LIFE at The 1966 World Cup, Featuring Pelé and England’s Triumph

The World Cup has come a long way in popularity since 1966—which happened to be a magnificent edition of the tourney, as England won it all, on English soil, defeating West Germany in the final. While LIFE sent the great Art Rickerby to photograph the event, his pictures never ran in LIFE magazine. Viewed today, they provide a unique look at the planet’s greatest sporting event during a fascinating period in its history. Prominent in the photos is the legendary Pelé, who died on November 22, 2022 at age 82. Even though his Brazil team did not make it out of the group stage that year, he was a natural player for Rickerby to focus on, given that his Brazil teams had won the World Cups in 1958 and 1962 (and would win again in 1970).

In 2014 LIFE.com chatted about the 1966 photos with Alexi Lalas, the former U.S. national team star and current TV commentator.

Of the third photo in the gallery, of Pelé in Liverpool, Lalas notes that the picture “really got me thinking about the aesthetics of the sport, and it’s a reminder of one attribute shared by most soccer players that helps explain why so many people adore the game. Namely—these guys are not huge. They’re not giants. They look, in a way, like you and me, and that guy sitting across the aisle on the train, or wherever. In Pelé’s case, you have probably the single most famous athlete on the planet at the time—but he’s not a seven-foot-tall basketball player, or a 300-pound defensive end. Still, seeing him here, there’s no question you’re looking at an athlete. The way he carries himself, his undeniable presence. Despite his unimposing stature, you can just sense his physical power.”

Not all of Rickerby’s photos from England in the summer of ’66, however, were of official World Cup matches. In fact, some of his best, most revealing work captured moments far from the sold-out stadiums in London, Sheffield, Manchester or Birmingham.

“Look at that shot,” Lalas said of English kids riveted by Brazil’s goalkeeper, Gilmar, leaping to block a shot during practice in Liverpool (the second photo ). “There’s no way those kids ever forgot watching those players, that close. Their body language shows how thrilled they are. And no wonder! There’s something about watching practice sessions that’s totally different—and better, in a way—than watching a big game. I remember training at Oakland University in Michigan before the World Cup in ’94. The fans who came out to watch us might remember that experience more fondly than watching the game we played in the Silverdome in Pontiac. There’s a reason baseball fans go to batting practice and spring training — the chance of a real, authentic interaction with the players, away from the hoopla around a game.”

Liz Ronk edited this gallery for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter @lizabethronk.

Bobby Moore raises the World Cup trophy, July 30, 1966, after England defeated Germany, 4-2, in the final before 98,000 fans at Wembley Stadium, London.

Bobby Moore raised the World Cup trophy, July 30, 1966, after England defeated Germany, 4-2, in the final before 98,000 fans at Wembley Stadium, London.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Brazil's goalkeeper, Gilmar, leaps to block a shot during World Cup practice in Liverpool, 1966.

Brazil’s goalkeeper, Gilmar, leapt to block a shot during a World Cup practice in Liverpool, 1966.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Brazil great Pelé enters the stadium in Liverpool, 1966.

Brazil great Pelé entered the stadium in Liverpool, 1966.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

British soccer fans, 1966.

British soccer fans, 1966.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Fans welcome the Brazil squad to the stadium, Liverpool, 1966.

Fans welcomed the Brazil squad to the stadium, Liverpool, 1966.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Pelé is tackled during Brazil's 2-0 win over Bulgaria, England, 1966.

Pelé was tackled during Brazil’s 2-0 win over Bulgaria, England, 1966.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

English fans happily swarm around the Brazilian squad's bus, 1966.

English fans happily swarmed around the Brazilian squad’s bus, 1966.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

World Cup, 1966, England.

World Cup, 1966, England.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Wembley Stadium, World Cup, 1966.

Wembley Stadium, World Cup, 1966.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

England scores, World Cup, 1966.

England celebrated a score, World Cup, 1966.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

England Scores, 1966

Commenting on this photo of England celebrating a goal, Alexi Lalas said, “If I could bottle the feeling that comes with scoring a goal in a big match, future generations of my family would never have to work another day in their lives.”

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Jack Charlton slides hard against West Germany, World Cup, 1966.

Jack Charlton slid hard against West Germany, World Cup, 1966.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

England's George Cohen vies with Argentina's Silvio Marzolini during a World Cup quarterfinal match, 1966.

England’s George Cohen vied with Argentina’s Silvio Marzolini during a World Cup quarterfinal match, 1966.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

World Cup final, England vs. West Germany, July 1966.

