Articles by The BNA

Just 11 weeks after the outbreak of World War One, Prince Louis Alexander Mountbatten, First Sea Lord of the Royal Navy, was forced to resign.Although the 60-year-old Mountbatten had given over 40 years of loyal service to the UK, it was felt that, as he was born in Austria, there might be questions regarding his loyalty to the UK as the war progressed.Included below is a news report about Mountbatten’s resignation, and also a short snippet about Lord Fisher, who

On 28 October 1940, RMS Empress of Britain was torpedoed in the Atlantic by U-32 and sank about 70 miles off County Donegal.The attack by U-32 was a follow-up attack after the ship had been bombed by German planes on 26 October – after which, most of the passengers and crew had been safely evacuated from the stricken ship.The Empress of Britain was the largest ship sunk by a U-boat during the Second World War, and it is rumoured that the liner was

At the Ipswich Assizes on 27 October 1936, Wallis Simpson was granted a divorce from her second husband, Ernest Simpson, on the grounds of her husband’s adultery.Here is a very interesting contemporary nerwspaper report on the courst case, with the attention-grabbing headline, ‘Society Divorce Case’.The Courier and Advertiser – Wednesday 28 October 1936Image © D.C.Thomson & Co. Ltd. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD.http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000564/19361028/134/0007

‘The following resolution was carried: That is is advisable a Football Association should be formed for the purpose of settling a code of rules for the regulation of the game of football.’On 26 October 1863, 11 football clubs and schools from London met at The Freemasons’ Tavern to form the Football Association and to agree on a code of football rules.We thought we’d mark this historic day by posting three contemporary newspaper stories that report on this momentous meeting.Search the

On 25 October 1854, Lord Cardigan led the charge of the Light Brigade againt the Russians in the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimea.The insane order to attack the gun positions arose due to a miscommunicated message somewhere along the chain of command.156 men of the Light Brigade were killed in the charge and 122 were wounded – 335 horses were also killed during the attack.Included below is a newspaper article from November 1854 that reports on the charge.Read a BNA blog post

On her 63rd birthday, Annie Edson Taylor climbed into a barrel and went over Niagara Falls.Happily, she survived her incredible journey!The motive that drove Edson Taylor to perform such a terribly dangerous task was her twin desire for financial security and to avoid ending up in the poorhouse.Included below is a contemporary newspaper story that reports on this amazing episode.The Citizen – Saturday 26 October 1901Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000325/19011026/014/0003

Al Jolson, “The World’s Greatest Entertainer”, died of a heart attack while playing cards in a hotel in San Francisco on 23 October 1950 – he was 64.Jolson had only recently returned from entertaining troops in Korea, and it was reported that he was exhausted – his last words are reputed to be “Boys, I’m going”.Included below is a contemporary newspaper story that reports on the death of ‘the Jazz Singer’.Derby Daily Telegraph – Tuesday 24 October 1950Image © Local World Limited. Image created courtesy

Jeremy Clay, who works as Features Editor on The Leicester Mercury, has written a fascinating article about the history of newspapers in Leicester – and has very kindly allowed us to publish his article on the BNA blog.************************************************************************The news came late to Leicester. The town’s first paper – The Leicester and Nottingham Journal – was launched in 1753, a year that saw almost seven and a half million copies of newspapers published across England.The four-page Leicester Journal, which ditched the Nottingham tag

On 21 October 1854, Florence Nightingale (‘the Lady with the Lamp’) and 38 volunteer nurses sailed from Southampton on their way to Scutari in the Crimea.Here’s a newspaper report published on 27 October 1854 thar reports on the departure of Miss Nightingale’s party.Read some more of our blog posts about the Crimean War.Cork Examiner – Friday 27 October 1854Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000425/18541027/028/0003Dundee Courier – Saturday 16 May 1953Image © D.C.Thomson & Co. Ltd. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD.http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000564/19530516/105/0005

On 18 October 1865, Lord Palmerston (aka ‘Pam’, ‘The Mongoose’ and ‘Lord Cupid’), Prime Minister of the UK from 1855-1858 and 1859-1865, passed way – he was 80 years old.As you can imagine, The Archive contains 1,000s of stories about Lord Palmerston.But our eye was caught by this quirky story about a visitor to Westminster who was mortified by once having (accidentally) bumped into Palmertson in the Commons Lobby, and nearly knocking the great man to the ground. Palmerston’s reaction to the collision was