The following is adapted from the introduction to LIFE’s newcspecial issue 100 Photographs: The Most Important Pictures of All Time and the Stories Behind Them, available at newsstands …

Here’s how LIFE described the painting’s journey from Paris to Washington in December 1962. Surrounded by grandeur that would have done credit to Charles de Gaulle, she had travelled …

All 800 paratroopers landed safely (including Kuhl, who snapped a photo on the way down for LIFE), despite encountering some initial sniper fire. But the mission itself was an anticlimax.

LIFE Magazine shares historical photos of the New York City subway from the 20th century.

Explore World War II within the LIFE photography vault, one of the most prestigious & privately held archives from the US & around the World.

In an age when attaining a satisfying work-life balance seems virtually impossible, and at a time when everyone is constantly asked to do more, achieve more, be better or risk feeling less …

It its coverage of the first Dodgers game in their new home in its April 28, 1958 issue, LIFE wryly noted: “In the cavernous coliseum many had trouble seeing the game at all.

In 1968 LIFE magazine summed up the appeal of French philosopher and author Albert Camus with a single sentence: “Camus looked directly into the darkness as saw sun—the human …

Most photos of LIFE’s photos of Cooper’s funeral focused on the mourners, but some showed the crowd. While some onlookers were no doubt attracted by the celebrities, many look as if they …

During the heyday of LIFE magazine’s original run racing was pretty much the top sport on the continent, and in 1953 the magazine sent staff photographer Frank Scherschel to cover one of …