World Cup final, England vs. West Germany, July 1966.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Fans, World Cup, England, July 1966.

Fans, World Cup, England, July 1966.

Art Rickerby/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Players and coaches celebrate on the pitch at Wembley after England's 4-2 victory over West Germany, July 30, 1966.

World Cup 1966

Art Rickerby Time & Life Pictures/Shutterstock

The Dionne Quintuplets: Little Girls Lost in the Harsh Glare of Fame

Five identical sisters who became known as the Dionne Quintuplets were born prematurely in a small village in Ontario, Canada, in May 1934. The quintet were a money-making juggernaut in the 1930s and 1940s, put on display as public curiosities, while their private lives were marked by misery, betrayal and alleged abuse at the hands of those closest to them. The text below is an edited version of an article that Dennis Gaffney wrote on the quintuplets for WGBH’s Antiques Roadshow site.

It’s worth noting, meanwhile, that while LIFE magazine—in its own way, and like so many other publications —contributed to the exploitation of the “Quins,” the magazine did have the sense to sound some prescient warnings about the nature of the quintuplets’ unusual and intensely proscribed upbringing. “Their formal schooling,” LIFE wrote in its Sept. 2, 1940, issue, “will never constitute a real education until the children can be exposed to the rough and tumble of life with less-supervised contemporaries. They have . . . developed no social immunities to the unprotected existence that they will someday have to face.”
_________________________________________________________________________

On May 28, 1934, on a farm in the village of Corbeil, Ontario, near the Quebec border, a French-Canadian mother, Elzire Dionne, gave birth to five identical girls — Annette, Emilie, Yvonne, Cecile, and Marie. Born at least two months prematurely, each baby was small enough to be held in one hand; together they weighed only 14 pounds. Few expected they would survive . . . . But they did, and became the first quintuplets known to have survived infancy.

Soon the world was referring to the Dionne quintuplets as “miracle babies,” and they became a worldwide symbol of fortitude and joy during the Great Depression.

The girls themselves became a tourist attraction. By 1937, about 3,000 visitors were passing daily through the “Quintland” hospital compound where the sisters were being cared for. . . . Hollywood exploited their fame, and four movies were made about them in the 1930s all with happy endings.

But the real lives of the Dionne quintuplets were largely unhappy. On May 27, 1935, the provincial government of Ontario had taken the five sisters away from their parents, after their father, Oliva, signed a contract with promoters to exhibit the girls at the World’s Fair in Chicago. Although Oliva cancelled the contract a day after he signed it, the authorities stepped in anyway to protect the babies, they said, from germs, potential kidnappers, and exploitation.

Yet it was in the custody of the state that the girls became Canada’s largest tourist attraction. During the girls’ infancy, nurses would take them to a nursery balcony and show them one at a time to a crowd below, their names written on a card. In the media, the girls’ upbringing was characterized as privileged, with round-the-clock nursing and a swimming pool and playground all their own. But in reality their playground was surrounded with glass that allowed visitors to view them three times a day.

In their 1963 autobiography, We Were Five, they wrote of being isolated from others during their upbringing, only permitted to leave the compound a few times. “We dwelt at the center of a circus,” they wrote. “A carnival set in the middle of nowhere.” According to some estimates, Quintland brought in as much as $500 million to the Ontario province in less than a decade.

“Money was the monster,” they said in We Were Five, “So many around us were unable to resist the temptation.” Although their parents lived across the street from Quintland, the couple felt unwelcome there, and became infrequent visitors. “We didn’t know each other,” Cecile recalled.

At age 9, the Dionne couple won the girls back after a bitter custody battle, yet the girls’ new home was “the saddest home we ever knew,” they later wrote. They didn’t perceive their parents as saviors from Quintland; they came to see their mother as unloving and their father as controlling, even tyrannical.

At age 18, the Dionne sisters left home, breaking off nearly all contact with their family. Emilie became a nun and died of a seizure in 1954. Three married and had children, but divorced. Marie died of a blood clot in 1970. In the mid-1990s, the three remaining sisters Annette, Cecile, and Yvonne wrote in their book The Dionne Quintuplets: Family Secrets that their father had abused when he took them alone in the car.

Despite the enormous revenue generated by the quintuplets as a public curiosity, by 1941, when the girls were 7, only $1 million had been put in their trust fund; when they turned 21 and became eligible to receive the funds, only $800,000 remained. Their sheltered life did not prepare them for the real world, and when they were on their own Cecile said the girls had difficulty distinguishing a nickel from a quarter.

