Greatest Olympians of the Twentieth Century
All the Olympic excitement of Rio has made us think we should delve back in time with our pick of the 10 greatest Olympians from the previous century.
Jesse Owens
Fanny Blankers-Koen
Muhammad Ali
The 10 Happiest Jobs in the UK
Thinking about a career change? Why not apply for one of these - the supposed top 10 happiest jobs in the UK!
Dentist
Architect
Physiotherapist
Elizabeth: A Life in Pictures
To celebrate the Queen's 92th birthday, we have put together a selection of 92 stills from her life and reign. By Elizabeth Bowley.
Elizabeth as a baby
Elizabeth as a baby, c.1928
Elizabeth as a bridesmaid, 1931
Things You May Not Have Known about the Oscars
The highlight of the film year, the Oscars, will soon be upon us. So we thought, why not take a look at some things you may not have known about the Academy Awards. By Elizabeth...
The Oscars Used to Award Films from the Last Two Years
The Winners Used to Be Known before the Ceremony
Bob Hope Has Hosted the Most Oscar Ceremonies
Common Misconceptions
Some facts to make you look clever at dinner parties! 23 things everyone believes but that are actually completely wrong. By Elizabeth Bowley.
The Forbidden Fruit Eve Eats Is Not an Apple
Sugar Does Not Make Kids Hyper
JFK Never Said "I Am a Jelly Doughnut"
Who Should Be on the New £20 Note?
The Bank of England are asking members of the public to choose who will be the face on the new £20 note. The face has to be a famous figure from the world of visual arts, so we...
Introduction
Alfred Hitchcock
Barbara Hepworth
10 Bizarre Marathon Races
With the London marathon coming up, we take a look at some of the more unusual marathons that have taken place. By Elizabeth Bowley.
Mothers' Pram Marathon
Dancing Marathon
Bed Pushing Marathon
Pathé's Hollywood Hunks
Forget about the Brad Pitts and Leonardo DiCaprios of modern Hollywood. Take a look at the original Hollywood hunks! By Elizabeth Bowley.
Marlon Brando
Rudolph Valentino
Sean Connery
Some Advice on Love
Take a look at some helpful tips on love and marriage for this St. Valentine's Day.
Oscar Wilde
Charles Schulz
Lynda Barry
Churchill: Iconic Images
As Britain commemorates the 50th anniversary of Sir Winston Churchill's death, here are some of Pathé's iconic images of the wartime leader.
12 Brilliant Epitaphs
There are some people who saw their mortality as really rather funny. Here are 12 of the best epitaphs.
Spike Milligan
Winston Churchill
Oscar Wilde
Best of Scotland
With just days to go before Scotland makes their big decision, Pathe looks at the best of Scotland.
Hadrian's Wall
Bagpipes
The Kilt & Sporran
1966 World Cup Fun Facts
It's that time again, 4 weeks of football mania are upon us. We take a look at some fun facts from the 1966 World Cup.
By George
Pickles the National Hero
The Greatest Prize Stolen Again
D-Day: 10 Amazing Facts
As the 70th Anniversary of the Normandy Landings approach, British Pathé looks at 10 facts about the largest seaborne invasion in history.
Exercise Tiger: D-Day Rehearsal
D-Day Changed
Churchill's Chilling Words
The Queen: 13 Surprising Facts
She may never have given a press interview but she is one of the most famous women in the world. Here are 13 surprising facts you may not know about Queen Elizabeth II.
Top 10 Laziest Countries
So who are the most slothful countries in the world? We look at who has the world's most physically inactive population.
10 - MALAYSIA
9 - UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
8 - GREAT BRITAIN
Britannic and Olympic - Titanic's Sisters
In the centenary year of the launch of Britannic, Titanic's nearly-identical sister ship, British Pathé takes a look at the forgotten ships in the Olympic class.
Greatest Conspiracy Theories
Elaborate murder plots, sinister technology, secret plans and bizarre assumptions - these are just some of the ingredients that make up a conspiracy theory. Here are 10 of the...
Roswell UFO Landings
Shakespeare is not Shakespeare
9/11 - An Inside Job
History's Greatest Replies and Insults
Verbal warfare at its best! Here are some of history's greatest retorts and snarling insults. These people certainly didn't mince their words.
Bette Midler on Princess Anne:
Valentino Liberace to a critic:
John Barrymore
Miraculous Medicine
From the development of vaccines to the creation of 'bionic' limbs, these films illustrate some of the greatest advances in medicine. Not for the squeamish!
Vaccination
Germ Theory
Anaesthesia
Fascinating Finds!
From Lord Lucan on film to the day that a young Princess Elizabeth fell in love with Prince Philip, these are some unique pieces of footage that show rare moments or people you...
Lucky Lucan
A Princess Falls in Love
The Controversial Salute in front of Royalty
Clothe Your Eyes
Sunglasses were primarily a form of protective eye gear designed to protect our eyes from bright sunlight. Since the 1940s, they have become a fashion accessory for the general...
A Royal Birth: The Countdown Begins
The world's media will shortly be descending on West London. Journalists are poised, parking bays at St Marys Hospital have been suspended and the paparazzi are cleaning their...
