arts & entertainment Le Mans: A Crown Jewel of Motorsports arts & entertainment The Smurfs: The Joy of Being Blue arts & entertainment David Bowie: Speaking of Heroes… arts & …

When LIFE magazine visited Big Sur in 1959, the Esalen Institute was three years from opening, but the coastal community had long been attracting free-thinking types.

The following is from the introduction to LIFE’s special tribute issue, Jimmy Carter: A Noble Life, which is available online and at newsstands. When James Earl Carter died at his home in …

Here, LIFE.com presents pictures made in the Nevada desert by photographer Loomis Dean shortly after a 1955 atomic bomb test. These are not “political” pictures.

LIFE recalls the Orient Express of the last century through photographs made in 1950 -- evocative, atmospheric pictures from another time.

In 1937, about ten years after talking movies had ended the era of silent film, LIFE magazine—then in its second year of existence—decided to shine a spotlight on the people …

LIFE magazine was fortunate enough to visit Cabo Blanco in 1959, when the club was still in its heyday. Staff photographer Frank Schershel captured the fisherman out at sea and along the …

With news of the Supreme Court's decision in favor of same-sex marriage, LIFE presents photos of the early days of the gay rights movement.

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

The following is excerpted from LIFE’s new special issue Michael Jordan: The Greatest of All Time, available at newsstands and here online. When it dropped in the mid-’90s, the 30 …