What funds they were provided eventually disappeared, and when Annette, Cecile and Yvonne reached their sixties, they lived together outside Montreal on a combined income of $746 a month. In 1998, they asked the Canadian government to compensate them for the trust fund money that had been lost or taken. The government’s first reply included an offer of $2,000 a month, but after a public outcry, a $4 million settlement was reached.

_________________________________________________________________________

Dennis Gaffney is a writer based in Albany, New York, who has written for the New York Times, Reader’s Digest, Mother Jones and other publications, as well as for online outlets like the companion sites for PBS’s Antiques Roadshow and American Experience.

The text above is published here courtesy of Dennis Gaffney and WGBH/Antiques Roadshow.

A view of the "Dionne Quintuplets" posed in their confirmation dresses on day of their first Holy Communion, 1940.

The “Dionne Quintuplets” posed in their confirmation dresses on day of their first Holy Communion, 1940.

Hansel Mieth The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Writing lesson in nursery schoolroom is the Quins' first exercise in the discipline of formal education. Above (left to right): Cecile, Annette, Emilie, Marie and Yvonne study a word on the blackboard, then duck their heads to print it out.

A writing lesson in a nursery schoolroom was the Quins’ first exercise in the discipline of formal education. Above (left to right): Cecile, Annette, Emilie, Marie and Yvonne studied a word on the blackboard, then ducked their heads to print it out.

Hansel Mieth The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

From left to right: Cecile, the dilettante, learns easily but loses interest quickly; Yvonne is the leader with initiative; Marie has caught up with her sisters in growth but is still the slowest of the five; Annette has developed the most marked musical talent; Emilie, left-handed, is the prankster."

From left to right: Cecile learned easily but lost interest quickly; Yvonne was the leader with initiative; Marie had caught up with her sisters in growth but was still the slowest of the five; Annette had developed the most marked musical talent; Emilie, left-handed, was the prankster.

Hansel Mieth The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Tourists pulling up to visit the home of the Dionne Quintuplets, Canada, 1940.

Tourists visited the home of the Dionne Quintuplets, Canada, 1940.

Hansel Mieth The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Souvenir store specializing in Dionne Quintuplets merchandise, 1940.

This souvenir store specialized in Dionne Quintuplets merchandise, 1940.

Hansel Mieth The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Public . . . files into Dafoe Hospital observation pavilion for quick glimpse of Quins. One-way screens and large signs saying 'Silence' make their presence a minimum distraction for the Quins.

People filed into the Dafoe Hospital observation pavilion for a quick glimpse of Quins. One-way screens and large signs saying ‘Silence’ minimized the distraction for the Quins.

Hansel Mieth The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Dionne Quintuplets standing around their guardian, Dr. Allan Roy Dafoe, 1940.

The Dionne Quintuplets stood around their guardian, Dr. Allan Roy Dafoe, 1940.

Hansel Mieth The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

(Clockwise from top left) Marie, Emilie, Yvonne, Cecile, Annette Dionne, 1940.

(Clockwise from top left) Marie, Emilie, Yvonne, Cecile, Annette Dionne, 1940.

Hansel Mieth The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Quins' bare feet explode rumor that they have web toes. Actually one evidence of their identicality is a partial fusion of second and third toes, found only in one in a 1,000 people.

This barefoot shot defused a rumor about web toes, and also further confirmed their identicalness, through their shared partial fusion of the second and third toes, found only in one in a 1,000 people.

Hansel Mieth The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Three of the Dionne Quintuplets playing in the yard of their home/compound, 1940.

Three of the Dionne Quintuplets played in the yard of their home/compound, 1940.

Hansel Mieth The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Paper cutouts are Marie's favorite means of self-expression. She does them neatly and with great deliberation, here with the indulgent approval of Mme. Gaetane Vezina, governess of the Quins.

Marie liked to make paper cutouts; here she did so with the indulgent approval of Mme. Gaetane Vezina, governess of the Quins.

Hansel Mieth The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Modeling in plasticine and sketching with crayon give Emilie an outlet for her strong sense of color and form. She has here drawn the plan of a house and grounds in colored plasticine strips.

Modeling in plasticine and sketching with crayon gave Emilie an outlet for her strong sense of color and form. Here she drew the plan of a house and grounds in colored plasticine strips.

Hansel Mieth The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Marie's eyes are examined by Dr. William Hill of Toronto. Her left eye showed improvement, her weaker eye none. She will need glasses

Marie’s eyes were examined by Dr. William Hill of Toronto.

