Edmund Burke, the Irish politician, writer and philosopher, died at Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, on 9 July 1797, aged 68. To mark the day, here are some newspaper stories – published in July 1797 – that report on the passing of this great statesman. Western Daily Press – Friday 11 January 1929 Image © Northcliffe Media Limited. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000264/19290111/090/0008 Reading Mercury – Monday 17 July 1797 Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. …
In July 1947, numerous sightings of UFOs were reported in various states in the USA. Pleasingly, most of the newspaper reports descibed the UFOs as ‘flying saucers’ or ‘flying discs’. Sadly, ‘flying saucers’ is a term that seems to have fallen by the wayside over the last few decades – perhaps suggesting that the aliens have since updated their old designs. We found this newspaper report – published in July 1947 – about the sightings of the UFOs, and thought …
Tags
Congratulations to Andy Murray! Today, Murray became the first man from the UK to win Wimbledon since Fred Perry’s victory in 1936. To celebrate Andy Murray’s wonderful performance and historic achievement, here are some historical newspaper reports on Fred Perry’s victory at Wimbledon in 1936. Dundee Courier | 4 July 1936 Derby Daily Telegraph | 3 July 1936 Read some of the other historical newspaper stories about Wimbledon that we’ve been posting on the blog.
Tags
On 7 July 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered American troops to occupy Iceland. The strategy behind this diplomatic move was to deter any possible invasion of Iceland by the Nazis – at this time, the USA was still neutral. Although Iceland was neutral during World War Two, the UK invaded the island earlier in 1941, in order to stop Nazi Germany from turning it into a base from which it might attack Allied shipping. Here is a newspaper story – published on …
Tags
We’ve been reading stories about the history of Wimbledon in The Archive, and have found some terrific newspaper reports. Here’s an article about the arrival of the electronic scoreboard on Centre Court in 1929, published in the Derby Daily Telegraph. Derby Daily Telegraph | 21 June 1929 1929 Ladies’ Wimbledon Final | Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News | 13 July 1929 Read some of the other historical newspaper stories about Wimbledon that we’ve been posting on the blog. Derby Daily Telegraph – Friday 21 June …
Tags
On 6 July 1892, Dadabhai Naoroji (‘the Grand Old Man of India’) won the seat of Finsbury Central, thus becoming the first non-white Member of Parliament. To mark the day, here are two, contemporary newspaper stories from 1892 that report on his victory for the Liberal Party in Finsbury. Pall Mall Gazette – Thursday 07 July 1892 Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000098/18920707/005/0001 Derby Daily Telegraph – Thursday 07 July 1892 Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY …
Tags
Fred Perry was of course one of the greatest players in tennis history, having won three consecutive Wimbledons from 1934 to 1936. He was the last British winner of Wimbledon until Andy Murray’s victory in 2013. Fred Perry ‘delivering a characteristic vigorous smash’ during the 1936 Wimbledon | The Sphere | 27 June 1936 However, despite his third (and final) Wimbledon victory in 1936, he was the victim of an unfortunate accident whilst playing an exhibition match a couple months before in …
Tags
The fact that the green, purple and white colours of the Suffragette Movement are the same colours used by Wimbledon, has sometimes been commented upon. With this in mind, we thought we’d try and find some newspaper stories that bring together Wimbledon and the suffragettes. Oh, and we found some stories! We found two reports about an incident in 1913 when a suffragette attempted to burn down Wimbledon. One from the time, in the Derby Daily Telegraph, and another from fifteen …
Tags
P. T. Barnum, the famous American showman, was born in Bethel, Connecticut, on 5 July 1810. Barnum’s travelling fair was promoted as the ‘The Greatest Show On Earth’, and was a sensation during the Victoria era. To give you a taste of how Barnum’s shows were celebrated at the time, here are two newspaper reports from 1884 and 1898 about his circus coming to town, which include illustrations of some of the performers.
Tags
One of the many fascinating features of the Archive is the articles it contains on the family history of famous people. Indeed, at times, browsing through the Archive can be similar to watching episodes of the BBC programme, ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ As today is the 4th of July, we thought we’d mark Independence Day by posting this excellent, wee article about the English ancestry of George Washington. And just for good measure, we’ve also included a fascinating …