Review of the Year 2012 – A Pathé Tradition

From 1922 to 1969, British Pathé produced lengthy round-ups of the year’s news stories that collected together the most dramatic images and covered the most important events. Not confined to British politics, these reviews act as a whirlwind tour of the world at the time in which they were made, chronicling everything from war to royal christenings, technological innovations to key sports matches as they go. You can view the entire “Review of the Year” collection here or choose from the list at the bottom of this page.

Now, in that tradition, we take a look at the last 12 months in a review of 2012. Here are some highlights (one for each month) of this tremendous year for which the British Pathé archive holds some relevant footage:

January

Our review of 2012 begins with something that happened many years before, for January marked an important anniversary. 90 years ago, on 3rd January 1922, British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Egyptian pharoah Tutankhamun. British Pathé has footage of Carter outside his discovery, as well as coverage of the treasures found within. Click here to explore the collection.

Howard Carter at the tomb of Tutankhamun. Click the still to view the collection.

February

It feels just like yesterday but it was in fact back in February that we all came out in celebration for the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II. There was a royal river pageant (a gallery of previous royal barges can be found here), a concert, a Royal Tour of the country, and street parties across the nation.

British Pathé’s celebration of the life of Elizabeth II can be found here. Beginning with the Queen as a young girl with her grandmother, it features her marriage, her coronation, the royal tours, select royal visits within Britain, and the home life of the Royal Family. The collection concludes with footage of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria.

The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1897. Click the still to view the film.

March

In March, the economic situation in the UK looked no better. Unemployment reached its highest figure (2.67 million) since 1995, though it was still not as high as in 1984. The ups and downs of unemployment can be traced via newsreels in the British Pathé archive. Click here to explore.

10,000 workers demonstrate in Trafalgar Square – 2,500 similar demonstrations were held in other parts of country – on Unemployment Sunday in 1923. Click the still to see our archive of unemployment-related clips.

April

The Cutty Sark re-opened to visitors after a dreadful fire. But in April we also commemorated the 100th anniversary of the loss of Titanic. The British Pathé archive contains not only footage of the legendary liner herself, but also of her great sister ships Olympic and Britannic, both of which had accidents of their own. You can explore our centenary collection or read about the footage in the blog post, Titanic and the Other Two.

Click the still to visit our Titanic Centenary Collection.

May

Yet another important anniversary, this time of Amelia Earhart’s crossing of the Atlantic 80 years prior. Interestingly, an expedition was launched in 2012 in an attempt to discover her remains. We wrote a blog post about it that included links to various clips featuring that amazing personality.

Click the still to read about The Hunt for Amelia Earhart.

June

On 14th June 1982, the Falkland’s War came to an end, with Britain having reclaimed sovereignty over the islands following an Argentine invasion. June 2012, therefore, marked 30 years since the conclusion of the conflict. We wrote about it in our blog post When the Falklands Were Forgotten, and you can view relevant footage in this collection.

Click the still to view footage of the Falkland Islands and the 1982 war.

July

One cannot think of 2012 without thinking of the Olympics. British Pathé has footage of many Olympic Games, including the two other London years, 1908 and 1948. We also digitised 300 Olympics clips, making them available on the website for the very first time. You can read about them here.

Click to view 15 still images from what is now considered to be the first of the modern Olympic Games.

August

One of the highlights of 2012 was the Paralympic Games, which began at the end of August and were also held in London. The Paralympics started life in the British village of Stoke Mandeville and the Ninth Annual International Stoke Mandeville Games (1960) are now known as the first Summer Paralympics. British Pathé’s collection of material on the Stoke Mandeville Games can be viewed here.

Click this still to visit our gallery, “Paralympics: Pictorial History”.

September

Barack Obama accepted the nomination of the Democrats to run for re-election. He went on to win the 2012 Presidential Election and became the only Democrat to have won the popular vote twice since Franklin Roosevelt. You can see some clips from Roosevelt’s three presidential election wins here.

President Roosevelt takes the oath for his second term. Click the still to view films covering his three presidential election wins.

October

A YouTube sensation! Felix Baumgartner broke the sound barrier, leaping from a balloon 24 miles above the ground.

In 1960, balloonist Captain Joseph W Kittinger made the then-highest ascent and longest jump. Click the still to view the film.

November

It was the Queen and Prince Philip’s 65th (blue sapphire) Wedding Anniversary in November, as well as the 20th anniversary of the Windsor Castle fire in what was the Queen’s “annus horribilis“. You can watch footage of the fire and A Day That Shook The World episodes on the British Royal Family in Crisis and the separation of Charles and Diana, or view the the announcement of the Queen’s engagement and the coverage of her wedding.

