Articles by The BNA

On 24 July 1883, Captain Matthew Webb, the first man to swim the English Channel, drowned in the Whirlpool Rapids at Niagara River, below the Falls.To mark the sad day, here are two newspaper stories from July 1883 that report on Webb’s drowning, including a report of Captain Webb’s thoughts on how he would successfully perform the swim.Chelmsford Chronicle – Friday 27 July 1883Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000225/18830727/017/0004Nottingham Evening Post – Thursday 26 July 1883Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL

To celebrate the birth of a son to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, we thought it would interesting to see how the newspapers reported the birth of Queen Victoria’s first child.So included below is a fascinating newspaper report on the birth of Victoria, Princess Royal, on 21 November 1840.We especially enjoyed reading about the royal nursery, royal baby clothes and the royal cradle.We were also struck by the use of the word ‘accouchement’ in the newspaper reports on

On 23 July 1858, the UK parliament passed the Jews Relief Act 1858, thus finally allowing Jews to enter Westminster as MPs.The newspaper reports from 1858 about the ‘Jew Bill’ and the amended Oath of Allegiance make for fascinating reading, with many MPs vehemently against the passing of the legislation – some of the speeches are very heated and emotional.To give you a sense of the charged atmosphere, here are three newspaper reports that were published the day after the legislation was approved.

At Euston-Grove on 20 July 1837, the terminus of the London and Birmingham Railway (LBR) was officially opened, with a special excursion train party comprising the directors of the LBR railway and their guests.Sadly, however, the opening did not go entirely according to plan, and on the return jouney to Euston the train came to a very abrupt halt.Here’s a newspaper report that was published just two days after Euston Station opened, that decribes the accident that marred the opening

More content, more quickly! The BNA tech upgrade – an updateWe hope that you have all been enjoying the lovely Summer weather lately?You may have noticed that there has been a slow-down in the number of pages added to the site recently. There is a fantastic reason for this . . . [drumroll please] . . . We are delighted to announce that we have been busy working on upgrading our newspaper ingest and post-processing system. Once we’re up and running with the new system,

On 16 and 17 July 1917, Lenin went into hiding and then fled Russia for Finland, after Kerensky’s provisional government outlawed the Bolshevik Party and started to arrest members of the party.Included below are three newspaper stories – published in July 1917 – that report on the chaos in Russia at this time and Lenin’s escape to Finland.Read more BNA blog posts about Lenin.Manchester Evening News – Thursday 26 July 1917Image © Trinity Mirror. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD.http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000272/19170726/032/0003Liverpool Echo – Saturday 28

‘I killed one man to save 100,000’ – Charlotte CordayIn Paris on 13 July 1793, Charlotte Corday gained admission to the flat of Jean-Paul Marat and, after a 15-minute conversation with Marat while he was in the bath, stabbed him to death.Corday was a supporter of the Girondins and witnesses claim that she clearly hated Marat and the MontagnardsThe assassination of Marat was a major factor in creating the paranoid atmosphere that led to the ‘Reign of Terror’.Included below are

Edmund Burke, the Irish politician, writer and philosopher, died at Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, on 9 July 1797, aged 68.To mark the day, here are some newspaper stories – published in July 1797 – that report on the passing of this great statesman.Western Daily Press – Friday 11 January 1929Image © Northcliffe Media Limited. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD.http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000264/19290111/090/0008Reading Mercury – Monday 17 July 1797Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000367/17970717/012/0003Northampton Mercury – Saturday 15 July 1797Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000317/17970715/002/0001

We’ve been reading stories about the history of Wimbledon in The Archive, and have found some terrific newspaper reports.Here’s an article about the arrival of the electronic scoreboard on Centre Court in 1929, published in the Derby Daily Telegraph.Derby Daily Telegraph | 21 June 19291929 Ladies’ Wimbledon Final | Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News | 13 July 1929Read some of the other historical newspaper stories about Wimbledon that we’ve been posting on the blog.Derby Daily Telegraph – Friday 21 June 1929Image © Northcliffe Media Limited. Image created

On 6 July 1892, Dadabhai Naoroji (‘the Grand Old Man of India’) won the seat of Finsbury Central, thus becoming the first non-white Member of Parliament.To mark the day, here are two, contemporary newspaper stories from 1892 that report on his victory for the Liberal Party in Finsbury.Pall Mall Gazette – Thursday 07 July 1892Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000098/18920707/005/0001Derby Daily Telegraph – Thursday 07 July 1892Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000327/18920707/001/0002