And it’s worth noting that while cowboys are original to America, versions could be found on other continents. In 1967 LIFE wrote the frontier people of the Australian Outback. The story appeared in a double issue devoted to what LIFE termed “The Wild World.”

To the reckoning of LIFE editor Don Moser, the Outback was even more rugged than the Old West. Here’s how he put it:

The Outback of Australia is a frontier, and the men and women who live in it are frontiersmen just like those who opened the American West—cattlemen, prospectors, professional hunters. But their frontier is harder than ours ever was. It is, God knows, beautiful, but without prettiness—the austere beauty of light and space, of harsh country and big sky. There are vast red deserts, bizarre hills and strange ridges, chasms and gorges, dry riverbeds of white sand, and above all, endless miles of blank, brutal land.

The photos by George Silk capture that world in vivid color, and Moser’s words bring to life the characters trying to make a life in the Outback. One cattle rancher, Bill Waudby, talked about the dry years he had endured. He quipped, “It’s not hard to become a cattle baron out here. It just depends on how you spell baron.”

Silk photographed a rancher named Joe Mahood while he was breaking a wild horse. Mahood is quoted as saying, “You’ve got to be as gentle as you can. But as gentle as you can is fairly rough.” Silk also documented life for Mahood’s family, which included his three younger kids receiving their school lessons over a two-way radio from a teacher who was hundreds of miles away. Talk about your remote learning.

The Mahood family’s nearest neighbor was 120 miles away. But seven-year-old Tracy Mahood told LIFE she had no interest in moving. “There are too many people in the town, there’s not enough space to wander, and you don’t get goannas there.”

The frontier spirit could not be summed up any better.

A stockman broke an untamed horse at a ranch in the Australian Outback, 1966.

George Silk/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A stockman broke an untamed horse at a ranch in the Australian Outback, 1966.

George Silk/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Joe Mahood, a rancher in the Australian Outback, gets a recently broken horse used to a saddle blanket, 1966.

George Silk/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

After five hours of struggle, Australian horse farmer Joe Mahood sat on top of exhausted horse he has finally tamed, 1966.

George Silk/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Joe Mahood, a rancher in the Australian Outback, posed with his three youngest children; his teenage daughter moved away to go to school, because there were none nearby,1966.

George Silk/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Five-year-old Jim Mahood received his school lessons over two-way radio while growing up on his father’s ranch in the Australian Outback, 1966.

George Silk/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Five-year-old Jim Mahood ran in the tall grass around his father’s ranch in the Australian Outback, 1966.

George Silk/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Bill Waudby learned through hard experience that running a ranch in the Australian Outback meant weathering some dry years, 1966.

George Silk/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Battered hands fashion a popper on the Australian Outback, 1966.

George Silk/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

George Girdler, professional hunter of wild horses, in the Australian Outback, 1966.

George Silk/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

George Girdler, professional hunter of wild horses, in the Australian Outback, 1966.

George Silk/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

George Girdler, professional hunter, played with a foal in the Australian Outback, 1966.

George Silk/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

George Girdler, professional hunter, in the Australian Outback, 1966.

George Silk/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Wild horse hunter George Girdler roared off on motorcycle with his dogs trailing behind in Australia, 1966.

George Silk/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The sand hills of the Simpson Desert in central Australian, 1966.

George Silk/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Cowboys in the Australian Outback, 1966.

George Silk/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

In the Australian Outback a stockman worked with one of his horses at dawn, 1966.

George Silk/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The post Cowboy Life in the Australian Outback appeared first on LIFE.

He is a pelican named Petros, also know as Peter. He first came to Mykonos when a local fisherman found the wounded bird and brought him home for nursing. Peter soon became a local character on the tiny island, which is only 33 square miles in size.

