To celebrate the 1st of May, here are some historical reports from the Archive that report on May Day gatherings by the urban proletariat in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Dundee Courier – Wednesday 01 May 1929 Image © D.C.Thomson & Co. Ltd. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000564/19290501/104/0006 York Herald – Wednesday 03 May 1899 Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000500/18990503/043/0005 Lincolnshire Echo – Wednesday 01 May 1895 Image © …

The inauguration speech given to both Houses in Congress by George Washington on 30 April 1789 On the balcony of Federal Hall in New York City on 30 April 1789, George Washington was inaugurated as the first president of the United States. Congress had voted to pay Washington $25,000 a year to be the president, but he initially declined a salary as he believed in the idea of selfless public servants. However, he did eventually accept the wage, as Congress …

Derby Daily Telegraph – Monday 30 April 1945 Image © Northcliffe Media Limited. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000521/19450430/006/0001 Western Daily Press – Monday 30 April 1945 Image © Northcliffe Media Limited. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000513/19450430/029/0003 Hull Daily Mail – Tuesday 01 May 1945 Image © Northcliffe Media Limited. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000324/19450501/011/0001

Alfred Hitchcock, ‘The Master of Suspense’, died in Bel Air, California, on 29 April 1980. As Hitchcock was born in Leytonstone and lived in London till 1939, the Archive contains scores of stories about his life in the UK – indeed, it’s very interesting to follow his life and career via newspaper reports contained in the BNA. Included below are two reports from the 1920s that offer a snapshot of Hitchcock’s life as a film director when he lived in England. Western …

On 29 April 1945, Dachau Concentration Camp was liberated by U.S. Army troops. Gloucestershire Echo – Monday 30 April 1945 Image © Northcliffe Media Limited. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000320/19450430/017/0001

On 28 April 1789, Fletcher Christian and his mutineers seized control of Captain William Bligh’s ship, HMS Bounty. We found this fascinating account of the mutiny in ‘The Oxford Journal’ of 20 March 1790, and thought we’d post this historic newspaper report on the blog. Oxford Journal – Saturday 20 March 1790 Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000073/17900320/006/0002

Samuel Finley Breese Morse was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, on 27 April 1791. We found this fascinating report about Morse was inspired to create his invention of the electric telegraph system, and thought we’d post this article on the blog. Manchester Times – Tuesday 22 February 1848 Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000083/18480222/020/0006

The people in the medieval Basque town of Guernica were bombed and machine-gunned by German and Italian warplanes on 26 April 1937. The German and Italian planes had attacked Guernica at the behest of General Franco, the leader of the Spanish Nationalist forces. As the Archive contains 100s of newspaper reports about the atrocity at Guernica, we thought we’d commemorate the day by posting one of these reports. Western Times – Friday 30 April 1937 Image © Northcliffe Media Limited. Image …

On 25 April 1859, the Suez Canal Company, under the instruction of Ferdinand de Lesseps, started work on building the canal on the shore of the future Port Said. Unlike the building of the Panama Canal, de Lesseps bravely set forth on the project despite not having a brilliant palindome in place to inspire the people working on the project – admittedly, Suez might not be that easy to work into a palindrome, although Zeus might disagree with that… To …

To mark ANZAC Day, here’s an interesting story from ‘The Western Daily Press’ of October 1916, regarding the plethora of marriage proposals that ANZAC soldiers received during World War One. 33 marriage proposals to one soldier – we think that must be some sort of record! Western Daily Press – Saturday 21 October 1916 Image © Northcliffe Media Limited. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000264/19161021/063/0007