Top 20 Archive stories of 2008

1. 1888 murder map of London

It was the year when Jack the Ripper cast his reign of terror all over London and jumpy citizens were quick to find his work in every back street and bar-room brawl. But before the Ripper’s gruesome killings in the East End came to obsess the public imagination, everyday death in the capital had gone on its own sad way, with jealous husbands, suicidal women and dastardly thieves coming to sticky ends all over town

2. Execution of the Queen of France, October 23, 1793

It is with sincere regret that we confirm the report of yesterday, respecting the fate of this unfortunate Princess [Marie Antoinette], who suffered under the axe of the guillotine on Wednesday last

3. Russians march into Czechoslovakia, August 21, 1968

Prague radio announced early today that troops of the Soviet Union, Poland and East Germany started to cross the Czechoslovak border at 11 o'clock last night without the knowledge of the Czechoslovak President, the Chairman of the National Assembly, or the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia

4. The revolt in Georgia, September 16, 1924

The special Georgian delegation at present in Geneva reports that the rising against the Bolshevists is now general in the Caucasus

5. Zimbabwe’s vote, July 9, 1985

The election results in Zimbabwe convey two distinct messages. The first is that in most of the country support for Robert Mugabe's government stands at a higher level than in 1980. The second is that among the country's minority groups there remains a strong determination to resist his plans for a one-party state

6. The Battle of Waterloo, June 22, 1815

The Duke of Wellington’s dispatch, dated Waterloo, the 19th of June, states that on the preceding day  Buonaparte attacked, with his whole force, the British line, supported by a corps of Prussians, which attack, after a long and sanguinary conflict, terminated in the complete overthrow of the enemy’s Army

7. Hitler dead, May 2, 1945

Hitler died yesterday in Berlin. The news was announced on German wireless at 10.20 last night, by Grand Admiral Donitz, who said he had been appointed his succcessor. Hitler, it was said, fell at his post in the Reich Chancellery, fighting to his last breath against Bolshevism

8. 20 thrifty recipes from the austerity years

When you have a luncheon date,
And there’s bread beside your plate,
GIVE THAT BREAD BACK TO THE WAITER!
Fill yourself up with pertater!

9. Car-buying spree by Kim II Sung, February 11, 1983

North Korea has secretly ordered 99 specially designed vehicles from Japan for a total cost of about 746m yen (about £2m). Nissan has already completed nine of the vehicles, which are being quietly shipped to North Korea to celebrate the forty-second birthday on February 16 of Mr Kim Jong Il, son of and heir apparent to President Kim Il Sung

10. More murders at the East End, October 1, 1888

In the early hours of yesterday morning two more horrible murders were committed in the East End of London, the victim in both cases belonging, it is believed, to the same unfortunate class. No doubt seems to be entertained by the police that these terrible crimes were the work of the same fiendish hands which committed the outrages which had already made Whitechapel so painfully notorious

11. For sale, Villa Leopolda, January 1, 1929

A beautiful French Riviera property once owned by King Leopold II of Belgium

12. The great assault going well, June 7, 1944

The Allied Expeditionary Army was fighting last night several miles inland from the beaches of Normandy where it had landed in the morning after the greatest operation of its kind in history. Mr Churchill announced last evening that the sea passage had been made "with far less loss than had been apprehended" and the operation was proceeding "in a thoroughly satisfactory manner."

13. Woman says she 'loved Mormon', December 7, 1977

Joyce McKinney, aged 27, a former beauty-queen, said she had prayed for a very special boy to come into her life, and that was where Mr Anderson came in. She added: "I loved Kirk so much I would have skied down Mount Everest in the nude with a carnation up my nose."

14. Obituary: Adolf Hitler, May 2, 1945
Few men in the whole of history and none in modern times have been the cause of human suffering on so large a scale as Hitler, who died in Berlin yesterday ...

15. Account of the expedition to Botany Bay, March 27, 1789

The two ships of war, named the Sirius and Supply, with the transports, under the command of Commodore Phillips, have made good their voyage to Botany Bay, by the intelligence brought by the Prince of Wales, one of the transports which carried out the convicts.

16. Another murder in Whitechapel, September 1, 1888

Another murder of the foulest kind was committed in the neighbourhood of  Whitechapel in the early hours of yesterday morning, but by whom and with what motive is at present a complete mystery

17. Titanic sunk, April 16, 1912

An ocean disaster, unprecedented in history, has happened in the Atlantic. The White Star liner Titanic on her maiden voyage, carrying nearly 2,400 people, has been lost near Cape Race, and according to the latest messages there is grave reason to fear that less than 700 of the passengers and crew have been saved

18. Hitler’s last hours, June 21, 1945

What purports to be a first-hand account of Hitler's death was given at Field-Marshal Montgomery's headquarters this evening by Hermann Karnau, one of the guards at Hitler's underground shelter in Berlin, from which, apparently, he afterwards escaped through the Russian lines into the British area

19. Wall-Street panic, October 25, 1929

A Niagara of liquidation fell upon the American Stock Exchanges today. For three hours trading was completely demoralized with blocks of 10,000, 15,000, and 20,000 shares of stock pressing for sale and prices melting away 5 and 10 points at a time. Never before, even at the outbreak of the Great War, was there such a volume of transactions

20. President Kennedy assassinated, November 23, 1963

President Kennedy was assassinated yesterday in Dallas, Texas. Three shots were fired as the President's open car passed near an intersection in the main business area of the city. He was hit in the head and died in hospital soon afterwards. Mrs. Kennedy was unhurt , but Mr. John Connally, the Governor of Texas, who was riding witb the President, was hit and gravely wounded