Hansel Mieth The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Quins get up at 7:30 in the morning, dress together in the big bathroom.

The Quins, after rising at 7:30 in the morning, dressed together in the big bathroom.

Hansel Mieth The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Dionne Quintuplets sing on CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corp.) radio, 1940.

The Dionne Quintuplets sang on CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corp.) radio, 1940.

Hansel Mieth The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Chicago: LIFE in a Great City

 Inspired by these extraordinary pictures, made by LIFE photographers from the 1930s to the 1970s, Chicago-based journalist Chuck Sudo pays tribute to the town he loves: the Windy City, that toddling town, sweet home Chicago.

Architect Daniel Burnham, whose fingerprints are all over so much of modern Chicago, famously advised, “make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably themselves will not be realized.”

That, in a proverbial nutshell, is Chicago at its finest: daring to dream and willing to put in the effort to make those dreams reality — whether that means establishing a trading post atop a marsh, rebuilding after a legendary, catastrophic fire or fashioning an iconic skyline that stretches halfway to the heavens. The photos here perfectly capture the realized dreams of the men and women of Chicago, and epitomize why the 20th century was, so emphatically, “The American Century.”

Passion — daring to dream — permeates the town and, in large part, defines Chicagoans, both native-born and adopted. This is the city that gave us Nelson Algren, Studs Terkel, Gwendolyn Brooks, Carl Sandburg, Roger Ebert, Mike Royko. Chicago is where Oprah Winfrey and Michael Jordan became global superstars. It is the birthplace of the Temperance movement — and it’s where booze flowed like water during Prohibition. Over the decades, its politicians and mobsters have often been indistinguishable from one another, while Chicago’s struggles with poverty, violence and political corruption — like those of any other great, international metropolis — are as old as the city itself.

In the end, though, Chicago’s well-documented woes are as much a part of the city’s fabric as its glories, its triumphs, its world-class cultural achievements.

Daniel Burnham also wrote, “aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will not die, but long after we are gone be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing insistence.” Those of us who call ourselves Chicagoans continue to dream big, to reach higher, hoping to add our names to the city’s bold, forever unfolding narrative — and inspire the dreams of future generations in the city we love.

Chuck Sudo was born and raised on Chicago’s Northwest side. Follow Chuck @bportseasoning.

The El Capitan stopping in Chicago, 1939.

The El Capitan stopping in Chicago, 1939.

Peter Stackpole The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Crowd of 10,000 at an "America First Committee" rally listening to speeches promulgating isolationism and urging the cutting off of aid to Britain, Chicago Arena, 1941

A crowd of 10,000 at an “America First Committee” rally listened to speeches promulgating isolationism and urging the cutting off of aid to Britain, Chicago Arena, 1941

William C. Shrout The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Chicago, 1941.

Chicago, 1941.

Horace Bristol The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Chicago Sun, 1943.

Chicago Sun newspaper, 1943.

Wallace Kirkland The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Chicago train yard, 1943.

Chicago train yard, 1943.

Walter Sanders The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

News of the D-Day invasion, Chicago, 1944.

News of the D-Day invasion, Chicago, 1944.

Gordon Coster The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Tenement, West Side of Chicago, 1944.

Tenement, west side of Chicago, 1944.

Gordon Coster The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Chicago, 1944.

Chicago, 1944.

Gordon Coster The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Chicago, 1944.

Chicago, 1944.

Gordon Coster The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Black Hawks Bill Mosienko (left) and Max Bentley (right), 1946.

Chicago Blackhawks players Bill Mosienko (left) and Max Bentley (right), 1946.

Frank Scherschel The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Stranded during a railroad strike, Chicago, 1946.

Commuters were stranded during a railroad strike, Chicago, 1946.

Mark Kauffman The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

People gathering on the street to watch a satire of political officials, Chicago, 1947.

People gathered on the street to watch a satire of political officials, Chicago, 1947.

Wallace Kirkland The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Children in a junk-littered lot, Chicago, 1947.

Children in a junk-littered lot, Chicago, 1947.

Walker Evans The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Chicago, 1947.

Chicago, 1947.

Walker Evans The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Empire State Express at the Chicago Railroad Fair, 1948.

The Empire State Express at the Chicago Railroad Fair, 1948.

George Skadding The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Children watch a giant animated figure of Paul Bunyan, Chicago, 1949.

