Bill Syken

In 1951 the people of Goose Rocks Beach wanted to move a meeting hall from nearly Kennebunkport up the coast to use as a community house. The question was, how to get the structure to its new location? The innovative answer: float it on the ocean. LIFE re... See more

Michael Jackson appeared in LIFE when he was a mere 13 years old, but already famous as the lead singer of The Jackson Five. The photo, by John Olson, was part of a memorable cover story on musicians posing with their parents. But soon after that photo ra... See more

When it comes to clothing, red is not just another color. It is worn by monarchs and devils, and in general by people comfortable with having all eyes on them. A history of the red dress in Europe’s NSS magazine noted that “there are animals that have evo... See more

Margarine became a source of political controversy in the U.S. soon after its arrival in the 1870s. The spread had been invented in France in 1869 by a chemist who had been encouraged by the Emperor Louis Napoleon III to create a cheap alternative to butt... See more

The World War II years were a tough time to be a young American man, with the draft carrying many of them away from home and into battle. In 1945, 12 million men served in the U.S. military. That in turn posed a dilemma for many young women. Back then a w... See more