The Times Digital Archive, 1785-1985 – May Database of the Month

The Times Digital Archive is an online, full-text facsimile of 200 years of The Times (London), one of the most highly regarded resources for the 19th – 20th-century history. The entire newspaper from 1785 to 1985 is captured, with all articles, advertisements and illustrations/photos divided into categories to facilitate searching.  This archive is a good resource for teachers, students and researchers of  Irish history, politics, social and cultural history, law, genealogy and criminology.

Why search the Times Digital Archive?

People & Places
• Read the obituaries of the rich and famous
• Use the law reports and news coverage of trials to delve into crimes from across the ages

Achievements
• 104 winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature since 1901
• The first photographs taken on Everest and reports on the doomed attempts to reach the summit before Sir Edmund Hillary in 1953
• Follow Dr David Livingstone’s exploration of Africa

War & Conflict
• Learn about the Crimean War of 1854 and why both region and religion contributed to the conflict
• Chart the history of the Northern Irish conflict throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, the violence and the attempts at resolution
• Research the events and politics leading up to WWI and WWII and the effects of these wars on all countries involved

Opinions & Debate
• Discover how the National Vegetarian Societies’ perceived food rationing during periods of war
• The perception of world leaders such as John. F. Kennedy
• Readers’ letters illustrate the popular view: debating the virtues and downfalls in Margaret Thatcher’s policies in the 1980s

Transport & Living
• Chart how fashions have changed from the bustle to the mini skirt
• Bicycles to bullet trains, sails to spaceships, stagecoaches to steam trains: discover how people used to travel
• Return to 1932 where you could buy a house in Hampstead for £1,375

Entertainment & Leisure
• Follow the emergence of Hollywood, the growth of the cinema and the icons that emerged such as Marilyn Monroe and James Dean
• Learn about the Impressionist movement, who were the key players and what reaction did society have to this new type of art
• Examine how leisure activities and pastimes have changed

Advertising & Crosswords
• Browse through the classified ads to see people selling teeth and wanting servants through to the day’s cinema and theatre listings
• Find a range of Guinness adverts from 1930s where Guinness is recommended on health grounds by doctors
• Discover that Colgate used to be famous for their shaving foam not their toothpaste

 

 

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