On 14th February, 1779, Captain James Cook, one of Britain’s most celebrated navigators, was killed at Kealakekua Bay in the Hawaiian Kingdom. He was fifty years old. By the time of his death, Cook had already transformed European understanding of the Pacific Ocean, charting vast stretches of coastline and producing maps of remarkable accuracy. Yet his final encounter in Hawaii exposed the fragile and often volatile nature of first contact between Europeans and Indigenous soc

In 1942 at Fort Meade, the slight and scholarly Francois d’Eliscu ordered Rangers to charge him with fixed bayonets. Seconds later they were disarmed and pinned with a simple sash cord. Rejecting sporting rules, he taught ruthless, practical hand to hand combat that reshaped American military training during the Second World War.

Peter Basch fled Nazi Germany and went on to photograph the faces of mid century America. From fashion magazines to Hollywood portraits, his polished studio work helped define an era of glamour that still feels timeless today. A quieter name, but an important one.