1940s: Widespread poverty and unemployment in Columbia forced many single women to turn to prostitution to earn a living.

Today: Columbia is internationally known for its thriving drug trade, which is led by a number of influential cartels. However, while the people in charge of these organizations are wealthy, much of the country is still racked by poverty.

1940s: The assassination of the Colombian Liberal leader, Jorge Eliecer Gaitán, sparked El bogotazo, a looting and pillaging spree that in turn led to la Violencia, a decades-long, brutal civil conflict.

Today: Due in a large part to the economic divide between the haves and the have-nots in Columbia, political instability is ever-present and results in periodic outbreaks.

1940s: Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn starred in the film, Adam's Rib, as married attorneys on opposite sides of a case—in which a woman...