The Wedding Day in 1947. Click the still to view the film.

December

In the final month of 2012, the world received the news that Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, and Prince William were expecting their first child. We took a guess at possible baby names in this gallery. You can also vote in our poll here.

This still shows the Queen holding baby Prince Andrew. Click to visit our Royal Baby Names gallery.

Have we missed something important for which the British Pathé archive has relevant material? Leave us a comment. You can also search our Ten Most Popular Clips of 2012 and visit our tumblr and Pinterest pages which were launched this year.

We hope you enjoyed 2012 as much as we did. Here’s to 2013!

Watch a previous “Review of the Year” by selecting from the list below:

Episode	Title	Date
1	Look Back On 1922	1922
2	Section From Review Of 1923	1923
3	1925 Reviewed ( Reel 1 Of 3)	1926
4	1925 Reviewed (Reel 2 Of 3)	1926
5	1925 Reviewed (Reel 3 Of 3)	1926
6	Review Of 1934	1934
7	Review Of The Year 1935	1935
8	Review Of The Year 1936	1936
9	Review Of The Year	1938
10	Review Of The Year – 1939	1939
11	Review Of The Year 1940	1940
12	Review Of The Year 1941	1941
13	Review Of The Year – 1943	1943
14	Review Of The Year 1946	1946
15	Looking Back – On 1947	1947
16	1948 A Year Of Great Decision (Aka Review Of The Year )	1948
17	Akc Review Of 1949	1949
18	Review Of The Year 1950 Record A	1950
19	Review Of The Year 1950 Record B	1950
20	Pathe News Reviews 1951	1951
21	The Crowning Year	1953
22	Pathe News Reviews 1954 – A Year Of Endeavour	1954
23	Review Of The Year	1955
24	Pathe News Reviews 1956 – Year Of Turmoil	1956
25	Reviews 1957 (Aka Review Of The Year – 1957)	1957
26	Review Of 1958	1958
27	Review Of The Year 1959	1959
28	Review Of 1960	1960
29	Review Of 1961	1961
30	Review Of 1962	1962
31	Review Of 1963	1963
32	Review Of 1964	1964
33	A Year Of Achievements – Technicolor	1966
34	Review Of The Year	1967
35	Review Of The Sixties	1970

Annus Horribilis: 20 Years On

Believe it or not, it has been twenty years since the Queen had her annus horribilis – that terrible year, 1992. Specifically, 20th November marks the anniversary of the Windsor Castle fire. It is interesting in the year of her Diamond Jubilee and blue sapphire wedding anniversary to look back on that difficult time for the Queen and the British monarchy in general.

Simpler times – the Royal Family at Windsor – before the divorces, scandals, and the “Annus Horribilis”.

“1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure. In the words of one of my more sympathetic correspondents, it has turned out to be an Annus Horribilis.” This is what the Queen said in November 1992 after the Duke and Duchess of York separated, Princess Anne got divorced, and Windsor Castle went up in flames. And that was not even the end of it, for in December, the announcement was made by John Major to the House of Commons that Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales, were separating too.

Although these events occurred decades after the final British Pathé newsreel was released (see this blog post), they are succinctly summarised in the BBC/British Pathé co-production, A Day That Shook The World. The relevant episodes, narrated by John Humphrys, are: British Royal Family in Crisis, Windsor Castle Damaged by Fire, and The Prince and Princess Separate. Click the links to view the films.

Things would not improve for the Queen in the following few years. With the death of Diana, the monarchy’s popularity declined. Again, these tragic events are covered in A Day That Shook The World episodes, on the car accident in Paris and the funeral.

And yet, in 2012, the monarchy is incredibly popular. The Queen had her Diamond Jubilee this year and the entire country came out in support and celebration. Popularity ebbs and flows.

And the Queen’s personal life must be happier too. Prince William and Kate are a popular couple, Charles and Camilla are married and, by and large, accepted by the public, and the 20th November marks her 65th (blue sapphire) wedding anniversary – the same day as the devastating Windsor Castle fire. Their marriage has been a successful and supportive one. We offer our congratulations.

A happy marriage.

The Wedding Day in 1947.

