Gems From The Archive Of The New York Times

The New York Times publication, has throw open the doors of its huge archives, for free viewing. It has moved away from a subscription based paid-program and now anyone can freely read or link to the articles in the archives. The archives has articles chronicling some of the most momentous happenings from over 150+ years. The archives are a veritable treasure-house of information for anyone willing to browse through them.

Jason Kottke has posted some gems from the archive to whet your appetite.

Sample some of the links :

 

Early report of Lincoln’s assassination…”The President Still Alive at Last Accounts”.

The first mention of the World Wide Web in the Times in February 1993. According to the article, the purpose of the web is “[to make] available physicists’ research from many locations”.

The first mention of television (as a concept) in the Times, from February 1907. “The new ‘telephotograph’ invention of Dr. Arthur Korn, Professor of Physics in Munich University, is a distinct step nearer the realization of all this, and he assures us that ‘television,’ or seeing by telegraph, is merely a question of a year or two with certain improvements in apparatus.”

First mention of Harry Potter. Before it became a phenomenon, it was just another children’s book on the fiction best-seller list.

Forget about Archive.org (for a while). This will keep you busy for days.

Link to the Kottke article.