Children watched a giant animated figure of Paul Bunyan, Chicago, 1949.

Francis Miller The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Y.M.C.A. hotel, Chicago, 1951.

The Y.M.C.A. hotel, Chicago, 1951.

Ralph Crane The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Chicago nightclub, 1952.

Chicago nightclub, 1952.

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Legendary Chicago club owner Matt Schulien entertains patrons, 1952.

Legendary Chicago club owner Matt Schulien entertained patrons, 1952.

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Sea Restaurant, Chicago, 1952.

The Sea Restaurant, Chicago, 1952.

Wallace Kirkland The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Michigan Senator Blair Moody (right) and Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr. confer during the 1952 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Michigan Senator Blair Moody (right) and Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr. conferred during the 1952 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Hank Walker The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Aerial view overlooking network of tracks for some 20 major railroads converging on Union Station (upper left), Chicago, 1954.

An aerial view overlooked the network of tracks for some 20 major railroads converging on Union Station (upper left), Chicago, 1954.

Andreas Feininger The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Cleveland-Chicago game, 1954.

The Cleveland Indians played the Chicago White Sox, 1954.

Francis Miller The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Prudential Building, Chicago, 1954.

Prudential Building, Chicago, 1954.

John Dominis The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Ernie Banks, 1955.

The beloved Ernie Banks of the Chicago Cubs, 1955.

John Dominis The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Chicago detectives force their way into an apartment, 1957.

Chicago detectives forced their way into an apartment, 1957.

Gordon Parks The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Poet Carl Sandburg looks out a window in the Chicago Board of Trade Building, 1957.

Poet Carl Sandburg looked out a window in the Chicago Board of Trade Building, 1957

Grey Villet The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Bill Klose, Cub fan who threw out first ball of season, 1957.

Bill Klose, a Cub fan who threw out the first ball of season, 1957.

Frank Scherschel The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Ted Williams waits while pitcher warms up at Comiskey Park, 1957.

Boston’s Ted Williams waited while a White Sox pitcher warmed up at Comiskey Park, 1957.

Frank Scherschel The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Chicago, 1957.

Chicago, 1957.

Francis Miller The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Chicago, 1957.

Chicago, 1957.

Francis Miller The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Stunt man Jack Wylie flying over the Chicago River, 1958.

Stunt man Jack Wylie flew over the Chicago River, 1958.

Al Fenn The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Midway Airport, 1960.

Midway Airport, 1960.

Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Chicago garage, 1961.

Chicago garage, 1961.

Andreas Feininger The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Chicago, 1961.

Chicago, 1961.

Andreas Feininger The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Mies van der Rohe buildings, Chicago, 1961.

Mies van der Rohe buildings, Chicago, 1961.

Andreas Feininger The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Dick Butkus in a game against the Rams, 1965.

Bears linebacker Dick Butkus in a game against the Rams, 1965.

Bill Eppridge The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Chicago welcomes astronauts James McDivitt and Ed White, 1965.

Chicago welcomed astronauts James McDivitt and Ed White, 1965.

Robert W. Kelley The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

National Guardsmen in front of a store during riots following the murder of Martin Luther King Jr., Chicago, April 1968.

National Guardsmen in front of a store during riots following the murder of Martin Luther King Jr., Chicago, April 1968.

Lee Balterman The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

O'Hare Airport, 1970.

O’Hare Airport, 1970.

Co Rentmeester The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A TWA plane lands at O'Hare, 1970.

A TWA plane landed at O’Hare, 1970.

Co Rentmeester The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Father’s Day Special: LIFE With Famous Dads and Their Daughters

Back in 1995, the singer-songwriter and cartoonist Peter Blegvad released a song later made semi-famous when a cover version by Loudon Wainwright III was featured on the soundtrack for Judd Apatow’s Knocked Up. The song, “Daughter,” is as sweet and true as any song ever written by a parent to a child, and manages to capture in relatively few words the intense, tender, exasperating and, through it all, loving relationships that dads and daughters enjoy — or, at times, simply endure.

(Wainwright, interestingly, enough, is the father of Rufus Wainwright and the son of a longtime LIFE magazine writer and editor, Loudon Wainwright, Jr.)

Here, in a special Father’s Day gallery, LIFE.com applauds that unique familial bond with photos of famous fathers and their daughters and, for a little variety, one famous daughter and her dad.

Blegvad’s lyrics to “Daughter,” meanwhile, are worth celebrating in their own right. See them below.

