Dior Born: The Man Behind Fashion's New Look
He was a prisoner of war for two years in Germany and came out with a desire to make elegant things for a world that had almost stopped believing in them. Christian Dior launched his fashion house in February 1947 with what critics called the New Look: long skirts, nipped waists, a silhouette that reversed wartime fabric rationing. Women cried in the shows. Men wrote outraged op-eds about frivolity. It didn't matter. Women wanted it. He died of a heart attack in Montecatini, Italy, in 1957 at fifty-two, a decade into a house that has now outlasted him by seventy years.
January 21, 1905
121 years ago
What Else Happened on January 21
Blood pooled in the dusty plains outside Kufa. The Alid rebellion—led by Muhammad ibn Abdullah—had gambled everything on this moment. But the Abbasid caliphate'…
Ibrahim's rebellion burned bright—and brief. Just months after launching his challenge to Abbasid authority, he lay dead on the dusty battlefield near Kufa, his…
Philip II of France and Richard I of England set aside their bitter territorial rivalries to mobilize their armies for the Third Crusade. This uneasy alliance r…
He'd been waiting years. Alfons III didn't just want another island—he wanted strategic control of the Mediterranean trade routes. And Minorca? A jewel ripe for…
Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, and a dozen followers baptized each other in Zurich, founding the Anabaptist movement and breaking a millennium of church-state union…
King Francis I ordered the execution of several French Protestants by fire outside Notre-Dame de Paris, responding to the public appearance of anti-Catholic pos…
Talk to History
Have a conversation with historical figures who witnessed this era. Ask questions, explore perspectives, and bring history to life.