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George Eliot (aka Mary Ann Evans), author of such classic novels as Middlemarch, The Mill on the Floss and Silas Marner, died at 4 Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, London, on 22 December 1880 – she was 61.To commemmorate the day, included below is a newspaper obituary of Eliot, which was published just two days after her death – and we’ve also included also a terrific illustration (from ‘The Graphic’ newspaper) from her beautiful novel, Silas Marner.Sheffield Daily Telegraph – Friday 24 December 1880Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD.…

On 16 December 1850, the ‘Charlotte Jane’ sailed into Lyttelton harbour, thus becoming the first emigrant ship to arrive at Canterbury, on the south island in New Zealand.Four ships had set out together – the ‘Randolph’, the ‘Cressy’ and the ‘Sir George Seymour’ – but the ‘Charlotte Jane’ was the first of the four ships to arrive.To mark this historic date in New Zealand’s history, here is a newspaper story from September 1850 that reports on the events surrounding the emotional departure of…

At Grand River in South Dakota on 15 December 1890, the great Sioux chief, Sitting Bull, was shot in the head during a struggle by the police to arrest him.Here is a newspaper story – published just two days after the event – that reports on the struggle and the subsequent death of Sitting Bull.Interestingly, the article then goes on to describe the Indian policy as advocated by the US government.London Daily News – Wednesday 17 December 1890Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL…

What the Victorians did for us…On 10 December 1868, the first set of traffic lights in the world were erected outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, London.To mark the day, here’s a fascinating newspaper story (published on 8 December 1868) that reports on the installation of the signals, as well as explaining why these new traffic signals were needed.We are also very luck to have an illustration of the ‘new street semaphore,’ as it was called then, from our title…

On 9 December 1897, the feminist activist, Marguerite Durand founded ‘La Fronde’ newspaper.‘La Fronde’ was written entirely by women, and its intended audience was, well, women – oh, and perhaps some enlightened and cultured males, too, we imagine!Here is a terrific newspaper article from December 1897 that reports on the publishing of ‘La Fronde’.According to Wiki, a ‘fronde’ was a type of sling which the mobs in Paris used to break the windows of supporters of Cardinal Mazarin during the French…

Thomas Penson De Quincey, author of Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, died in Edinburgh on 8 December 1859 – he was 74.To mark the day, here is a newspaper obituary of De Quincey that was published two weeks after his death.Royal Cornwall Gazette – Friday 23 December 1859Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000180/18591223/036/0006Manchester Times – Friday 08 August 1890Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000504/18900808/030/0005…

Anthony Trollope, author of the ‘Chronicles of Barsetshire’, died in London on 6 December 1882 – he was 67.Trollope was the inventor of the post-box, or rather perhaps a leading campaigner for the idea of establishing a post-box, in the UK – it’s a matter of ongoing debate regarding whether he actually invented the post-box. Whatever, the post office and postal system was certainly a major muse on his writing.Here is a detailed newspaper obituary of Trollope that was published just eight days…

The brilliant English crime writer, Agatha Christie, disappeared on 3 December 1926, following a row with her husband, Archie.After a massive man hunt (or rather woman hunt) lasting ten days, Mrs Christie was found at a hotel in Harrogate, Yorkshire, where she had registered under the nom de plume, ‘Mrs Teresa Neele’ of Cape Town.Agatha Christie never explained anything about her sudden sabbatical – so it remains a mystery.Here are two newspaper stories: the first story reports on the disappearance…

Henri Desire Landru, the ‘The French Bluebeard’ who killed eleven women who he met via the lonely hearts advertisements in the Paris newspapers, was found guilty of these murders on 1 December 1921 and was sentenced to be executed.Here is a newspaper story from 2 December 1921 that reports on the trial of Landru – spookily, the newspapers reported that Landru had ‘hypnotic eyes’. Hmm.Landru’s story was the inspiration for the Charlie Chaplin film, ‘Monsieur Verdoux’.Western Times – Friday 2 December 1921Image © Local World…

On 27 November 1944, the underground ammunition store at RAF Fauld in Staffordshire blew up, killing 70 people and also creating ‘the Hanbury Crater’.It’s said that the explosion, which is also rumoured to be the world’s biggest non-nuclear explosion (there is some debate regarding this point), was heard as far away as Geneva.Here is a newspaper report about the tragedy, published the day after the explosion took place.Nottingham Evening Post – Tuesday 28 November 1944Image © Local World Limited. Image created courtesy of…