LIFE - Today's Top Photos

http://www.life.com/images/logo.png LIFE - Today's Top Photos http://www.life.com/rss/todaystopphotos 2010-03-15 en hourly 1 2000-01-01T00:05+00:00 http://www.life.com/images/logo.png LIFE - Today's Top Photos http://www.life.com/rss/todaystopphotos Celebrity Sightings In New York City - February 11, 2010 http://www.life.com/image/96602652?xid=todaystopphotosrss

NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 11: Naomi Watts seen on the streets of Manhattan on February 11, 2010 in New York City. (Photo by James Devaney/WireImage)]]> Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EDT 96602652

NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 11: Naomi Watts seen on the streets of Manhattan on February 11, 2010 in New York City. (Photo by James Devaney/WireImage)]]> ©2010 See Your World LLC. All rights reserved Celebrity Sightings In New York City - February 11, 2010 http://www.life.com/image/96602648?xid=todaystopphotosrss

NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 11: Naomi Watts seen on the streets of Manhattan on February 11, 2010 in New York City. (Photo by James Devaney/WireImage)]]> Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EDT 96602648

NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 11: Naomi Watts seen on the streets of Manhattan on February 11, 2010 in New York City. (Photo by James Devaney/WireImage)]]> ©2010 See Your World LLC. All rights reserved The Beat of a New Generation http://www.life.com/image/50591361?xid=todaystopphotosrss

Forty years ago, LIFE's photographers and reporters were on the scene when half a million young people -- "lured by music, the country and some strange kind of magic" -- came together on a dairy farm in upstate New York. From Aug. 15-18 of 1969, they created a colorful, amazingly functional community whose ideals would reverberate for much longer than those three days. To celebrate the anniversary of Woodstock, LIFE.com presents the best photos from the festival -- shots that evoke its spirit of peace, love, music, and mud. Pictured: His hair flying, one of the 500,000 bangs a drum at Woodstock. ]]> Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EDT 50591361

This year the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland welcomes five new acts to the roll of inductees, including proto-punk godfathers the Stooges, British Invasion heroes the Hollies, reggae star Jimmy Cliff, art-rockers-turned -Top-40-crooners Genesis, and ABBA, who in the 1970s quickly rose from relative obscurity in Sweden to the biggest thing to hit the disco floor since platform shoes. Here: The band performs for a TV special in 1977.]]> Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EDT 96425301

Sophia Loren (2L) and Mrs. Romilda Villani, attending the wedding of Romano Mussolini to Maria Scicolone. (Photo by David Lees//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)]]> Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EDT 50390608

Sophia Loren (2L) and Mrs. Romilda Villani, attending the wedding of Romano Mussolini to Maria Scicolone. (Photo by David Lees//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)]]> ©2010 See Your World LLC. All rights reserved Wade in the Water, Children http://www.life.com/image/50601839?xid=todaystopphotosrss

A naked couple embraces in a stream, water rushing around them. ]]> Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EDT 50601839

A naked couple embraces in a stream, water rushing around them. ]]> ©2010 See Your World LLC. All rights reserved A.K.A. ABBA: Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny, and Anni-Frid http://www.life.com/image/74726591?xid=todaystopphotosrss

When most people get together for couples night, they might break out Trivial Pursuit or Scattergories. When these four Swedes had couples' nights, they created some of the bestselling songs in history, music that has now earned them a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Pictured: ABBA at a UNICEF concert in NYC, 1979.]]> Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EDT 74726591

The jammed road to Woodstock, wrote LIFE columnist Barry Farrell in a special edition of the magazine, was "like a Day-Glo Ganges cutting through the safe billiard green of Archie and Jughead's America." ]]> ©2010 See Your World LLC. All rights reserved Charles Baudelaire (1821 - 1867): Absinthe, Booze, Opium http://www.life.com/image/50698313?xid=todaystopphotosrss

"Always be drunk ... Get drunk militantly. Just get drunk."]]> Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EDT 50698313

It's either the most eclectic concert lineup of all time, or it's time to induct five new bands into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame again. In this case, it's the latter: Iggy Pop and the Stooges, the Hollies, ABBA, Jimmy Cliff, and Genesis officially joined the ranks of rock gods on March 15 in a song-spangled ceremony at the Waldorf=Astoria in New York City. Pictured: Iggy Pop enjoys the moment.]]> Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EDT 97741909

The Volkswagen bus wasn't always something people automatically associated with Grateful Dead shows and suspiciously stinky "cigarette" smoke. When it first went into production, on March 8, 1950, the VW bus was seen as nothing more and nothing less than an inexpensive, reliable, bigger, boxier version of the Volkswagen Beetle that had proved so popular all over the world. Pictured: Five beautiful versions of VWs in a factory parking lot in 1951, waiting to be shipped to dealers.]]> Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EDT 50648723

The fabulously flamboyant foursome -- then comprised of two sets of couples -- performs the song that broke them into the big time, "Waterloo," at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974.]]> ©2010 See Your World LLC. All rights reserved Curved Barrel Machine Gun, 1953 http://www.life.com/image/3270485?xid=todaystopphotosrss

The 20th century saw many astounding technological innovations. The automobile revolutionized the way people live and work, the internet changed the way people think about information, and the U.S. of A put a man on the moon. But some technological advances that came in the earlier part of the 20th centry weren't exactly meant for the history books. Because they were stupid. Take, for example, this M3 sub-machine gun with a curved barrel for shooting around corners. It's the perfect gun for the "shoot first, look where you're shooting later" kind of guy.]]> Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EDT 3270485

