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Apprentice saves drowning man: A curious trend in the newspaper archive

Sometimes a search through the archive turns up some  baffling search results. In this case, it was the incredible regularity of instances where apprentices have been heralded for their bravery in rescuing drowning people. Search the newspapers This frequency begs the question: what makes an apprentice such a good person to have around treacherous waters? Let us know your theory in the comments below…

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Meet the Content Lead of The British Newspaper Archive

Find out what goes on behind the scenes at The British Newspaper Archive in our series of Q&As with the team who work here. We sat down with Content Lead Amy Sell to find out who she is and what she does.   What does your job involve? I help people discover The British Newspaper Archive and understand how amazing the collection is by writing emails and blog posts, managing our Facebook page and Twitter feed and producing handy video

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The British Newspaper Archive is 3 years old

It’s hard to believe, but The British Newspaper Archive has now reached the grand old age of three. We launched on 29 November 2011 with 4 million fully searchable historic newspaper pages and have come a long way since then.   Please click the image to enlarge it   A treasure trove of information You can now search more than 9 million pages, from over 300 British and Irish newspaper titles, spanning 1710-1954. Reading all of those pages would be

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Remember remember, the fifth of November – images of Bonfire Night in the past

Every year on 5th November, people in Britain celebrate the failure of the Gunpowder Plot in 1605 with bonfires, effigies of Guy Fawkes and fireworks. You’ll find thousands of descriptions and images of Bonfire Night celebrations from the past in our collection of historical newspapers. We’ve selected some of our favourite examples for you to enjoy.   1861: Burning the Guy on the fifth of November Penny Illustrated Paper – Saturday 09 November 1861 Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS

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70th anniversary of the D-Day landings

Today we commemorate the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings. On 6 June 1944, Allied forces invaded Normandy which was, at that point, occupied by the German Army. It is estimated that over 8,000 people lost their lives on this one day. D-Day reported in British newspapers News of the invasion reached British newspapers during the day on 6 June 1944, so you’ll find initial reports in late editions or in the copies published the following day.   Explore D-Day

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Hull City play Arsenal in the 1930 FA Cup semi-final

The FA Cup final on Saturday 17 May 2014 will see a showdown between Arsenal and Hull City. This is the first time Hull have reached the final. Hull City’s greatest achievement in cup competitions up to this point was in 1930, when they reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup. Rather strangely, they also faced Arsenal in that match. The British Newspaper Archive is a great place to research football history as you’ll find original match reports and reactions

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Shakespeare on the Tube Strike

Search The British Newspaper Archive for the words ‘Tube strike’ and you’ll find hundreds of stories about London Underground strikes of the past. While most newspapers printed serious reports, we’ve found a few that couldn’t resist making a joke or two.   Tu-be or not tu-be The Derby Daily Telegraph imagined how William Shakespeare would have responded to the Tube strike of 1919:   Derby Daily Telegraph – Wednesday 05 February 1919 Image © Local World Limited. Image created courtesy of

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Invention of the ice cream cone by Charles Menches – 23 July 1904

There are 100s of different flavours of old newspaper stories about ice cream (including secret recipes…) to be found in The British Newspaper Archive. But did you know that on 23 July 1904, Charles Menches had a ‘Eureka!’ moment, while watching people eat ice cream at the World Fair at St Louis? Read this fascinating story about the invention of the ice cream cone – 108 years young today!   Hull Daily Mail – Tuesday 29 December 1931 Image ©

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