On the occasion of the Queen and Prince Philip’s wedding anniversary, you can view the announcement of their engagement and the coverage of their wedding on the British Pathé website.

www.britishpathe.com

Days That Shook The World – 21st Century Pathé

A few years ago, what was then called “British Pathé News” began a production with the BBC called A Day That Shook The World. Two series were eventually made, the first narrated by John Humphrys, and they are available on our website to view (for free) in our programmes section. The last Pathé newsreel was released in February 1970, so this series and the associated series 20th Century Hall of Fame bring the archive beyond the twentieth century.

Topics covered by the series include September 11th, the Iraq War and the Capture of Saddam Hussein, the collapse of Enron, the Asian Tsunami, and the London Bombings. From this period, the series also covers the wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla – not quite an event that “shook the world” but certainly an interesting one.

From the latter part of the twentieth century, the series documents the impeachment of President Clinton, the death of Diana, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the first Gulf War, Chernobyl, and the Falklands Crisis. Prior to that we are in classic Pathe territory, with episodes succinctly summarising key events using Pathe footage that was captured at the time – the Somme, Hiroshima, Queen Victoria’s funeral, to name but a few. The series therefore acts as a useful entry point into an archive of 90,000 clips to wade through.

Martin Luther King is the subject of an episode. Click the still to watch the film.

The moon landings are covered in an episode. Click the still to view it.

You can view the entire A Day That Shook The World series by clicking http://www.britishpathe.com/programmes/day-that-shook-the-world or selecting the link below that you want:

Episode	Title	Date
1	Queen   Victorias Funeral	1901
2	The   Wright Brothers First Flight	1903
3	Emily   Davison Throws Herself Under The Kings Derby Horse	1913
4	Battle   Of The Somme	1916
5	Abdication   Of The Tsar Nikolas	1917
6	Irish   Free State Treaty Signed	1921
7	Suzanne   Lenglen Breaks Wimbledon Record	1925
8	Start   Of UK General Strike	1926
9	Charles   Lindbergh Flies The Atlantic Solo	1927
10	American   Golfer Bobby Jones Wins Grand Slam	1930
11	Hitler   Becomes German Chancellor	1933
12	Edward   VIII Abdicates	1936
13	Hindenburg   Airship Crash	1937
14	Hitler   Annexes Austria	1938
15	Germany   Invades Poland	1939
16	Evacuation   Of Dunkirk	1940
17	London   Blitz Begins On Civilian Targets	1940
18	Pearl   Harbour Attacked	1941
19	Battle   Of El Alamein Begins	1942
20	Fall   Of Stalingrad – German Army Surrenders	1943
21	D-Day   Landings	1944
22	Liberation   Of Paris	1944
23	Big   Three Meet At Yalta To Carve Up Post-War World	1945
24	Germans   Surrender To Montgomery	1945
25	VE   Day Celebrations	1945
26	First   Atomic Bomb Test In New Mexico	1945
27	Labours   Landslide Election Win	1945
28	Atomic   Bomb Dropped On Hiroshima	1945
29	India   And Pakistan Gain Independence	1947
30	Berlin   Airlift Begins	1948
31	Maos   Communists Take Over In China	1949
32	Korean   War Starts	1950
33	Britain   Explodes First Atomic Bomb	1952
34	Launch   Of First Nuclear Submarine	1954
35	Roger   Bannister Breaks Four Minute Mile	1954
36	French   Surrender At Dien Bien Phu	1954
37	Le   Mans 24 Race Disaster	1955
38	Khrushchev   Denounces Stalin	1956
39	First   Nuclear Power Station	1956
40	Soviets   Crush Hungarian Revolt	1956
41	Suez   Invasion	1956
42	Manchester   United Players Die In Munich Air Crash	1958
43	Peles   World Cup Final Performance Thrills Crowds	1958
44	First   Hovercraft Run	1959
45	Kennedy   Inauguration	1961
46	Yuri   Gagarin Becomes The First Man In Space	1961
47	Erection   Of The Berlin Wall	1961
48	Cuban   Missile Crisis	1962
49	Martin   Luther King Delivers His “I Have A Dream” Speech	1962
50	Kennedy   Assassinated	1963
51	Beatles   Return From States In Triumph	1964
52	Aberfan   Slag Heap Buries School	1966
53	Donald   Campbell Dies In Bluebird Crash	1967
54	Six-Day   War Begins	1967
55	Grosvenor   Square Anti-Vietnam Riots	1968
56	Paris   Riots – France Comes Close To Revolution	1968
57	Soviets   Put Down Prague Spring	1968
58	Concorde   Flies For First Time	1969
59	Armstrong   Sets Foot On The Moon	1969
60	Bloody   Sunday In Northern Ireland	1972
61	Nixon   First Us President To Resign	1974
62	Ayatollah   Khomeini Returns From Exile	1979
63	Lord   Mountbatten Assassinated By IRA	1979
64	British   Sas Storm Iranian Embassy In London	1980
65	British   Task Force To Sail For Falklands	1982
66	HMS   Sheffield Sunk In Falklands War	1982
67	IRA   Bombs British Cabinet At Brighton	1984
68	Ethiopian   Famine – BBC Reports Spark Huge Response	1984
69	Heysel   Stadium Riots	1985
70	Challenger   Spacecraft Explodes	1986
71	America   Attacks Libya	1986
72	Chernobyl   Disaster	1986
73	Zeebrugge   Ferry Disaster	1987
74	Lockerbie   Pan-Am Jet Explosion	1988
75	Exxon   Valdez- Worlds Worst Oil Spill	1989
76	Hillsborough   Football Stadium Disaster	1989
77	Tiananmen   Square Massacre	1989
78	Berlin   Wall Comes Down	1989
79	Official   End Of The Cold War – Bush/gorbachev Agree To Deal	1989
80	Ceausescu   Overthrown	1989
81	Nelson   Mandela Released	1990
82	Iraq   Invade Kuwait	1990
83	Thatcher   Falls From Power	1990
84	Desert   Storm – Gulf War	1990
85	Soviet   Coup Failed	1991
86	Maastricht   Treaty	1991
87	Los   Angeles Race Riots	1992
88	British   Royal Family In Crisis	1992
89	Windsor   Castle Damaged By Fire	1992
90	The   Prince And Princess Separate	1992
91	Arab   Israeli Peace Agreement	1993
92	Yeltsin   Crushes Political Rebels	1993
93	Bosnian   Crisis	1994
94	Barings   Bank Collapses	1995
95	150   Die In Oklahoma Terrorist Attack	1995
96	Dolly   The Sheep Clone Unveiled	1997
97	Princess   Of Wales Dies In Paris Car Crash	1997
98	Death   Of Mother Teresa	1997
99	Funeral   Of Diana, Princess Of Wales	1997
100	Hurricane   Mitch	1998
101	President   Clintons Impeachment	1998
102	NATO   Bombing Of Chinese Embassy, Belgrade	1999
103	The   Millennium	2000
104	Deciphering   Of The Human Genome	2000
105	Concorde   Crash	2000
106	September   11th	2001
107	Ipod	2001
108	Battle   Of Tora Bora	2001
109	Fall   Of Iraq	2003
110	Saddam   Capture	2003
111	Beslan   School Siege	2004
112	Orange   Revolution (Ukraine)	2004
113	Asian   Tsunami	2004
114	Kyoto   Agreement	2005
115	Pope   John Paul II Dies	2005
116	Charles   And Camilla	2005
117	Super   Jumbo Airbus	2005
118	London   Awarded 2012 Olympics	2005
119	London   Bombings	2005
120	Hurricane   Katrina	2005
121	Israeli   Invasion Of Lebanon	2006
122	Collapse   Of Enron	2006

