In this week’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are? Ruby Wax confronted the hidden past in her family tree. The episode proved cathartic for Ruby who came to a better understanding of her parents’ lives, particularly her mother’s. The personal revelations perfectly illustrated that it is one thing to know ‘history’ in general terms, it is quite another when that history has directly impacted your family. When family cannot or will not speak about events it is possible …
Second World War
Throughout the month of September, The British Newspaper Archive is taking a closer look at researching local history through the newspapers. Currently, The Archive holds more than 800 titles and many of those are local or provincial titles. These papers reported national and international news, but it was in their interest to report details of local news and events. In our everyday life, we are affected on a daily basis by what happens in our immediate surroundings rather than national events. National events …
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A new month, a new blog post! Today we’re exploring three events that took place in August – one from 150 years ago, one from 125 years ago, and the last from 75 years ago. Michael Faraday As we kick off this month’s theme of occupations, we are happy to remember the British physicist and chemist Michael Faraday (22 September 1791-25 August 1867) who died 150 years ago this month. Of all occupations, those relating to the sciences have been …
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Christopher Nolan’s film Dunkirk is a powerful portrayal of the rescue of over 330,000 soldiers from the beach at Dunkirk in northern France. The film pays tribute to the role of the French and British rearguard, the RAF and the little ships all of who played their part in the evacuation. Following the events of a single day the film compresses into two hours the heroism and tragedy of the events of the nine days between 27 May – 4 …
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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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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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February 15, 2017 marks the 75th anniversary of the fall of Singapore during the Second World War. The event was one of the greatest British military defeats in history. It meant the loss of a military stronghold to the Japanese as well as the capture of almost 100,000 men, women, and children as prisoners of war. The event was covered extensively in the newspapers, from the initial invasion and evacuation of civilians to the surrender and questions that immediately …
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On the night of the 19th January 1915, two German Zeppelins appeared out of the dark on the Norfolk coast and conducted the first airship attack on British soil. They had set out for Humberside, but strong winds had seen them divert to the areas around Great Yarmouth, Sheringham and King’s Lynn. It would be the first of over 50 Zeppelin attacks on the UK. Strategically, they proved largely ineffective, with night raids and bad weather conditions making it difficult …
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Newspapers are valuable sources for researching historical events, most especially those of such national importance as a declaration of war. Register now and view 3 pages for FREE In August of 1939, Britain and Poland signed an agreement of mutual assistance. This mean that were any foreign power to interfere with either country militarily, the other would rush to their aid. Days later, on September 1st, Germany crossed the Polish border under a flag of nationalism, on an invented crusade …
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The bombing of civilian targets in Britain during the Second World War is now commonly referred to as ‘The Blitz’. The song ‘All Stick Together’ released by Ralph Butler in 1939 summarised the need for Britain to pull together as a nation against the threat of an invasion, and the ‘Blitz Spirit’ has gone down in history and is still invoked today in times of strife. However, whilst the vast majority of the population may have been sticking together, there …