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Fittingly for our brand new platform, this week we are delighted to welcome five brand new titles to The Archive, with a total of 261,496 pages joining us in all. That's not it either, from across the UK and Ireland and even further afield, we've updated 46 of our existing titles. And as we voyage into these new waters, using our brand new shipping title, we explore the launches of some notable liners and merchant vessels from the late 19th and early…

This week we are marking of the ninetieth anniversary of the release of the Alfred Hitchcock film The 39 Steps, which came out on 6 June 1935. Meanwhile, we are celebrating the addition of eight brand new newspaper titles, the updating of twelve of our existing titles, as we have added 150,950 brand new pages to The Archive in all over the last seven days.So read on to discover more about the release of The 39 Steps and to learn more about our new…

This week at The Archive we are delighted to welcome a brand new title from the sunny south coast, the Bournemouth Times and Directory, as we take a moment to remember the devastating Bournemouth Blitz. In all, over the last seven days, we’ve added 366,686 brand new pages to our collection, whilst we’ve updated 25 of our existing titles from across England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.So, from Buckingham to Burnley, from Dingwall to Driffield, from Mid Sussex to Mid Ulster, read…

Eighteenth century writer, philosopher and early feminist Mary Wollstonecraft faced censure in her lifetime, not just for her radical beliefs, but also for her rejection of societal norms. Long after her death, however, attitudes began to shift, as she gained recognition as a trailblazing fighter for women’s equality and became an inspirational figure in the women’s suffrage movement.Following on from our blog on the life of Mary Wollstonecraft, in this second and final blog we shall examine the writer’s…

In the late 1930s a newcomer made her way onto British cinema screens: Princess Kouka. From Sudan, Princess Kouka, born Tahia Ibrahim Belal, had been spotted by film producer Walter Futter, who was determined for her to appear in his next film.Using newspapers from the time, we uncover the legacy of this largely forgotten film star, who travelled to Britain and impressed audiences across the country.‘A Notable Newcomer’On 18 December 1936 London’s Daily News reported on the impending arrival…

The aristocratic Mitford sisters – Nancy, Pamela, Diana, Unity, Jessica and Deborah – hit the headlines throughout their lifetimes, with tales of scandal and intrigue filling the pages of the press from the 1920s and beyond.Born to David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale, and his wife Sydney, alongside brother Thomas, the Mitford sisters often shocked society, whether it be through their political views, or their private lives.In this special blog, we shall unravel the remarkable stories of the six Mitford sisters,…

Mercedes Gleitze (1900-1981) was the first British woman to swim the English Channel, and the first person to swim the Straits of Gibraltar. In an amazing career that spanned the 1920s and 1930s, Mercedes captured the imagination of the British public and became a household name.Born to German parents in Brighton, Mercedes was one of three sisters. Skilled in languages, she moved to London where she worked as a secretary and stenographer. Whilst living in London she began swimming in…

This March at The Archive we are celebrating inspiring women from history, who broke boundaries across different fields, whether they be medical, sporting, political and much more besides. We will be highlighting those inspiring women who broke the mould, and we will be showcasing the achievements of some lesser known women along the way, who deserve recognition for their trailblazing lives and careers.And in this special blog, we will be looking at ten inspiring women from history who you…

A walk along Piccadilly in the black-out is one of the many queer experiences of this war. The once brilliant centre of London’s night life is now as dark as any forest, and indeed, like a forest, the darkness is full of rustlings and whisperings, of half-seen shapes, and of a sinister feeling of eager, but invisible, life.So began a Daily Herald article on blackout crime in London during the Second World War. With blackouts imposed across the United…

This week at The Archive we have added an amazing 322,444 brand new pages, with eight brand new titles joining us in all, from Scotland, England and the Caribbean. Meanwhile, we’ve made one million more newspapers free to view as part of our collection, which you can find out more about here.We’ve also made extensive updates to 23 our existing titles, so read on to find out more about all of our new and updated titles of the week, as well…