A woman named Psylvia dances in the middle of a crowd. ]]> Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EDT 50588537

A woman named Psylvia dances in the middle of a crowd. ]]> ©2010 See Your World LLC. All rights reserved 17. Rickey Henderson's 1,406 career steals http://www.life.com/image/75889081?xid=todaystopphotosrss

OK, so maybe he was selfish, and full of himself, and not the greatest team player. But Rickey was the single most exciting player of his generation, and a great lead-off hitter, and once he was on the base paths, he could disrupt a game like no one since Jackie Robinson. His stolen-base record is probably safe, if only because it's hard to imagine any player nowadays with the balls to even attempt so many steals.]]> Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EDT 75889081

A papier-mache pig dressed in red, white, and blue welcomes festivalgoers. Somehow, even with 500,000 people crashing an event organizers thought would attract no more than 50,000, Woodstock managed to be a safe, peaceful three-day affair, with inconveniences like rainstorms and supply shortages overshadowed by an overflowing spirit of kinship and community. ]]> Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EDT 53365523

Naked men and women bathe in a small waterfall.]]> Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EDT 53365497

Arrival became the No. 1 album throughout Europe and in Australia, and No. 3 in Japan. "Dancing Queen" hit the No. 1 spot for a single in the U.S. on Billboard's Hot 100. Pictured: The band shows off their gold records in 1976.]]> Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EDT 3140441

Even before she was a leading lady, she was aware of the camera: Marilyn looks directly into LIFE photographer Loomis Dean's lens, as an unidentified gentleman to her left lobbies for her attentions. To her right is the actor Richard Basehart, who accepted a Henrietta that night for the war film Decision Before Dawn. ]]> Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EDT ugc1029492

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Volunteers happily chop veggies. Those who hit up the free-food kitchens run by the Hog Farm hippie commune were asked to bring back whatever they didn't eat.]]> Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EDT ugc1006862

Volunteers happily chop veggies. Those who hit up the free-food kitchens run by the Hog Farm hippie commune were asked to bring back whatever they didn't eat.]]> ©2010 See Your World LLC. All rights reserved Marines Leave the Front Lines at Saipan http://www.life.com/image/51511847?xid=todaystopphotosrss

W. Eugene Smith was one of LIFE's most celebrated photographers. His World War II pictures (like this one at the Battle of Saipan, a pivotal but costly American victory in 1944) are as vivid as any war photos ever taken.]]> Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EDT 51511847

When the fences came down and the crowd ballooned to half a million people, many feared the scene would devolve into chaos and violence. But Woodstock was miraculously peaceful, with minor cuts and scrapes making up the vast majority of "injuries." Even the bad drug trips were easily handled in the medical tents: "Most of the kids just wanted to talk things over... Most were back out listening to music in 10 minutes," the festival's chief medical officer told LIFE.]]> Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EDT 50655377

A man picnics with two boys outside Ken Kesey's psychedlic bus, which carried his Merry Pranksters all the way from San Francisco. (Kesey himself did not attend.) ]]> Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EDT 50461281

A man picnics with two boys outside Ken Kesey's psychedlic bus, which carried his Merry Pranksters all the way from San Francisco. (Kesey himself did not attend.) ]]> ©2010 See Your World LLC. All rights reserved Communal Cleaning http://www.life.com/image/53379672?xid=todaystopphotosrss

Concertgoers gather to wash their clothes their bodies; one woman even shaves her legs. ]]> Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EDT 53379672

Concertgoers gather to wash their clothes their bodies; one woman even shaves her legs. ]]> ©2010 See Your World LLC. All rights reserved Altamont, 1969 http://www.life.com/image/92705903?xid=todaystopphotosrss

If Woodstock represented the metaphorical high-point of the ‘60s, the Altamont Free Festival, which took place four months after Woodstock--on December 6, 1969--was the absolute low. Held just 60 miles from San Francisco and featuring many of the same bands (Santana, the Jefferson Airplane), Atamont flashed a far darker, more violent side of ‘60s counterculture. The Rolling Stones had hired the Hell’s Angels to provide security and, as the crowd became more intoxicated and menacing, the Angels carried pool sticks and other makeshift weapons to push fans away the stage. Before the Stones’ set ended, Hell's Angel Alan Passaro had stabbed gun-wielding fan Meredith Hunter. Hunter died soon after—as did the Aquarian dreams of a decade. ]]> Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EDT 92705903

"The guy with the long hair, playing the guitar up in the tree, or in that thing that looks almost like a nest. That has the feeling of Woodstock to me. A photographer knows when he has a good shot."]]> Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EDT 53365517

A paraphernalia stand beckons festivalgoers to smoke more than just tobacco. Woodstock was too massive for police to monitor, so drugs -- marijuana, hash, LSD, mescaline, and more -- were plentiful and liberally passed around. ]]> Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EDT 50461296

As the 40th anniversary of Jimi Hendrix's untimely death nears (Sept. 18), a batch of previously unreleased Hendrix songs promises to turn on a new generation to the rock god's genius. "You hear the pure essence of the band, an in-your-face vibrancy," Hendrix engineer Eddie Kramer told USA Today of the music included on the collection, called Valleys of Neptune (out March 9). "There were only four tracks and no overdubs, with Jimi singing as if he's in concert. He's at the top of his game." Pictured: Hendrix at the Isle of Wright Festival, August 1970, less than a month before his death. ]]> Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EDT 2636580

Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day arrives.]]> Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:00 EDT 97740739