwill Revue held at Memphis’s Ellis Auditorium in 1957, captured by photographer Ernest C. Withers.
Image source: EaterofGrief
#72
Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash, Hendersonville Roller Rink, Tennessee – 1987
Johnny rented the roller rink for a private party to celebrate Shooter Jennings becoming his godson.. Photographer, Alan Messer.
Image source: GlitterDanger
#73
Nothing beats the interior dashboard of a 1985 Nissan 300ZX.
Image source: GlitterDanger
#74
A beautiful example of Brazilian modernism Casa das Canoas designed by architect Oscar Niemeyer Rio de Janeiro, 1951.
Image source: EaterofGrief
#75
Norway’s World Cup team photo is pretty much cool.
Image source: GlitterDanger
#76
Black Sabbath, Thin Lizzy and Van Halen, September 23, 1978, at Anaheim Stadium in California during the Summerfest music festival. While Thin Lizzy was not officially on the bill, members of the band were hanging out backstage.
Image source: No_Dig_8299
#77
In the 1920s and 1930s, sheep were routinely introduced into London parks to keep the grass under control and reduce mowing costs. Shepherds competed for the privilege of grazing their flocks on Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, Clapham Common and other pastures around the city.
Image source: No_Dig_8299
#78
Peter Tork of The Monkees and Janis Joplin among the crowd at the Monterey Pop Festival, June 1967. Photo by Henry Diltz.
Image source: No_Dig_8299
#79
102 years ago, Aidan de Brune completed the first recorded walk around Australia’s perimeter. Leaving Sydney on 20th Sep, 1921, he spent two and a half years on foot before returning on 4th March, 1924, after travelling about 16,190 km (10,060 miles) unaccompanied and unassisted.
Image source: dannydutch1
#80
Today is the birthday of Peter Cooper, whose accomplishments included, among many other things, designing and building the first American steam locomotive and inventing Jelly.
Image source: No_Dig_8299
#81
On this day in 1957 Paul McCartney first met John Lennon at the Woolton Village Fete when Lennon was singing with his band The Quarrymen. Fast forward to Oct. 14, and this is McCartney’s first performance with the band.
Image source: dannydutch1
#82
Coach James Caan with his T Ball team, 1983.
Image source: onwhatcharges
#83
Diana Rigg as Mrs. Emma Peel seen in color for the first time in this 1966 promotional short “The Strange Case of the Missing Corpse” to promote the upcoming color season of ‘The Avengers’.
Image source: DynastyFan85
#84
Today marks 210 years since Henry Paget lost his leg to a cannonball at Waterloo, cracked a joke mid-amputation, came back to dine at the blood-stained table, and watched his severed limb get its own tombstone, spark a diplomatic row, and end up in a furnace.
Image source: dannydutch1
#85
Jack Benny, Herb Vigran, Mel Blanc and a very young Harry Shearer at a table reading for the Jack Benny Program (1953).
Image source: ExtremeInsert
#86
Keith Moon of The Who demonstrating a drum technique for his 12-year-old godson, Zak Starkey, at Drum City music shop in London back on September 13, 1977. Taken on Zak’s 12th birthday, “Uncle Keith” brought Ringo Starr’s son to the shop and bought him his very first real drum kit.
Image source: SteveNtheseagulls
#87
Miles Davis looking super cool!
Image source: JohnWilkesLeg
#88
Elvis and Charles Bronson on the set of Kid Galahad in 1962.
Image source: WithoutPrinciples
#89
“First the man takes the drink, then the drink takes the man.” Made from bronze, glass, and silver patina by Thomas Lerooy in 2014.
Image source: ExtremeInsert
#90
This is a very gorgeous carved shell and engraved gilt sewing kit lined with blue silk, Made in Paris, c. 1815-1820.
Image source: CarkWithaM
#91
Grace Jones with Cab Calloway during his 85th birthday celebration in New York.
Image source: dannydutch1
#92
Dennis Hopper, John Ford and John Huston by Victor Skrebneski, Palm Springs, 1971.
Image source: anon
#93
A young Billy Connolly during his time serving with the Territorial Army Reserve in the 15th (Scottish) Battalion, the Parachute Regiment. Early 1970s.
Image source: dannydutch1
#94
Steve McQueen in his office in Los Angeles, 1969. Photo by Milton Greene.
Image source: JohnWilkesLeg
#95
Keith Richards with his dog Boogie outside the Coventry Theatre, 1971. Photo by Christopher Lawrence.
Image source: UtterlyInterest
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