Photographs taken by LIFE photographer James Burke in 1961 show Peter amusing beachgoers on the shore, cavorting about town and spending time with a fisherman. Because Burke’s photos were taken for a story that never ran in LIFE, we can’t be sure if that fisherman is the one who rescued Peter. But that would make sense because the two seem awfully attached to each other. In some photos Peter and the fisherman are nose-to-beak.

As a pelican, his long beak is Peter’s most distinctive physical characteristic. Pelicans, with their particular shape, are excellent fishing birds who thrive near water, so an island in the Aegean sea was an ideal place for Peter to make a home.

Peter died in 1985 after being hit by a car, and one obituary hailed him as “the world’s most famous pelican.” By then the bird had become ingrained in Mykonos’ identity, and several pelicans were brought in to replace Peter, including one that was donated by former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

So visitors to Mykonos today can still take photos with a friendly pelican.

Peter, a pelican who had been found wounded and then nursed to health on Mykonos, became the Greek island’s mascot, 1961.

James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Peter, a pelican who had been found wounded and then nursed to health on Mykonos, became the Greek island’s mascot, 1961.

James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Peter, who had been found wounded and then nursed to health on Mykonos, became the Greek island’s mascot, 1961.

James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Peter, a pelican who had been found wounded and then nursed to health on Mykonos, became the Greek island’s mascot, 1961.

James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Peter, a pelican who had been found wounded and then nursed to health on Mykonos, became the Greek island’s mascot, 1961.

James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Peter, a pelican who had been found wounded and then nursed to health on Mykonos, became the Greek island’s mascot, 1961.

James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Peter, a pelican who had been found wounded and then nursed to health on Mykonos, became the Greek island’s mascot, 1961.

James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Peter, a pelican who had been found wounded and then nursed to health on Mykonos, became the Greek island’s mascot, 1961.

James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Peter, a pelican who had been found wounded and then nursed to health on Mykonos, became the Greek island’s mascot, 1961.

James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Peter, a pelican who had been found wounded and then nursed to health on Mykonos, became the Greek island’s mascot, 1961.

James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Peter, a pelican who had been found wounded and then nursed to health on Mykonos, became the Greek island’s mascot, 1961.

James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Peter, a pelican who had been found wounded and then nursed to health on Mykonos, became the Greek island’s mascot, 1961.

James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Peter the Pelican napped while standing on the island of Mykonos, 1961.

James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Peter, a pelican who had been found wounded and then nursed to health on Mykonos, became the Greek island’s mascot, 1961.

James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Peter, a pelican who had been found wounded and then nursed to health on Mykonos, became the Greek island’s mascot, 1961.

James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Peter, a pelican who had been found wounded and then nursed to health on Mykonos, became the Greek island’s mascot, 1961.

James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Peter, a pelican who had been found wounded and then nursed to health on Mykonos, became the Greek island’s mascot, 1961.

James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Peter, a pelican who had been found wounded and then nursed to health on Mykonos, became the Greek island’s mascot, 1961.

James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Peter, a pelican who had been found wounded and then nursed to health on Mykonos, became the Greek island’s mascot, 1961.

James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Peter, a pelican who had been found wounded and then nursed to health on Mykonos, became the Greek island’s mascot, 1961.

James Burke/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The post Meet Peter, the Pelican Mascot of Mykonos appeared first on LIFE.

LIFE wrote in its 1948 report that, after the brutal war years, Europe was seeing a revival:

From the tip of Italy north to Scapa Flow, American travelers are discovering a surprising new look on the war-scarred face of Western Europe. Buildings are going up, the railroads are running, there is more food and the trade is brisk. In many small Italian villages newly painted homes gleam amidst the old colors of yellow terra cotta…. To Americans, who for a decade have only heard reports of European misery, all this comes as a pleasant shock.

To document this moment of change, Kessel took photos of people enjoying a beach that had been previously unusable because it had been planted with land mines. He showed men working at an Alfa Romeo factory in Milan that had been bombed in 1944, but was nearing its old production levels. Kessel also showed tourists from India and the United States visiting attractions that draw people the world over.

