In the 1940s the jitterbug, a type of swing dancing that was pioneered by African American communities in New York during the early twentieth century, took the United Kingdom by storm. The energetic dance, which featured elements of the jive, the charleston, and other swing dances, divided Britain, with it being embraced by those who flocked to dancehalls up and down the country, whilst others viewed it as a morally dangerous American import. In this special blog, using newspapers from …
American history
Baseball is one of the quintessentially American summer sports, but did you know that the sport of baseball has a fascinating history in Britain? From the 1870s onwards, American players visited Britain to try and raise interest in the game. It was a slow start, but by 1938 the game of baseball had taken such a hold in Britain that a British team beat an American one at the inaugural Amateur World Series tournament. So read on to discover more …
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As a result of the Second World War, over 60,000 British women married American soldiers (colloquially known as GIs), many of them returning with their new husbands to live in the United States once the war ended. In this special blog, we are going to take a look at how the so-called GI brides were reported on by the press of the United Kingdom. We will examine how they faced warnings over their choice of husbands, and how they were …
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Not even a month ago we celebrated reaching 55 million pages, and this week, we are celebrating adding another one million pages to The Archive, with over 56 million newspaper pages all now available to search. In what is a truly bumper week at The Archive, we have added ten brand new newspaper titles to our collection from England and Scotland, and even from across the pond. Meanwhile, we’ve updated 28 of our existing titles, from Aberdare to Wells, with significant updates to important regional publications. So read on to discover more about all …
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On 20 July 1969, two American astronauts, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, landed on the moon, thus becoming the first two humans ever to walk on the lunar surface. These first steps were watched by an estimated audience of 650 million viewers worldwide, as the Apollo 11 mission became a veritable global media sensation. But how was the moon landing reported on by the British media? As part of space and the stars month here at The Archive, we have collated …
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This week at The Archive we have been beavering away to bring you 266,469 brand new pages from across the world, from Canada to Ireland, from the United States to Wales. We are delighted to introduce six brand new titles to our collection, including our first ever title from the United States, alongside another new title that was exclusively devoted to all things Anglo-American. Meanwhile, we welcome a brand new Canadian title to our collection, just in time for Canada Day, whist we’ve added two new titles from Ireland …
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Disaster has befallen the giant German airship, Hindenburg. She was blown to pieces in a mysterious explosion when about to moor at Lakehurst, New Jersey, on the first anniversary of her maiden flight to America. A third of her reported total of 97 aboard have died. Latest death toll of the disaster is 35. So reported the Lincolnshire Echo on 7 May 1937, a day after the German airship LZ 129 Hindenburg caught fire as it attempted to land in New Jersey. News of …
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This week at The Archive we have been busy adding 175,504 brand new pages to our collection, and we are delighted to welcome the three brand new titles which have been added over the past seven days. So read on to discover more about our new titles, which represent England’s South East, as well as one very special title which focussed on providing advice for those looking to emigrate to the United States from Britain. Meanwhile, we have also made extensive updates to twelve of …
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This week at The Archive we have been as busy as ever, adding an incredible 242,192 brand new pages over the past week alone. Furthermore, we have added five brand new titles from Ireland to the Isle of Wight, and beyond! So read on to discover more about the new pages we have added this week, and to find out about the arrival of controversial early American suffrage leader Victoria Woodhull in Great Britain in 1877. Register now and explore the Archive Starting off …
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In the years 1893 and 1894 pioneering African American investigative journalist and early civil rights leader Ida Bell Wells (1862-1931) visited Britain on a series of speaking tours. Ida Bell Wells Ida B. Wells, born into slavery in Holly Springs, Mississippi, had made it her mission to raise awareness of the brutal ramifications of the lynch law in the Southern States of America. This special blog will explore how Wells was received in Britain, and how the press of the …