1. Today in 1872, President Grant signed legislation that created Yellowstone National Park, the first such park in the world. Photo: Falls of the Gibbon, made with the NYPL Labs Stereogranimator.

    Today in 1872, President Grant signed legislation that created Yellowstone National Park, the first such park in the world. Photo: Falls of the Gibbon, made with the NYPL Labs Stereogranimator.

  2. For this week’s Mustache Monday, here’s a photo of Winston Churchill’s father, Lord Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill, who was born today in 1849.

    For this week’s Mustache Monday, here’s a photo of Winston Churchill’s father, Lord Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill, who was born today in 1849.

  3. Another fashionable model - Gladys Macauley at the World’s Fair in 1940.

    Another fashionable model - Gladys Macauley at the World’s Fair in 1940.

  4. Fashion Week has started here in New York. In the fashionista spirit, we’ll post some style inspiration to the Tumblr today. Here’s Mary Patricia Codd, who lived at the Hotel Barbizon, an extremely glamorous residence for single young ladies, including many models (read about it in Vanity Fair), visiting the New York World’s Fair in 1940. Meanwhile, are you on Pinterest? Check out our “Fashionably NYPL” board, featuring images from our Digital Gallery.

    Fashion Week has started here in New York. In the fashionista spirit, we’ll post some style inspiration to the Tumblr today.

    Here’s Mary Patricia Codd, who lived at the Hotel Barbizon, an extremely glamorous residence for single young ladies, including many models (read about it in Vanity Fair), visiting the New York World’s Fair in 1940.

    Meanwhile, are you on Pinterest? Check out our “Fashionably NYPL” board, featuring images from our Digital Gallery.

  5. For today’s Mustache Monday, we present Ivan Turgenev, a Russian novelist whom everyone should read. But don’t take our word for it — what does William Dean Howells have to say? I cannot describe the satisfaction his work gave me; I can only impart some sense of it, perhaps, by saying that it was like a happiness I had been waiting for all my life, and now that it had come, I was richly content forever. (From On Turgenev) Start with the classic Fathers and Sons; NYPL has 171 copies just waiting for you.

    For today’s Mustache Monday, we present Ivan Turgenev, a Russian novelist whom everyone should read.

    But don’t take our word for it — what does William Dean Howells have to say?

    I cannot describe the satisfaction his work gave me; I can only impart some sense of it, perhaps, by saying that it was like a happiness I had been waiting for all my life, and now that it had come, I was richly content forever. (From On Turgenev)


    Start with the classic Fathers and Sons; NYPL has 171 copies just waiting for you.

  6. Today’s Mustache Monday - Lord Alfred Tennyson. Break, break, break, On thy cold gray stones, O sea! And I would that my tongue could utter The thoughts that arise in me. - Break, Break, Break

    Today’s Mustache Monday - Lord Alfred Tennyson.

    Break, break, break,
    On thy cold gray stones, O sea!
And I would that my tongue could utter
    The thoughts that arise in me.

    - Break, Break, Break

  7. We’re up to 20,000 followers - thanks to all of you! To keep with the theme, today’s Mustache Monday features Jules Verne, the author of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. (Which you should get around to reading, if you haven’t. Or cheat and get the graphic novel / watch the movie with Kirk Douglas. We won’t tell.) Here’s to the next 20,000!

    We’re up to 20,000 followers - thanks to all of you! To keep with the theme, today’s Mustache Monday features Jules Verne, the author of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. (Which you should get around to reading, if you haven’t. Or cheat and get the graphic novel / watch the movie with Kirk Douglas. We won’t tell.)

    Here’s to the next 20,000!

  8. On this day in 1942, Pan Am scheduled the first flight around the world. In honor of this aviation milestone and the many that both preceded and followed it, flashback Friday is pleased to present this unique image from the Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy: “An airplane over downtown Manhattan, silhouetted against Wall Street skyscrapers.” (International News Photos, Inc.)

    On this day in 1942, Pan Am scheduled the first flight around the world. In honor of this aviation milestone and the many that both preceded and followed it, flashback Friday is pleased to present this unique image from the Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy: “An airplane over downtown Manhattan, silhouetted against Wall Street skyscrapers.” (International News Photos, Inc.)

  9. It’s Mustache Monday!

    Here’s John Bigelow, an American author, editor and diplomat. Among other occupations, he served as editor of the New York Evening Post, inspector of prisons in New York State, United States Consul and Chargé d’Affaires at Paris, France, and Minister to the Court of Napoleon III.

    He also helped create the New York Public Library as we know it, serving as its first president.

    But perhaps most impressive are those sideburns (mutton chops?), which he sported through most of his life (stay tuned for an earlier portrait next week). All hail Bigelow!

  10. It’s Mustache Monday!

    The Hon. Powell Clayton: Union general, US senator, governor of Arkansas, and first ambassador to Mexico. Survived an assassination attempt by Ku Klux Klan members in 1868, when violence ripped through the state during the presidential election, and succeeded in creating Arkansas’ first free public school system despite rampant Republican party in-fighting. Also rocked a great beard we’ll call the “Kentucky Colonel.

    Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture / General Research and Reference Division