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The Picture Show
7:11 am
Fri October 12, 2012

'Vintage Black Glamour' Exposes Little-Known Cultural History

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Credit Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images
That's Bananas: "Whether [Josephine Baker's] getting a pedicure or she's walking down the street or she's relaxing in a yard somewhere, I just love the variety of pictures of her," Gainer says. "The banana skirt is a part of who she was, it's the most famous thing, but it just annoys me when that's just the only thing. ... There was a lot more to her than that."
Credit Robert Scurlock / The Smithsonian Institution
Actress Fredi Washington circa 1940s. Washington played Peola in the 1934 Academy Award-nominated Imitation of Life.
Credit The Schomburg Center
Langston Hughes, Charles S. Johnson, E. Franklin Frazier, Rudolph Fisher and Hubert Delany (brother of the Delany Sisters) overlooking St. Nicholas Avenue in Harlem in the 1920s.
Credit William Gottlieb / Library of Congress
Duke Ellington, amid "his 20 suits, 15 shirts, suede shoes and his ever present piano" in his dressing room at the Paramount Theater in New York in September 1946.
Credit Robert Scurlock / The Smithsonian Institution
Argentine dancer instructing a group of young women behind her in a dance at Howard University in February 1963.
Credit Scurlock Studios / The Smithsonian Institution
Camille Nickerson was noted for her research on the music and culture of Louisiana Creoles. She earned a B.A. and an M.A. from Oberlin College and also studied at Juilliard and Columbia University. Nickerson collected, arranged and published Creole folk songs and, during the 1930s to 1950s, lectured and performed as "The Louisiana Lady."
Credit William Lovelace / Getty Images
Lena Horne, the sultry American singer who appeared in several musicals in the '40s and was a regular of the Cotton Club, trying on a dress May 4, 1956.
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Originally published on Fri October 12, 2012 2:03 pm

I was scrolling through my Tumblr feed a year or so ago, when I saw a photo of Joyce Bryant. The caption said she was once dubbed the "black Marilyn Monroe" and was mentioned many times in Walter Winchell's gossip column.

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The Two-Way
6:36 am
Fri October 12, 2012

You Thought The VP Debate Was Feisty? Things Got Physical In California

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Democratic Reps. Howard L. Berman and Brad Sherman face off in a debate.
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By Eyder Peralta

Originally published on Fri October 12, 2012 7:25 am

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The Salt
5:48 am
Fri October 12, 2012

The Secret To Genius? It Might Be More Chocolate

Credit John Loo / Flickr.com
A Swiss cardiologist plots a cheeky graph that shows a country's chocolate consumption may predict its chances of winning a Nobel.
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By editor

Originally published on Fri October 12, 2012 2:13 pm

Nerds, rejoice! It's Nobel season — the Oscars for lab rats, peacemakers and cognoscenti alike. Every fall, big thinkers around the world wait for a middle-of-the-night phone call from Sweden, dreaming of what they might do with the $1.2 million prize.

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The Two-Way
5:33 am
Fri October 12, 2012

Japanese Utility Admits For First Time That Nuclear Disaster Was Avoidable

Credit Anonymous / AP
Smoke rises from Unit No. 3 of the stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant after the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
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By editor

Originally published on Fri October 12, 2012 10:14 am

In a dramatic reversal, Tokyo Electric Power Co. admitted for the first time that if it had fixed known safety issues, Japan's nuclear disaster following the March 2011 tsunami could have been avoided.

The Associated Press says the utility company made the admission in a statement released Friday. The AP reports the company said it delayed implementing the safety measures because of political, economic and legal pressures.

The AP adds:

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The Two-Way
5:18 am
Fri October 12, 2012

Pakistan Arrests Three Men In Taliban Shooting Of 15-Year-Old Girl

Credit T. Mughal / EPA /LANDOV
Malala Yousafzai in March 2012.
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By Eyder Peralta

Authorities have arrested three men suspected of having a role in the shooting of Malala Yousafzai, the 15-year-old activist who demanded an education for girls.

NBC News reports:

"Police said the suspects, aged between 17 and 22, had claimed the person who organized the attack Tuesday — in which two other young girls were shot and injured — was a man called Attaullah."

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