Kessel was not the first LIFE photographer to undertake an assignment like this. The year before, in 1947, Alfred Eisenstaedt had also gone to Italy to survey the country’s post-war progress and come home withhis own collection of amazing images.

While the scars of World War II were still fresh—one of Kessel’s photos shows workers rebuilding a bridge that had been taken out during the fighting—the country remained photogenic. It’s why LIFE photographers—and tourists (including 60 million in 2024)—keep making Italy one of the most visited countries in the world.

Scenes around Italy from a story about the country starting to bounce back from World War II, 1948.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Scenes around Italy from a story about the country starting to bounce back from World War II, 1948.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Scenes around Italy from a story about the country starting to bounce back from World War II, 1948.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

This Italian beach, which had been planted with landmines during World War II, was now safe for public use, 1948.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

People danced on the terrace of an Italian beach as the country began to bounce back from World War II, 1948.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A man and woman conversed at an Italian beach, 1948.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Scenes around Italy from a story about the country starting to bounce back from World War II, 1948.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Scenes around Italy from a story about the country starting to bounce back from World War II, 1948.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Scenes around Italy from a story about the country starting to bounce back from World War II, 1948.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

People in Rome sunbathed and swawm at the Tiber boathouse, 1948.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Men played checkers by the water in Italy, 1948.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Scenes around Italy from a story about the country starting to bounce back from World War II, 1948.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Children played cards on the street in Italy, 1948.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Scenes around Italy from a story about the country starting to bounce back from World War II, 1948.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

People harvested grain in Italy, 1948.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

A team of four oxen pulled a harvester over an oat field in Italy, 1948.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Factory workers in Italy, 1948.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Alfa Romeo plant in Milan, Italy, 1948.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Alfa Romeo plant in Milan, Italy, 1948.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Two newly assembled Alfa Romeos were checked over at the company factory in Milan, Italy, 1948.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Scenes around Italy from a story about the country starting to bounce back from World War II, 1948.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

American sightseers at St. Peter’s in Rome, 1948.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Tourists posed at the Colosseum in Rome, 1948.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Scenes around Italy from a story about the country starting to bounce back from World War II, 1948.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Scenes around Italy from a story about the country starting to bounce back from World War II, 1948.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Workers reconstructed a bridge over the Po River as Italy began to bounce back from World War II, 1948.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The post Dmitri Kessel’s Images of Italy, 1948 appeared first on LIFE.

His story is mostly about the praying. There is very little eating, and the topic of love does not come up.

That man’s name was Charles Randolph Buckalew Jr., and he lived in the Brooklyn, N.Y. neighborhood known as East Flatbush. The LIFE story does not indicate if he was a descendant of Charles Rollin Buckalew, who was a U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania in the 1800s. The only background we learn about him is that he was the son of a bank receptionist, and that he began to read about Buddhism when he was 10 years old.

Eventually Buckalew decided to change his name to Jinaloka —which means “Light of Buddha”—and head to Sri Lanka (known then as Ceylon) to live the life of a devoted Buddhist and become ordained in the faith.

When LIFE caught up with him at the time of his ordainment, he had already been studying abroad for two years. Here was LIFE’s brief explanation of Buckalew’s decision to become a Buddhist:

With his conversion Buckalew resolved a problem that had been bothering him since his days in P.S. 115. It was hard, he felt, to reconcile Christianity with science or the morality of the times. He believes that Buddhism, with its disregard for the material things in life, will bring him peace of mind.

At the beginnings of his life at the monastery. Jinaloka’s head was shaven, and he was given a begging bowl, a razor, three long yellow robes and a needle and thread. The photos by Dmitri Kessel document the spare life upon which Jinaloka was embarking, which included eating just one meal a day. Another photo shows him scooping water from a tank and pouring it over himself as a way of taking a bath.

