There She is… ‘Miss America’ Phyllis George of Denton, Texas Receiving Her Crown From Her Predecessor, Miss America 1970 – 1971
Pictured below is none other than beauty queen Phyllis George, of Denton, TX. First crowned Miss Texas in 1970, George went on to win yet another crown, earning the prestigious title of Miss America in 1971. She also held the title of First Lady of Kentucky from 1971, up until 1983. Despite her image as a successful beauty queen, George—also a businesswoman, actress, and former sportscaster—ultimately proved to be much more than just a pretty face.
In 1975, she joined the cast of The NFL Today. Here, she acted as co-host for the live pregame shows aired before the National Football League’s games. In fact, George was actually one of the first women to hold a prominent role in the world of national television sports coverage, paving the way for many more women after her.
A Smiling Nadia Comaneci, World-renowned Romanian Gymnast, Performing on the Floor - Summer Olympics, 1976
In her element, the below photo captures famed Romanian gymnast Nadia Comăneci as she strikes a pose during her floor exercise performance, at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Canada. During this international gymnastics competition, the talented Comăneci—only 14-years old at the time—would go down in history as the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect 10.0 score at the Olympic Games, earning not just one, but a whopping 7 perfect 10’s; a score which earned the gymnast a total of three gold medals by the end of these Olympic games.
At the next Summer Olympics, held in 1980 in Moscow, Russia, Comăneci would compete once more, scoring two more perfect 10s, earning an additional two gold medals. By the end of her career, Comăneci would go on to win a total of nine Olympic medals, as well as four World Artistic Gymnastics Championship medals. Today, she is regarded as one of the world’s top gymnasts and is widely known for successfully popularizing this sport across the globe.
They’re Gonna Need a Bigger Boat. Happy Fishermen Pose With Their 300-lb Halibut Prize - Alaska, 1969
Now that’s a big fish! The photo below perfectly captures the emotions felt by two lucky fishermen, just moments after successfully catching a whopping 300-pound halibut fish off the coast of Alaska back in 1969. Originally submitted on Reddit by the son of the bearded fisherman on the right, it was not long before this vintage photo of the Reddit user’s dad and his old friend posing alongside their enormous trophy fish soon went viral.
And as if the size of the Halibut pictured below isn't unbelievable enough, believe it or not, bigger fishes have been caught. Currently, the record for the largest Pacific Halibut was broken in 1996, after fishermen caught an Alaskan Halibut weighing in at 459 pounds.
Tattoo the Martian and Mr. Roarke - Fantasy Island, 1977
Taken during one 1977 episode of the television series “Fantasy Island,” here Tattoo (played by Hervé Villechaize) stands alongside a kneeling Mr. Roarke (played by Ricardo Montalbán). Created by Gene Levitt, the ABC-made, classic television series “Fantasy Island” was on the air from 1977 to 1984, and then again for one 1998–99 season.
Starring the two characters seen in the photo below, this show takes place on an extraordinary resort island located somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. On this seemingly perfect Utopia-like island, guests travel far and wide to reach the mysterious island, in order to live out their ultimate fantasies…for a price.
An Oscar-winning Performance: Sally Field as “Norma Rae” (1979)
In the below photo, A-list actress Sally Field poses as Norma Rae, in the 1979 film, which would later earn her an Oscar for Best Actress in 1980. The drama follows Norma Rae's life, a worker at a local textile mill, as she goes against her family and employers' wishes, in order to lead a shutdown to protest the mill’s poor working conditions. Sally Field first rose to fame as a much-loved actress thanks to roles in popular sitcoms like “Gidget”, “The Flying Nun” and “The Girl with Something Extra” (1973-1974). In 1977, Field would take on her first-ever film role, in the movie “Smokey and the Bandit.”
It was not until 1979 that Fields would win the Academy Award for Best Actress, for her outstanding acting performance in “Norma Rae.” Of the many nominations and awards Fields’ has collected over the span of her acting career, some of the most notable include her 1985 Academy Award nomination and win in the “Best Actress in a Leading Role” category for her performance in the 1984 film, “Places in the Heart,” and her 2013 nomination for her compelling performance as Mary Todd Lincoln—Abraham Lincoln’s wife—in 2012.