November, 2013 | The British Newspaper Archive Blog

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The Execution of John Brown, 2 December 1859 – and Victor Hugo’s Thoughts on John Brown

‘No, not tired; but don’t keep me waiting longer than necessary’ – John Brown John Brown, the radical abolitionist of slavery, was hanged in Charles Town, Viriginia, on 2 December 1859, after being found guilty of treason against the state of Virginia. Here is a dramatic newspaper story – published just three weeks after the event – that reports on the execution of Brown. As a special bonus, we’ve also included a letter written by Victor Hugo in 1860, in which

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Henri Desire Landru (‘The French Bluebeard’), Found Guilty of Eleven Murders on 1 December 1921

Henri Desire Landru, the ‘The French Bluebeard’ who killed eleven women who he met via the lonely hearts advertisements in the Paris newspapers, was found guilty of these murders on 1 December 1921 and was sentenced to be executed. Here is a newspaper story from 2 December 1921 that reports on the trial of Landru – spookily, the newspapers reported that Landru had ‘hypnotic eyes’. Hmm. Landru’s story was the inspiration for the Charlie Chaplin film, ‘Monsieur Verdoux’. Western Times –

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The 2nd Birthday of the British Newspaper Archive – FREE Newspaper Pages for Sharing

It’s the BNA’s second birthday today! To celebrate the day, we thought we’d share some newspaper stories for historic events that happened on the 29th of November. To view these FREE pages, just click on the images and links below. If you haven’t registered on the website, just quickly register on our registration page (it’s just your name and email address that’s required) and then you can view all these FREE pages. Thank you for your support We’d also like

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Women in New Zealand Vote in the General Election of 28 November 1893

On 28 November 1893, New Zealand became the first country in the world in modern times to give women the vote in a general election. To mark this historic day, here are two newspaper stories that report on the New Zealand General Election of 1893, and also a report on the passing of the legislation in September that same year. The papers reported that women gave their votes to candidates who professed Christianity and advocated temperance. Sheffield Daily Telegraph –

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The Fauld Explosion, Staffordshire – 27 November 1944

On 27 November 1944, the underground ammunition store at RAF Fauld in Staffordshire blew up, killing 70 people and also creating ‘the Hanbury Crater’. It’s said that the explosion, which is also rumoured to be the world’s biggest non-nuclear explosion (there is some debate regarding this point), was heard as far away as Geneva. Here is a newspaper report about the tragedy, published the day after the explosion took place. Nottingham Evening Post – Tuesday 28 November 1944 Image © Local World

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An article about Colindale Library and the British Newspaper Archive project – written by PhD history student, Naomi Lloyd-Jones

‘Opened in 1932, the building itself possesses many beautiful original features, and I am a fan of the art deco style lamps and the imposing wooden desks.’ We very much enjoyed reading this excellent blog post by Naomi Lloyd-Jones, a second year History PhD student at King’s College London, about the Colindale Library and the British Newspaper Archive project.  

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26 November 1922 – Howard Carter and Lord Caernavon peeked into Tutankhamun’s Tomb…

‘Can you see anything?’ – Lord Caernavon ‘Yes, wonderful things…’ – Howard Carter On 26 November 1922, Howard Carter & Lord Caernavon peeked into Tutankhamun’s Tomb and glimpsed the pharoah’s treasure by candlelight. Here is a historical newspaper story that reports on this magical moment.       Subscribe today and discover history as it happened    

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A love letter to Colindale Library and its wonderful collection of historical newspapers

We greatly enjoyed reading this excellent article by David Kynaston of ‘The Guardian’ about his love affair for using old newspapers for historical research David has written some very interesting books based on his reading of historical newspapers – so we hope his article inspires folk to get scribbling! David’s article is also a love letter to the Colindale Newspaper Library.

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