On this day, 30 June, in 1864, American President Abraham Lincoln signed the Yosemite Valley Grant Act. The Act gave the Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Big Tree Grove to the state of California, ‘upon the express conditions that the premises shall be held for public use, resort, and recreation’. Today, more than 4 million people visit the site every year, which has become both a national park and World Heritage Site. We have rambled through the pages of The British Newspaper …
Headlines from History
Throughout the month of June, The British Newspaper Archive is celebrating its numerous sporting titles. Today, we are taking a look at some of the sporting headlines from the newspapers during the month of June regarding tennis, racing, and cricket. According to the Illustrated London News, which published an extensive feature about sports as part of its 100th-anniversary edition, since the turn of the century, sports have become an international spectacle and a global passion. Throughout our lives, …
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Today, we’re highlighting one of many events that have occurred over the years on 31 May. On 31 May 1837, the Clown Laureate of the Regency era, Joseph ‘Joey’ Grimaldi, died. Read the entire obituary Grimaldi was considered the best clown of the nineteenth century. His work was influential in the role and appearance of clowns — he expanded the clown’s role in pantomimes and the harlequinade. He worked on several famous stages, including Drury Lane, Sadler’s Wells, and Covent Garden. Over …
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Today, we’re looking at two events that occurred on 18 May: the Khodynka Tragedy in 1896 and Jacqueline Cochran’s breaking of the sound barrier in 1953. Khodynka Tragedy The first took place in 1896 in the Khodynka Field, Moscow. The field was the site of festivities honouring the recent coronation of Emperor Nicholas II. Thousands gathered to celebrate and to, hopefully, receive rumoured gifts of food and a commemorative cup. With growing and increasingly frenzied crowds, the police force on …
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Illustrated London News On 14 May 1842, 175 years ago today, the Illustrated London News, the world’s first illustrated newspaper, debuted. Founded by Herbert Ingram of Lincolnshire, the paper was a pioneer in pictorial journalism. The British Newspaper Archive is proud to hold more than 7,000 issues of the Illustrated London News across its 161-year run for you to explore. Register today and explore the Illustrated London News. From its inaugural edition, the editors were confident in their …
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Space Race The Space Race between the Soviet Union and the United States experienced a significant ratcheting up at the end of the 1950s with the Sputnik Crisis, which saw the successful launching and orbit of the satellite Sputnik 1 by the Soviet Union in 1957. This development was a key factor in the creation of NASA the following year by the United States as well as the investment of federal funds into national security and research and development. An …
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As we welcome a new month, we at the Archive take the opportunity to delve into historical events that have occurred in the month of May over the years. Lewis and Clark On 14 May 1804, Lewis and Clark departed St Louis on their expedition west. It was the first American expedition to explore the western half of the United States. The expedition was ordered by President Jefferson following the Louisiana Purchase to, in part, map this newly acquired territory. …
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This week for Easter, we took a look through our newspapers to find Easter traditions across the globe. The papers in the British Newspaper Archive report events from around the world as well as explore international customs and traditions. We found traditions in Romania, Russia, Bulgaria, France, and England. Easter Customs In 1933, The Sphere did a feature on Easter customs in many lands. In one image, you can see fishermen from Galilee, in present-day northern Israel. The caption tells us …
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April Fool’s Day is the perfect day to delve into a topic that has of late appeared in the headlines: fake news. While its current iteration may seem particularly upsetting, it may be comforting (in a way) to learn that this is not a new phenomenon and it, in fact, plagued late nineteenth century journalism. In the United States, a new brand of ‘journalism’ emerged, coined ‘yellow journalism’—the clickbait of the pre-internet era. Joseph Pulitzer, now known mostly for the …
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Whilst Mothering Sunday is now commonly combined and celebrated with the secular holiday of Mother’s Day in the United Kingdom and Ireland, its origin is religious in nature and separate from that of the American Mother’s Day. Starting in the 1700s, individuals would attend a special service on Laetare Sunday (the fourth Sunday of Lent) at their mother church (usually the church where an individual was baptised or their local parish church/closest cathedral). This activity was soon coined as going …