As the 2024 Paris Olympics begin, we at the British Newspaper Archive could not help but look back at the 1924 Paris Olympics, with the same city playing host to the summer Olympic Games exactly one hundred years ago. Paris had also hosted the Olympics in 1900, and so this year will be the third time that the city hosts the iconic sporting tournament. And the 1924 Paris Olympics would prove an iconic one for Britain, with gold medal wins …
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With a history that winds all the way back to Anglo-Saxon and medieval farming practices, the story of allotments in the United Kingdom is as rich as the soil itself. From the General Enclosure Act of 1845, which aimed to give the landless poor an area to cultivate, to the ‘Dig for Victory’ campaign in the 1940s, all the way to the allotment renaissance of the 1990s, we will explore the history of allotments, using newspapers sourced from our Archive. …
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Merseyside-born, Charlotte ‘Lottie’ Dod, is the youngest ever winner of the Wimbledon Ladies Singles Championship, achieving her triumph in 1887 at the tender age of 15 years and 285 days. She won the singles title a remarkable five times in total, between the years 1887 and 1893. An article in the Sheffield Independent chronicles Lottie’s first ever Wimbledon victory in 1887. About the ladies’ singles there is little to be said – only five entered as against eight last year. Miss …
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From the 1950s onwards the United Kingdom has produced many extraordinary music icons in the arenas of pop, rock and more. The rise of these British music icons, both bands and solo artists, is chronicled throughout our newspaper Archive. And so, in this special blog, we’ve delved into our Archive to bring you early reviews of Britain’s biggest bestselling music artists. From Shirley Bassey to Duran Duran, from Kate Bush to the Rolling Stones, we’ve picked 42 music icons to …
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May is the month of that major event in Europe’s (and now Australia’s) musical calendar: the Eurovision Song Contest. Love it, loath it, or patiently tolerate it, the Eurovision Song Contest has been making headlines ever since its first competition, held nearly 70 years ago in Lugano, Switzerland. And now, using British and Irish newspapers from our collection, we take a peak into the annals of Eurovision history, assembling headlines from the first ever contest in 1956 all the way …
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In 1872 farm labourers in Warwickshire went on strike, in a movement that academic and statesmen Henry Fawcett dubbed to be the ‘most important that as ever taken place among our labourers.’ Echoing such movements in Britain’s industrial towns and cities, this radical rural action would lead to the formation of the National Agricultural Labourers’ Union. In this special blog, using newspapers from the time, we will examine this ground-breaking agricultural action. We will look at how the National Agricultural …
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Eighteenth century writer, philosopher and early feminist Mary Wollstonecraft faced censure in her lifetime, not just for her radical beliefs, but also for her rejection of societal norms. Long after her death, however, attitudes began to shift, as she gained recognition as a trailblazing fighter for women’s equality and became an inspirational figure in the women’s suffrage movement. Following on from our blog on the life of Mary Wollstonecraft, in this second and final blog we shall examine the writer’s …
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Eighteenth century writer and philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft was an early advocate of women’s rights. Lambasted during her lifetime for her refusal to conform to societal norms, she is seen today as one of the first feminist philosophers. In part one of our special blog series, we will examine the life of Mary Wollstonecraft, using newspapers found in our Archive. We will trace her life from its early difficulties, through to the publication of her trailblazing novels and pamphlets, learning how …
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In this special guest blog, David Musgrove, content director for BBC History Magazine and HistoryExtra, considers the amazing life of the now-forgotten Victorian showman, athlete, and wheelbarrow pedestrian Bob Carlisle, and how his clever manipulation of newspapers marks him out as a 19th-century influencer. Did the Victorian period have influencers? Yes, but rather than using social media and camera phones, they employed letter-writing and wheelbarrows. I’ve been researching the story of a forgotten 19th-century minor celebrity whose life was widely …
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Known as the ‘first couturier‘ and the ‘Napoleon of costumiers,’ British fashion designer Charles Frederick Worth is regarded by many as the father of haute couture. Born in Bourne, Lincolnshire, on 13 October 1825, Charles Frederick Worth would make his name in Paris as the founder of the House of Worth, and the man who revolutionised the business of fashion. In this special blog, we will explore the life and legacy of Charles Frederick Worth via newspapers published in his …