The British Newspaper Archive Blog - Part 31

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Policing Pioneers – A Look at the History of the Women’s Police Service

Upon the advent of the First World War a new organisation was formed – the Women Police Volunteers. Later known as the Women’s Police Service, these women played a vital role in paving the way for the establishment and acceptance of women in the police. Members of the Women’s Police Service at a Buckingham Palace Garden party | The Sphere | 2 April 1919 Although the inclusion of women in the police was discussed prior to the outbreak of the war, and

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Hot Off The Press – New Titles This Week

This week at The Archive we have added 71,798 brand new pages to our ever growing collection, with a duo of brand new titles joining us this week too, from Cornwall and Buckinghamshire respectively. So read on to discover more about which new titles we have added, the ten titles we have updated, and also to find out more about the last moments of Mary Pearcey, condemned to death in 1890 for murder. Register now and explore the Archive The first new title of

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‘Exciting Scenes’ – Buttercup and Other Canal Swimming Cows

Here at The Archive, as well as exploring pioneering figures of the past, and momentous moments from history, we like to celebrate the best of our collection’s local news, however bizarre, amusing and strange! Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News | 13 May 1959 With so many regional titles to be found on The Archive, there are many surprising and unusual stories to be found from around the country. And none more amazing is the story of Buttercup the cow, who was

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Hot Off The Press – New Titles This Week

This week at The Archive we have been immensely busy adding 173,282 brand new pages to our collection. We have added an incredible 11 brand new titles over the past seven days, spanning such diverse countries as India, China, Dominica and Antigua, as well as some towns and cities slightly closer to home, like Beverley, Birkenhead and Blandford. Here at The Archive we don’t like to neglect our existing titles either, and so in this vein, we have added new pages to 19 of our existing

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‘This Pestilential Stream’ – Exploring the ‘Great Stink’ of 1858

‘The foulest nuisance that ever disgraced the annals of a nation,’ the condition of the Thames in the summer of 1858 had reached a crisis point. Bloated with sewage and other effluence from the world’s second largest city, the Thames had become a ‘pestilential stream,’ emitting a putrid odour that was dubbed the ‘Great Stink.’ Westminster Bridge | Illustrated London News | 21 October 1843 In this special blog, we shall uncover the true state of the Thames, as it was in the

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Hot Off The Press – New Titles This Week

This week at The Archive has been an especially busy one, as we have added 150,624 brand new pages from titles to be found across the world! Not only have these 150,624 new pages joined us this week, we have added nearly 150 years’ worth of headlines, from 1771 to 1920. Furthermore, this week sees the continuation of our commitment to publish the international titles held by the British Library. To this end, new titles join our collection from the Caribbean, including

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Far From ‘Idle:’ The Women Canal Workers of the Second World War

Nicknamed the ‘Idle Women,’ although they were about as far from idle as anybody could possibly be, the women canal workers of the Second World War performed vital war work which is all but forgotten today, some seventy years later. Some of the ‘Idle women’ arriving at a canal dock | The Sphere | 15 April 1944 The curious name of ‘Idle Women’ came from the badges that these pioneering women wore, with the initials ‘IW,’ which stood for ‘Inland Waterways’.

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Hot Off The Press – New Titles This Week

This week at The Archive we have been busy adding another 73,020 brand new pages to our collection. We’re delighted to welcome two brand new titles as well, which both hail from the county of Lancashire. So read on to discover the latest from Lancashire, what pages we have added to our existing titles, and how baseball fever swept Britain in the 1890s. Register now and explore the Archive First member of our Lancashire double act this week is the Haslingden Gazette. Established in 1863, this weekly

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Hot Off The Press – New Titles This Week

This week we have added over 120 years of history to The Archive!  With an increase of more than 109,000 pages, we have added 7 brand new titles and updated 15 existing titles. Our new pages span from 1860 to 1988 with a strong focus on the year 1880.  Read on a discover more about the headlines from the 1880s. Register now and explore the Archive One of the largest releases this week is more than 47,000 pages of our brand

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A Gift of Warfare – The History of Plastic Surgery

‘Plastic surgery, born in one war and perfected in another,’ had been practiced before the First World War, but it took this global conflict, and a second one, to develop plastic surgery as we know it today. The Sphere | 20 May 1933 In this special blog, using newspapers taken from The Archive, we will trace the development of plastic surgery, from the work of Harold Gillies in the First World War, to its move into the cosmetic mainstream in the

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