British Pathé Picks: Nov 2012

Every now and again there are some important anniversaries that are worth blogging about. As it happens, there are four all coming up in the next few days. So here’s some relevant links that may be of interest to you.

Battle of the Somme (18^th)

In a few days it will be the anniversary of the Battle of the Somme coming to an end. Our First World War Somme collection contains some very good material.

Key Turning Point in WW2: Operation Uranus  (19^th)

On the 19th of this month it will be 70 years since the Soviet Union began Operation Uranus, part of the Battle of Stalingrad. British Pathé’s material on Stalingrad can be found here.

65th Wedding Anniversary of the Queen and Prince Philip (20^th)

On the 20th November, the royal couple will celebrate their wedding anniversary. British Pathé was there to announce their engagement and to document their wedding.

Interestingly, it is also the anniversary of the fire at Windsor Castle in 1992 – it’s been a whole 20 years since the Queen’s “annus horribilis”. We have some episodes of A Day That Shook The World that cover this dreadful year for the royal family. As well as the Windsor Castle Damaged By Fire, there’s the Prince and Princess Separate, and the Royal Family in Crisis.

Tomb of Tutankhamun opened (26^th)

On 26th November 1922, the archaeologist Howard Carter entered the tomb of the famous Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun. British Pathé has some shots of Carter at the tomb, as well as of the treasures found within. Our Tutankhamun collection can be found here.

Visit www.britishpathe.com for more films.