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Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, army officer, the first President of Turkey and the ‘Father of the Turks’, died on 10 November 1938 – he was 57.Such was Ataturk’s influence pn Turkey that at 9.05am every 10th of November, the people in Turkey pause in silence for a minute to remember Ataturk.Here is a newspaper obituary of Ataturk that was published on 11 November 1938.Aberdeen Press and Journal – Friday 11 November 1938Image © D.C.Thomson & Co. Ltd. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD.http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000577/19381111/061/0007…

We were fascinated by this newspaper story from 1828 that reports on how Guy Fawkes night was celebrated in England that year.With the exception of the ringing of church bells, it seems that perhaps not much has changed since 1828.And it’s very interesting to see that this article also includes a mention of how the Stock Exchange celebrated the event – a refreshing angle that is sadly lacking in many of today’s newspaper reports of Bonfire Night.Manchester Courier and Lancashire…

On 4 November 1890, the Prince of Wales opened the world’s first electric underground railway at the King William Street Terminus in London.  The line ran from King William Street to Stockwell and, after its inauguration on 4 November 1890, it opened to the public the following month.Here is a contemporary newspaper story that reports on the grand opening.Register today!…

Recently, several people have asked us when the newspaper library at Colindale will be closing and the print newspapers moving to Boston Spa. In June, the British Library confirmed that the Colindale site in North London will close on Friday 8 November 2013.As many of you will already know, the content on the BNA website comes from the British Library’s amazing newspaper collection at Colindale – which contains over 750 million pages from local, regional and national newspapers, as well as periodicals. But…

Annie Oakley (aka Phoebe Ann Moses), the sharpshooter who found fame in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, died in North Star, Ohio, on 3 November 1926 – she was 66.  Oakley was a champion rifle, wing, and trick shot.  She received international fame.  On one occasion, when Annie was in London,‘five monarchs were present, and one of them, a man who was afterwards to rule as Wilhelm II of Germany, expressed a desire to have the ash removed from his cigar by a…

The BNA is very lucky to have the writer, historian and genealogist, Angela Buckley, as a guest blogger.Previously, Angela has written fascinating articles about the ‘real’ Sherlock Holmes, Detective Jerome Caminada, and the miracle cures of Reverend Silverton.Her third article for the BNA blog is about the terrorist explosion at Praed Street station (now Paddington) on the London Underground, which took place on 30 October 1883.*************************************************************************************The devastating events of 7/7 are still all too fresh in our memory, but the…

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…