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On 30 September 1860, the first tram service in the UK started operating at Birkenhead on Merseyside.The tram service was the idea of the (aptly named) George Francis Train, an American entrepreneur who was a pioneer of innovative transport systems.To mark that historic day, here is a newspaper story from October 1860 that reports on the opening of the Birkenhead tram service.…

The Somme Offensive commenced on 1 July 1916, as Allied forces attacked German positions by the River Somme on the Western Front in France.On the opening day of the battle, the British suffered 60,000 casualties – making it the worst day in the history of the British army.Here is an upbeat newspaper report of the battle, which was published on the first day of the battle – also included is a map of the area where the battle took place.Image © Northcliffe Media…

On 23 March 1829, the Duke of Wellington and Earl of Winchilsea fought a duel at Battersea Fields in South London.At this time, the Duke of Wellington was Prime Minster of Great Britain and Ireland, and his Tory Government had passed the Catholic Relief Bill. This act was represented the legislative move towards Catholic emancipation, and a section of the legislation would allow Catholics to take a seat in parliament.The Duke of Wellington | Illustrated London News | 24 June 1843Wellington (who had…

On 6 March 1836, the Battle of the Alamo ended, following a 12-day battle between the Texan rebels and President General Santa Anna’s Mexican army. The battle resulted in the death of all the Texian defenders.  To mark the day, we’ve posted below two newspaper stories from May 1836 that report on the end of the famous battle.The first tells us about the battle.A second article promoted the cause of Texas.Discover more about the Battle of the Alamo…

On 30 January 1889, the bodies of Archduke Rudolf and his mistress, Baroness Mary Vetsera, were discovered in the royal hunting lodge at Mayerling.The official verdict is that the star-crossed lovers died in a suicide pact after Rudolf’s father, Franz Joseph I of Austria, demanded that he end the relationship. However, there are theories that Rudolf was murdered (Mary’s body was smuggled out of Mayerling in the middle of the night and Rudolf was described as being ‘mentally unbalanced’) because of…

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, the country lawyer who became a revolutionary, died at his estate at Gorki settlement on 21 January 1924.  We trawled through The British Newspaper Archives new stories that reported on Lenin’s death, and the reports are far from complimentary – which is, of course, revealing in itself.Reflecting on Lenin’s death, Churchill wrote: ‘Their worst misfortune was his birth, their next worst – his death’.  There are hundreds of interesting stories about Lenin’s death in The Archive. We have pulled out…