The story stated that Jinaloka’s plan was to stay in Sri Lanka for four years before returning home and attempting to spread the word about Buddhism in the United States. It’s not clear to what extent his designs came to fruition, but today Buddhism has a strong presence in his former borough, with Buddhist meditation centers dotting Brooklyn, for those who want to practice the religion but stay a little closer to home.

Charles Randolph Buckalew Jr., formerly of Brooklyn, had his head shaved when he joined a Buddhist order in Sri Lanka, 1950.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

In Sri Lanka Jinaloka (second from right) and his fellow Buddhists ate one meal a day, served at 11:30 a.m., which consisted of rice, vegetables, fruit and sometimes meat, 1950.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Jinaloka, a young man who moved from Brooklyn, N.Y. to Sri Lanka to live as a Buddhist, ate his daily meal, 1950.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Jinaloka, a former Brooklyn resident who moved to Sri Lanka for Buddhism, bathed by scooping water from a stone tank, 1950.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Jinaloka, a former Brooklyn resident who moved to Sri Lanka for Buddhism, studied language in his room to help him read original Buddhist scriptures, 1950.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Jinaloka, a former Brooklyn resident who moved to Sri Lanka for Buddhism, studied in his room, 1950.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Former Brooklynite Charles Randolph Buckalew Jr. moved to Sri Lanka to become a Buddhist. He changed his name to Jinaloka, which means “Light of Buddha,” 1950.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Jinaloka, a former Brooklyn resident who relocated to Sri Lanka, shared an evening prayer with his fellow Buddhists, 1950.

Dmitri Kessel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The post An Early Traveler on the Path from Brooklyn to Buddhism appeared first on LIFE.

As its name suggests, 24 Hours of Le Mans is an endurance event, where victory is about who goes the furthest in the allotted time, rather than who reaches the finish line first. Drivers switch off with teammates during the round-the-clock race, which takes place on a mix of tracks and city streets. The mix of surfaces meant that Le Mans cars were designed in a way that made them look more like everyday vehicles than your average race car.

Le Mans was once characterized by Sports Illustrated as “more a happening than a neat sports competition” owing to the spread-out nature of the course and also the duration of the competition. The photos Scherschel took for LIFE reflect that. The scene looks like a music festival as must as it does a sporting event. In addition to capturing the action on the track, he took in the entire scene, including the track’s popular “La Maison du Cafe”—coffee was going to be the drink of choice for many at a 24-hour-event. Although the track also had a “Le Vin de Bordeaux” concession stand, a reminder that this was, after all, France.

Scherschel was sure to capture the most distinctive element of the race back then, which was known as the “Le Mans start.” Drivers stood opposite where their cars were lined up, and then when the starter’s pistols fired they ran to their cars, hit the ignition and pulled out. That style of start was phased out for safety reasons in 1969.

While the start has changed, the 24 Hours of Le Mans continues today, and it stands as the oldest endurance race in the world. In June 2025 the 93rd running of the race was won by a Ferrari team for the third year in a row.

The Le Mans road race, 1953.

Frank Scherschel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Le Mans road race, 1953.

Frank Scherschel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Le Mans road race, 1953.

Frank Scherschel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Le Mans road race, 1953.

Frank Scherschel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Le Mans road race, 1953.

Frank Scherschel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Alberto Ascari (second from right), who would win the Formula One season championship that year, hung out with group of racers in the dugout at the Le Mans road race, 1953.

Frank Scherschel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Le Mans road race, 1953.

Frank Scherschel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Back in 1953 the Le Mans road race began with the drivers making a running start to their cars.

Frank Scherschel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Le Mans road race, 1953.

Frank Scherschel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Le Mans road race, 1953.

Frank Scherschel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Le Mans road race, 1953.

Frank Scherschel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Le Mans road race, 1953.

Frank Scherschel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Le Mans road race, 1953.

Frank Scherschel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Le Mans road race stretched into the nighttime hours, 1953.

Frank Scherschel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Le Mans road race stretched into the nighttime hours, 1953.

