We’re BIG fans of etiquette – in all its glorious forms and contexts – at the BNA. Indeed, we often think that folk who are keen to maintain high standards of decorum and refined behaviour are ‘keepers of the flame’ for, er, well, the survival of civilisation, really. Anyway, we’ve now published a fair few etiquette guides on the blog and, as they always prove to be popular with visitors to the website, we thought we’d post another article on the subject. …

As there might well be some very organised folk (grr!) out there who are already planning or musing on their 2014 calendar, we thought we’d best mention that the days for ‘Who Do You Think You Are? Live 2014’ will be THURSDAY, Friday and Saturday – so the show will not include the Sunday in 2014. The confirmed dates for the 2014 show are Thursday 20, Friday 21 and Saturday 22 February. – http://www.whodoyouthinkyouarelive.com/

We do love the quirky stories in the Archive, where the UK’s eccentrics get up to all sorts of weird, wonderful and amusing larks – indeed, some of the stories are bearly believable. Here’s a grand photo of a lady who took her bear for a stroll in Hull in December 1929. Hull Daily Mail – Wednesday 11 December 1929 Image © Northcliffe Media Limited. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0000324/19291211/013/0003

On a rural road in Bienville Parish, Louisiana, on 23 May 1934, Bonnie Elizabeth Parker and Clyde Chestnut Barrow were shot dead in a police ambush. The couple were criminal celebrities during the ‘public enemy era’ in the USA, from between 1931 and 1934. It’s believed that they killed nine police officers and several civilians during the course of their careers as armed robbers. Included below are two, contemporary newspaper stories that report on the violent end of Bonnie and Clyde. Western …

Wilhelm Richard Wagner was born in Leipzig on 22 May 1813. As you can imagine of somebody who led such a dramatic and turbulent life, there are 100s of interesting stories about Wagner in the Archive. Indeed, you can trace the course of much of Wagner’s life simply by reading old newspaper stories about him in the Archive. So to mark the bicentenary of his birth, we’ve posted below a portrait of Wagner from ‘The Graphic’ newspaper and also some …

On 22 May 1865 in Irwinville, Georgia, the fugitive president of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, was captured by the Union cavalry officer Benjamin Dudley Pritchard. Historical legend has it that Davis was disguised as a woman when he was arrested, hence the reference in this newspaper report (published in June 1865) to ‘the petticoat story’ perhaps being a falsehood. Derby Mercury – Wednesday 28 June 1865 Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000052/18650628/009/0003

On 21 May 1932, Amelia Earhart landed in a field at Culmore, near Derry in Northern Ireland, after flying solo across the Atlantic – she was the first woman to achieve this amazing feat. Here are some contemporary newspaper stories about her historic flight – we especially like that she set off on her epic journey with only a quart of chicken soup to keep her nourished! Read another blog post about Amelia Earhart in which she quips, ‘Still flying …

‘This child has a great future before her, and she will put many great musicians in the shade’ – Paganini The German pianist and composer, Clara Schumann, suffered a stroke and died in Frankfurt on 20 May 1896, aged 76. We’ve been reading stories about Madame Schumann in the Archive and we especially liked this first report, as it contains a terrific comment from Paganini about her brilliant piano playing. The second report contains a description of her funeral in Bonn, …

On 19 May 1935, T.E. Lawrence (‘Lawrence of Arabia’) died at Bovington Military Camp in Dorset, five days after fracturing his skull in a motorcycle accident – he was 46 years old. The Archive contains 100s of stories about Thomas Edward Lawrence, including many reports of his amazing exploits during World War One. Here is a fascinating newspaper report about the life and death of Lawrence, published just one day after he died. Nottingham Evening Post – Monday 20 May …

We were very interested in this quirky story about the removal of a controversial mural from the RCA Building in New York in 1933. The Mexican artist, Diego Rivera had been commissioned by Nelson Rockefeller to paint a mural in the RCA Building, which was the centrepoint of the Rockefeller Center. The painting, entitled ‘Man at the Crossroads’, contained a large portrait of Lenin, which, ahem, did not go down very well with a very surprised Nelson Rockefeller. As the Rockefeller Center …