Search the blog

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…

Fred Perry was of course one of the greatest players in tennis history, having won three consecutive Wimbledons from 1934 to 1936. He was the last British winner of Wimbledon until Andy Murray’s victory in 2013.Fred Perry ‘delivering a characteristic vigorous smash’ during the 1936 Wimbledon | The Sphere | 27 June 1936However, despite his third (and final) Wimbledon victory in 1936, he was the victim of an unfortunate accident whilst playing an exhibition match a couple months before in Hungary.According to the Western Daily Press,…

The fact that the green, purple and white colours of the Suffragette Movement are the same colours used by Wimbledon, has sometimes been commented upon.With this in mind, we thought we’d try and find some newspaper stories that bring together Wimbledon and the suffragettes.Oh, and we found some stories! We found two reports about an incident in 1913 when a suffragette attempted to burn down Wimbledon. One from the time, in the Derby Daily Telegraph, and another from fifteen…

P. T. Barnum, the famous American showman, was born in Bethel, Connecticut, on 5 July 1810.Barnum’s travelling fair was promoted as the ‘The Greatest Show On Earth’, and was a sensation during the Victoria era.To give you a taste of how Barnum’s shows were celebrated at the time, here are two newspaper reports from 1884 and 1898 about his circus coming to town, which include illustrations of some of the performers.…

One of the many fascinating features of the Archive is the articles it contains on the family history of famous people.Indeed, at times, browsing through the Archive can be similar to watching episodes of the BBC programme, ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’As today is the 4th of July, we thought we’d mark Independence Day by posting this excellent, wee article about the English ancestry of George Washington.And just for good measure, we’ve also included a fascinating…

‘The locomotive was drawing a streamlined train to which was attached to a dynamometer car, in which were charts and instruments which confirmed the records.’On 3 July 1938, ‘The Mallard’ locomotive (engine number 6648) achieved a new UK record for steam trains, travelling at 125.88 MPH on the UK’s East Coast Main Line.To celebrate the 75th anniversary of that historic day, here is a newspaper story from 1938 reporting on the setting of this famous world record, which remains unbeaten to this day.…

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 29 June 1914, Khioniya Guseva attempted to assassinate Grigori Rasputin in the monk’s home village of Pokrovskoe Selo in western Siberia.You’ll find a number of newspaper reports about the attack in The British Newspaper Archive.Read reports about RasputinGuseva’s attempt to murder Rasputin Although the facts of the attack are unclear, it’s said that Guseva stabbed Rasputin either as he left church or while he was reading a telegram outside the post office.Althought Guseva’s attempt to murder Rasputin…