“Daughter”

© 1995 Peter Blegvad

Everything she sees
she says she wants.
And everything she says she wants
I see she gets.

That’s my daughter in the water,
everything she owns I bought her,
Everything she owns.
That’s my daughter in the water,
Everything she knows I taught her.
Everything she knows.

Everything I say
She takes to heart.
And everything she takes,
She takes apart.

That’s my daughter in the water,
Every time she fell I caught her,
Every time she fell.
That’s my daughter in the water
I lost every time I fought her.
Yeah, I lost every time.

Every time she blinks
she strikes somebody blind,
And everything she thinks
Blows her tiny mind.

Happy Father’s Day, everyone.

[MORE: See the LIFE gallery, “LIFE With Famous Moms.”]

John Barrymore and daughter Diana, 1942.

John Barrymore and daughter Diana, 1942

Eliot Elisofon The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Alfred Hitchcock and daughter Patricia, 1942.

Alfred Hitchcock and daughter Patricia, 1942

Gjon Mili The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Orson Wells, Rita Hayworth and daughter Rebecca, 1945.

Orson Wells, Rita Hayworth and daughter Rebecca, 1945

Peter Stackpole The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Michael Redgrave and daughter Lynn, 1946.

Michael Redgrave and daughter Lynn, 1946

Ian Smith The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Gary Cooper and daughter Maria, 1949.

Gary Cooper and daughter Maria, 1949

Peter Stackpole The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Jackie and Rachel Robinson with their infant daughter, Sharon, Los Angeles, 1950.

Jackie and Rachel Robinson With Daughter Sharon, 1950

J.R. Eyerman The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Pablo Picasso and daughter Paloma, 1951.

Pablo Picasso and daughter, 1951

Dmitri Kessel The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Harry Truman and daughter Margaret, 1952.

Harry Truman and daughter Margaret, 1952

George Skadding The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Desi Arnaz with daughter Lucie, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz Jr., 1953.

Desi Arnaz with daughter Lucie – and Lucille Ball with Desi Arnaz Jr., 1953

Ed Clark The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Richard Burton and daughter Kate, 1957.

Richard Burton and daughter, 1957

Gordon Parks The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

John F. Kennedy with daughter Caroline, 1958.

John F. Kennedy with daughter Caroline, 1958

Ed Clark The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Dean Martin with daughter Gina Caroline, 1958.

Dean Martin with daughter, 1958

Allan Grant The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Tony Curtis with daughter Jamie Lee, 1959

Allan Grant The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

John Glenn with daughter Lyn, 1959.

John Glenn with daughter, 1959

Ralph Morse The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Henry Fonda with daughter Jane, 1960.

Henry Fonda with daughter Jane, 1960

Leonard McCombe The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Ann-Margret with her father Gustav Olsson, 1961.

Ann-Margaret with her father, 1961

Grey Villet The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Burt Lancaster with daughter Sighle (pronounced Sheila), 1961.

Burt Lancaster with daughter, 1961

Allan Grant The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Al Hirschfeld with his daughter Nina, 1961.

Al Hirschfeld with his daughter Nina, whose name he famously worked into his drawings, 1961.

(c) Bob Gomel / Courtesy of Bob Gomel

Astronaut Scott Carpenter with daughter Candy, 1962.

Malcolm Carpenter with daughter Candy, 1962

Ralph Morse The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

John Mills with daughter Hayley, 1962.

John Mills with daughter Hayley, 1962

Ralph Crane The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Steve McQueen kisses his daughter Terry goodnight in 1963.

Steve McQueen and Daughter, 1963

John Dominis The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Robert F. Kennedy with daughter Mary, 1963.

Robert F. Kennedy with daughter Mary, 1963

John Dominis The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Lyndon Johnson with daughters Lucy and Lynda, 1964.

Lyndon Johnson with daughters Lucy and Lynda, 1964

Stan Wayman The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton and daughter Hayley, 1965.

Vikings QB Francis Tarkenton and daughter, 1965

Stan Wayman The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Frank Sinatra and daughter Nancy (with Yul Brynner), 1965.

Frank Sinatra and daughter Nancy, 1965

John Dominis The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Charlie Chaplin and daughters Josephine and Victoria, 1966.

Charlie Chaplin and daughters Josephine and Victoria, 1966

Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Charles M. Schulz and daughter Jill, 1967.

Charles Schulz and daughter, 1967

Bill Ray The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Paul Newman with daughter Clea and wife Joanne Woodward, 1968.

