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This week at The Archive we are delving into the history of nursing with the addition of brand new title the Nursing Times, as we mark both the anniversary of Florence Nightgale’s birth on 12 May 1820, and the anniversary of Mary Seacole’s death on 14 May 1881. We’re also exploring an important part of the UK’s religious history this week, with the addition of what is thought to be the country’s first Muslim newspaper. In what is a bumper week, we’ve added a…

We’re delighted this week to bring you an astonishing amount of new pages, over half a million in all, as we trace everything from music history through the pages of Sound Wave to workers’ history through Common Good. Here are the figures for you: we’ve added 526,032 brand new pages in all, alongside seven brand new titles, and we’ve updated 28 of our existing titles.From Fife to Folkestone, from Llangollen to Liverpool, from Roscommon to Ripley, through our new pages this…

This week at The Archive, we have added another 190,692 new pages to our total count. We welcome three new titles that take us both underground into the mining industry, and across the water to 19th century Antigua. Additionally, we have updated nineteen of our pre-existing titles, including one final year to complete the 1956-1985 run of our 100 millionth title, Dundee Courier, as well as more to special interest title, Bicycling News.So continue reading to find out more about our fascinating…

This week at The Archive we have reached a landmark 78 million pages, as we explore 1995‘s Battle of Britpop, played out between bands Blur and Oasis. We’ve added one brand new title this week, Scottish newspaper the Ellon Times & East Gordon Advertiser, with 441,915 pages added in all over the last seven days. Meanwhile, we’ve updated 26 of our existing titles, from across England, Northern Ireland and Scotland.Before we move on to take a look at the Battle of Britpop, a…

From the 1950s onwards the United Kingdom has produced many extraordinary music icons in the arenas of pop, rock and more. The rise of these British music icons, both bands and solo artists, is chronicled throughout our newspaper Archive.And so, in this special blog, we’ve delved into our Archive to bring you early reviews of Britain’s biggest bestselling music artists. From Shirley Bassey to Duran Duran, from Kate Bush to the Rolling Stones, we’ve picked 42 music icons to highlight,…

As Christmas is once more upon us, and the world slowly starts to go back to normal after several years of lockdowns, Christmas parties are again back in vogue. It got us wondering here at The Archive how the Christmas party has changed and developed over time. Naturally, we turned to our newspapers to discover more, learning how the key components of food, drink and music have always been part of historic Christmas celebrations.So in this special blog, we…

‘Sea shanties are having a great vogue right now,’ reports the Leeds Mercury in January 1927. The writer may well have been describing the sea shanty trend of the present day, as the haunting harmonies of traditional sea shanties once again have captured the popular imagination.And one hundred years ago, during the 1920s, sea shanties were also incredibly popular. You could listen to them on the radio, or on your gramophone, and they were even performed by MPs.Sailors turn…

While we overwhelmingly mark 31 October as simply the celebration of Halloween, we wanted to highlight some other events that have occurred on this day over the years.On this dayOne event that had an overwhelming and lasting impact took place on this day in 1517: Martin Luther posted on the door of Castle Church, Wittenberg, his 95 Theses.The ever-expanding United States admitted its 36th state on 31 October 1864: Nevada.One of the earliest transcontinental highways in the United States was dedicated…

On 31 July 1910, Hawley Harvey Crippen, better known as Dr Crippen, and Ethel Le Neve, his typist-turned-lover, were arrested on board the Montrose while trying to flee west to Canada. On top of being a sensational case and arrest, it was the first example of an arrest aided by wireless telegraphy.A cross-Atlantic chase of a fleeing couple is an apt ending to our July theme of travel and migration. When you ask yourself why your ancestor or the subject of…

This day marks the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen’s death. During the last two centuries, Jane Austen has become a household name. Austen and her modest-sized collection of works has enjoyed a vibrant presence in both academia and western culture, from quotes on magnets and clothing to movie adaptations and sequels to her novels. Austen’s name is equally as at home in highbrow literary essays and criticism as it is in contemporary periodicals meant for mass consumption, such as the…