Albert Einstein, the genius physicist whose theories changed our ideas of how the universe works, died 55 years ago, on April 18, 1955, of heart failure. He was 76. His funeral and cremation were intensely private affairs, and only one photographer managed to capture the events of that extraordinary day: LIFE magazine’s Ralph Morse. Armed with his camera and a case of scotch — to open doors and loosen tongues — Morse compiled a quietly intense record of an icon’s passing.

Some pretty stirring stuff.

Landspeed Record

Hiphopopotamus

Crock You

Rhinox

Bair Guitar

Soviet Russia had one too. It’s since been abandoned. Here’s some pictures of that.

Last night, some bizarre swirls appeared in the sky over Norway.

The test site, named the Semipalatinsk Polygon, would go on to host 456 atomic explosions over its 40-year existence. Residents in the surrounding area became unwitting guinea pigs, exposed to the aftereffects of the bombs both intentionally and unintentionally.

The Big Picture blog’s heartbreaking photo essay.

The idea is to compare shots of New York City in movies with shots of the city today. Here’s Part 1 of Taxi Driver.

Part 2, published yesterday, here.

Street View collections represent our experience of the modern world, and in particular, the tension they express between our uncaring, indifferent universe and our search for connectedness and significance.

Via Kottke.