Paul Newman with daughter and wife Joanne Woodward, 1968

Mark Kauffman The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Robert Redford and daughter Shauna, 1969.

Robert Redford and daughter Shauna, 1969

John Dominis The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Dustin Hoffman with his daughter Karina, 1969.

Dustin Hoffman and Daughter Karina, 1969

John Dominis The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Jack Nicholson and daughter Jennifer, 1969.

Jack Nicholson and daughter Jennifer, 1969

Arthur Schatz The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Donald Sutherland and daughter Rachel, 1970.

Donald Sutherland and daughter Rachel, 1970

Co Rentmeester The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Richard Nixon and daughter Patricia, 1971.

Richard Nixon and daughter Patricia, 1971

Walter Bennett The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Bill Clinton with daughter Chelsea and wife Hillary, 1993.

Bill Clinton with daughter Chelsea and wife Hillary, 1993

Alfred Eisenstaedt The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Surfing, U.S.A.

The best surfing photos can capture an essence of the sport—and so can observations from some of the greatest surfers of all time. Some pithy of words of wisdom follow, as well as some extraordinary images of surfing in days gone by.

“Out of water, I am nothing.” Duke Kahanamoku

“Surfing’s one of the few sports where you look ahead to see what’s behind.” Laird Hamilton

“It’s like the mafia. Once you’re in, you’re in. There’s no getting out.” Kelly Slater

“If in doubt, paddle out.” Nat Young

“One of the greatest things about the sport of surfing is that you need only three things: your body, a surfboard, and a wave.” Naima Green

“I surf to get tan.” Shane Dorian

“It’s not tragic to die doing something you love.” Mark Foo, who would drown while surfing at Mavericks in California in 1994

“I’ve tried changing my surfing, which is the worst thing you can do. Everyone surfs their own way. If I try to surf like someone else, I look like a dork.” Andy Irons

“Surfing is such an amazing concept. You’re taking on Nature with a little stick and saying, ‘I’m gonna ride you!’ And a lot of times Nature says, ‘No you’re not!’ and crashes you to the bottom.” Jolene Blalock

“I could not help concluding this man had the most supreme pleasure while he was driven so fast and so smoothly by the sea.” Captain James Cook, on watching a Hawaiian surfer in the late 18th century

“Surfing is very much like making love. It always feels good, no matter how many times you’ve done it.” Paul Strauch

“You’re sayin’ the FBI’s gonna pay me to learn to surf?” Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves), Point Break

“If it swells, ride it.” Anonymous

Surfers, Malibu, California 1961

Surfers, Malibu, California 1961

Allan Grant/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Surfing, California, 1950

Surfing, California, 1950.

Loomis Dean/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Surfing, Lima, Peru, 1959

Surfing, Lima, Peru, 1959.

Frank Scherschel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Surfing, Malibu, California 1961

Surfing, Malibu, California 1961

Allan Grant/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Surfing, Hawaii, 1959

Surfing, Hawaii, 1959.

Ralph Crane/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Surfing, Manhattan Beach, Calif., 1965

Surfing, Manhattan Beach, Calif., 1965.

Ralph Crane/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Surfing, Australia, 1958

Surfing, Australia, 1958.

John Dominis/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Surfing, Australia, 1958

Surfing, Australia, 1958.

John Dominis/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Surfing, Hawaii, 1963

Surfing, Hawaii, 1963.

George Silk/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Surfing, Lima, Peru, 1959

Surfing, Lima, Peru, 1959.

Frank Scherschel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Surfing, Malibu, Calif., 1961

Surfing, Malibu, Calif., 1961

Allan Grant/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Surfing, Hawaii, 1959

Surfing, Hawaii, 1959.

Ralph Crane/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Surfing, Malibu, Calif., 1961

Surfing, Malibu, Calif., 1961.

Allan Grant/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Surfing, Malibu, Calif., 1961

Surfing, Malibu, California, 1961.

Allan Grant/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Sixteen-year-old Kathy Kohner (the real-life inspiration for the character of Gidget) rides a wave, Malibu, Calif., 1957.

Sixteen-year-old Kathy Kohner (the real-life inspiration for the character of Gidget) rode a wave, Malibu, Calif., 1957.

Allan Grant/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Surfing, Malibu, Calif., 1961

Surfing, Malibu, California, 1961

Allan Grant/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Surfing, Malibu, Calif., 1961

Surfing, Malibu, California, 1961

Allan Grant/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Surfing, San Onofre, Calif., 1950

Surfing, San Onofre, California, 1950.

