Latest dispatches
Dispatches
Curious stories and events from around the world.
Wednesday, 29 April 2026
Tuesday, 28 April 2026
The National Archives
How the design of our new online catalogue puts users first
Find out how the Digital Services team approached the design of the new catalogue and how users play a vital role in shaping our services.
Read at The National Archives
Monday, 27 April 2026
The National Archives
Clues from the high seas: tracing Suriname’s textile histories in the Prize Papers
Viveca Mellegard explains how she used scientific analysis to investigate textile samples seized from a ship sailing from Suriname in 1795.
Read at The National Archives
Friday, 24 April 2026
Historic Mysteries
Unmasking the Headless Man: The Duchess of Argyll Scandal
In 1963, Britain was rocked by a divorce case so scandalous it eclipsed even the… The post Unmasking the Headless Man: The Duchess of Argyll Scandal appeared first on Historic Mysteries.
Read at Historic MysteriesWednesday, 22 April 2026
The Public Domain Review
Magic by Return of Post: How Mail Order Delivered the Occult
What allowed occultism to blossom in the United States at the turn of the 20th century? Linotype machines, cheap pulp paper, and newly improved postal networks. Allan Johnson investigates the forgotten history and (still living) world of…
Read at The Public Domain Review
The Public Domain Review
Pulex irritans: The Attack of the Monster (1885)
Lantern slide of man battling bug.
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The National Archives
Responding to love: A thank you to our love letter writers
As part of our Love Letters exhibition, visitors were invited to write a love letter of their own. Join me in reflecting on them.
Read at The National Archives
Tuesday, 21 April 2026
The National Archives
UK Government Records Relating To The Troubles Published By The National Archives
A batch of almost 1,000 UK Government records relating to the Troubles has been digitised and published online by the National Archives.
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The National Archives
Accessing the digitised Northern Ireland Troubles records
Explore how to access material related to the Troubles online through The Northern Ireland Digitisation Project.
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The National Archives
Launching the Northern Ireland Troubles Digitisation Project
Today, we launch the first release of the Northern Ireland Digitisation Project, a major four-year research and access initiative.
Read at The National Archives
Monday, 20 April 2026
The National Archives
Government publishes national vision for archives in England
The government has published ‘Archives at the Heart of Society’, a new national vision for archives in England.
Read at The National Archives
Thursday, 16 April 2026
Historic Mysteries
The Man with the Golden Arm: How James Harrison Saved 2.4 Million Babies
James Christopher Harrison, famously known as the “Man with the Golden Arm,” was an Australian… The post The Man with the Golden Arm: How James Harrison Saved 2.4 Million Babies appeared first on Historic Mysteries.
Read at Historic MysteriesThe Public Domain Review
“A Beautiful Purplish Hue”: Frank Dudley Beane’s Experience with Ergot and Cannabis Indica (1884)
An early contribution to drug literature, in which a man came to be fashioned out of wood.
Read at The Public Domain Review
Tuesday, 14 April 2026
The Public Domain Review
Introducing PDR Press Minis
Announcing an exciting new book series!
Read at The Public Domain Review
Monday, 13 April 2026
Ancient Origins
The Ghost of Columbus and the Impossible Geometry of the Piri Reis Map
The Ghost of Columbus and the Impossible Geometry of the Piri Reis Map In 1929, while renovating the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, a theologian discovered a fragment of gazelle skin that would rewrite the history of cartography. This was…
Read at Ancient Origins
Friday, 10 April 2026
Historic Mysteries
The Mystery of Bermeja: The Mexican Island That Vanished
The world around us is constantly changing, but few things are more unsettling than the… The post The Mystery of Bermeja: The Mexican Island That Vanished appeared first on Historic Mysteries.
Read at Historic MysteriesThursday, 9 April 2026
The Public Domain Review
Broken Ground: The Fall of the House of Usher (1928)
A modernist adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe. One of the first avant-garde films from America.
Read at The Public Domain Review
Wednesday, 8 April 2026
The Public Domain Review
Songs from the Commons: A Q&A with Simon Close about the Public Song Project
The creator of WNYC's Public Song Project on creativity, copyright, and the public domain.
Read at The Public Domain Review
Thursday, 2 April 2026
The Public Domain Review
The Great Majority: Body Snatching and Burial Reform in 19th-Century Britain
As populations flocked to city centres in the 19th century, church cemeteries began to overflow with the dead. Roger Luckhurst exhumes the history of this period, when anatomists fuelled a body-snatching trade led by “resurrection men”…
Read at The Public Domain Review
Wednesday, 1 April 2026
Historic Mysteries
The Werejaguar and the Lost Religion of the Olmec
The Olmec civilization, often called the “mother culture” of Mesoamerica, flourished along the Gulf Coast… The post The Werejaguar and the Lost Religion of the Olmec appeared first on Historic Mysteries.
Read at Historic Mysteries