Frank Scherschel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The Le Mans road race, 1953.

Frank Scherschel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The post Le Mans: A Crown Jewel of Motorsports appeared first on LIFE.

In 1953 Alfred C. Glassell Jr., a Texas oilman who was one of the founders of the Cabo Blanco Fishing Club, reeled in a black marlin that weighed a record 1,560 pounds. His catch still stands as the mark for that kind of fish. Glassell’s long wrestling match with his marlin was so momentous that footage of it was used in the 1958 film version of Old Man and the Sea. That catch was obviously extreme, but it was also representative of the kind of mammoth fish that found in historic numbers at Cabo Blanco.

Back then, at least.

When Nature went to Cabo Blanco nearly 60 years after that record catch, reporters found a club that had been abandoned and its fishing waters depleted.

Here was the explanation for what happened:

In the years that followed Glassell’s record-breaking catch, a dramatic increase in the commercial fishing of anchovies, which are often used for fishmeal or bait, led to a significant decline in this important billfish food source. According to some, a particularly severe El Niño event in the Pacific likely compounded their scarcity. In 1970, the Cabo Blanco Fishing Club finally closed its doors, due to the military rule of General Juan Velasco Alvarado and the hostile environment toward North Americans his policies engendered. The giant billfish were gone, and so were the tourists.

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 shore. He documented one boat bringing in a 337-pound tuna—which was no record-setter, but still plenty big. Schershel showed the collection of marlin tails in the club parking lot, and the club’s board of big catches. The club also had on display its first thousand-pound catch, reeled in by Glassell in 1952 (his record-setting marlin the next year was donated to the Smithsonian).

Cabo Blanco was enough of a hot spot that it reportedly attracted the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Ernest Hemingway, John Wayne, Paul Newman down to Peru to fish and/or enjoy the scene.

While that heyday is long gone, some people still head to Cabo Blanco where, according to the travel blog Trans-American journey, the main recreational activity is now surfing.

When people do fish, they are mainly coming away those little anchovies, which can fit in the palm of your hand.

Members of the Cabo Blanco Fishing Club out on the sea, Peru, 1959.

Frank Schershel/Life Photo Collection/Shutterstock

Big fish in the water at Cabo Blanco, Peru, 1959.

Frank Schershel/Life Photo Collection/Shutterstock

Members of the Cabo Blanco Fishing Club bringing home a big catch, Peru, 1959.

Frank Schershel/Life Photo Collection/Shutterstock

A 337-lb. tuna caught at Cabo Blanco, Peru by member of the Cabo Blanco Fishing Club, 1959.

Frank Schershel/Life Photo Collection/Shutterstock

The weight of a freshly caught tuna is marked on its body In Cabo Blanco, Peru, 1959.

Cabo Blanco Fishing

A 337-lb. tuna caught by member of the Cabo Blanco Fishing Club in Peru, 1959.

Frank Schershel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

Marlin tails were displayed in driveway of the Cabo Blanco Fishing Club in Peru, 1959.

Frank Schershel/Life Photo Collection/Shutterstock

A history of big fish-catches was displayed in the lobby of Cabo Blanco Fishing Club in Peru, 1959.

Frank Schershel/Life Photo Collection/Shutterstock

Members of Cabo Blanco Fishing Club discussed equipment, Peru, 1959.

Frank Schershel/Life Photo Collection/Shutterstock

A historic trophy on display at the Cabo Blanco Fishing Club in Peru, 1959.

Frank Schershel/Life Photo Collection/Shutterstock

Fishing off the shore in Cabo Blanco, Peru, 1959.

Frank Schershel/Life Photo Collection/Shutterstock

Fishing off the shore in Cabo Blanco, Peru, 1959.

Fishing off the shore in Cabo Blanco, Peru, 1959.

Frank Schershel/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

The post Journey to a Vanished Fisherman’s Paradise appeared first on LIFE.