Loomis Dean/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Surfing, San Onofre, Calif., 1950.

Surfing, San Onofre, California, 1950.

Loomis Dean/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Surfing, Lima, Peru, 1959

Surfing, Lima, Peru, 1959.

Frank Scherschel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Surfing, Lima, Peru, 1959

Surfing, Lima, Peru, 1959.

Frank Scherschel/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Surfing, Malibu, Calif., 1957

Surfing, Malibu, California, 1957

Allan Grant/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Surfing, San Onofre, Calif., 1950

Surfing, San Onofre, California, 1950

Loomis Dean/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

Surfing, San Onofre, Calif., 1950

Surfing, San Onofre, California, 1950.

Loomis Dean/Life Pictures/Shutterstock

The Real Story Behind the Best Photo Ever Made of a Delighted Mom-to-Be

We’re not the first site to put this 1954 Wallace Kirkland photo online. In fact, it’s been bouncing around the Internet for years. The estimable Maggie Koerth, for instance, posted it on Boing Boing a while back, while posing the compelling question: What was the nature of the prenatal gender-screening compound mentioned in the caption that has accompanied the picture all over the Web?

The caption referenced in Koerth’s post, and reproduced by countless blogs, reads: “Mrs. Jane Dill, four months pregnant, reacts to the news that she is carrying a baby girl, Northbrook, Ill., 1954. She had just taken a test, administered by the unidentified man in the lab coat, by placing a wafer soaked in a secret formula on her tongue.”

All well and good — except that, alas, that is not the caption that accompanied the photo when it originally ran in LIFE magazine in 1954, nor is the man in the lab coat unidentified. The caption beneath the photo in that long-ago issue of LIFE reads: “Mrs. Dill reacts happily as [Charles] Welbert shows her sex-test wafer which remains colorless, indicating second child will be girl she wants.”

(Koerth and others can certainly be pardoned for citing the former caption, as the original description of the photo, as far as we can determine, is only to be found in that 60-year-old issue of LIFE. For some reason, the original caption did not follow the picture from the printed page to the digital realm.)

The May 1954 article, meanwhile, provides more information about what’s really going on in Kirkland’s photo:

Mrs. Jane Dill . . . whooped with delight at the glad news. She had just been informed by Charles Welbert that her unborn child will be a girl. “Oh, I’m so glad,” she exclaimed. “I have one little girl already. Now I’ll have two.”

But was Welbert right? Nobody can be sure until August, when Baby Dill is born. [Note: “Baby Dill” was, indeed, a girl. — Ed.] Welbert, a Frenchman, is in the U.S. to promote a sex-prediction test devised by Jean Reisman. In 30,000 cases in France, claim Welbert and Reisman, the test was 98% accurate. Their statistics have not been subjected to impartial analysis, but the chance that the test might really work has brought Welbert U.S. customers by the hundreds.

The test, now being marketed mostly by mail, seems amazingly simple. A tiny paper wafer soaked with a secret chemical formula is placed on the mother’s tongue for 15 seconds to absorb a sample of her saliva. Then it is mailed — with a $5 fee — to Welbert who adds another chemical. If the wafer turns purple, it means male hormones have been detected. The baby will be a boy. A colorless wafer: a girl.

Most scientists are profoundly skeptical. No previous test — whether based on the moon and stars, on X-rays of the fetus or on examination of the mother’s eyes, blood, tears, shape of abdomen or samples of the fluid surrounding the fetus itself — has ever proved to be both accurate and safe.

Ultimately, though, we’re not especially interested in whether or not Reisman’s test was scientifically legit. We don’t know, for example, if the process he devised was ever peer-reviewed. Instead, we’re posting Kirkland’s photo — and the text of the article in LIFE — for two reasons. First, to correct some inaccuracies that have been out there for a while regarding the photograph, and the people in it.

Second, we’re publishing this for the simple reason that it’s a marvelous, memorable, enormously enjoyable picture. It has energy to spare, of course, and beyond Mrs. Dill’s near-manic delight there is the evident good will or is it self-satisfaction? in the hint we see of Welbert’s grin.

Maybe today’s home pregnancy tests, as remarkable and welcome as they are, reliably generate this sort of over-the-top reaction. But somehow, we doubt it.

In 1954 in Northbrook, Ill., Mrs. Jane Dill has just been told that, judging from the response of a chemical wafer on her tongue, she is going to have a baby girl.

Mrs. Jane Dill reacts with joy, 1954

Wallace Kirkland The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock

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