A Hospital Birth
Birth Companions
A Busy Ward
10 More Tragedies Caught on Film
Following on from '10 Tragedies Caught on Film', we bring you part 2 and ten more tragedies that were captured when the reels were recording.
B24 Bomber Shot Down
Tragic Speedway Crash into Crowd
Cameraman Killed when Bomb Accidentally Explodes
1963: A Turbulent Year
By any standards 1963 was a tumultuous year and a year to remember. It flipped between being a time of optimism and hopefulness to a gloomy and profoundly depressing year. The...
The Big Freeze
Beatlemania
Beatlemania
1913 Derby: Emily Davison Killed
On June 4 1913, suffragette Emily Wilding Davison made her way in to the history books of political protest when she fell under the hooves of George V’s horse at the Epsom...
Emily Davison
The Suffragettes
A Militant Suffragette
10 Dangerous Daredevils
Adrenaline junkies are nothing new. The British Pathé archive is awash with films of men and women pushing the boundaries of life in death defying acts. These thrill seekers...
Houdini Copycat
Over Niagara Falls in a Barrel
1920s Superwoman!
20 Acts Of Terror
Terrorism is nothing new. As early as 1885 the first bomb exploded on the London Underground. Even before then, terrorist groups had made their respective marks - the "People's...
New York, USA 1919
New York, USA 1920
Liverpool, UK 1920
Winston Churchill's Finest Quotes
The great politician and orator Winston Churchill left behind a sea of humourous quips and discerning quotes. With the news that Churchill is to feature on a new £5 banknote,...
Winston Churchill:
Winston Churchill:
Lady Astor:
Prime Ministers' Funerals
As thousands of mourners including World leaders and dignitaries are getting ready to pay their respects to Margaret Thatcher, we take a look at the funerals of previous British...
William Gladstone, 1898
Andrew Bonar Law, 1923
Herbert Henry Asquith, 1928
Conquering Everest: 60 Years On
In 1953, in the ninth British expedition to attempt the first assent of Mount Everest led by John Hunt, New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay reached...
June 1924 expedition to Everest
The 1924 Expedition Team
The 1924 Summit Attempts
Alcatraz: Battles and Escapes
On 21 March 1963, Alcatraz federal prison closed its crumbling doors and walls to criminals forever. During its 30 year history as a penitentiary, The Rock hosted many dramas...
The Rock
Residents
1937 Bank Robbers Escape
World's First Helicopters
Helicopters have matured from unsteady, erratic machines that struggled to lift the pilots off the ground, into stylish contraptions with exceptional flying capabilities. Pathe...
The Aerial Screw
The Helicopter Balloon
The Flying Octopus
10 Great Urban Myths
We’ve all heard them and we are all probably guilty at some point of perpetuating a story which we believe to be true. Urban legends are those stories that are handed down by...
JFK: "I'm a Jelly Doughnut"
Albert Einstein failed maths at school
The lighthouse and US Naval Ship
Death Row in Wartime: 8 Images
Whilst Pathe didn’t shy away from screening very real and very harrowing footage; films showing someone’s life end by execution were not generally shown to the public....
Richard Jarczyk, Nazi Spy
Execution by Firing Squad
Preparing for death
Don'ts for Husbands, Wives and Valentines
Amuse yourself by taking some tips from the 'Don'ts for Wives and Husbands' which was published 100 years ago. Taking heed will bound to make your Valentine very happy!
Warm His Slippers
Health
Be a Snappy Dresser
Munich Air Disaster
On 6 February 1958 a charter plane with 44 passengers on board crashed after refueling in Munich. The crash claimed the lives of 21 people including 8 members of the Manchester...
The Busby Babes
1958 European Cup
Flying to Munich
Children during War
10 telling images showing children in wartime.
Child of Hiroshima
War Rationing - Carrots on a Stick
Happy Easter Kids!
Holocaust Memorial Day
Holocaust Memorial Day takes place on 27 January each year. These images from Auschwitz and Belsen help to remember the horrors of the Holocaust.
Faces of Evil
Over its history, the Pathe cameras filmed a number of people who committed heinous crimes. So in no particular order, these images show ten faces of truly evil men and women.
Ilse Koch
General Idi Amin
Joseph Stalin
Buchenwald Concentration Camp
Buchenwald was one of the largest of the Nazi concentration camps. These images are taken from footage that was filmed after Buchenwald's liberation. At the time of broadcast...
Animals Doing Shocking Things
From chickens being wine tasters to horses diving off 60ft platforms; humans have always made animals do people things in the name of science or entertainment.
Diving Horse from a 60ft platform
Chicken Wine Tasters
Kangaroos Boxing
12 Rules of Christmas
Tis the season to be jolly but don't let manners let you down and spoil the festive fun. Here are 12 quick rules of Christmas.
The office party
Receiving Presents
Re-Gifting
10 Tragedies Caught on Film
British Pathé captured many extraordinary events on film over its 80 year history but sometimes the cameras were switched on when tragedy struck. From Franz Reichelt's death...
Death Jump – Eiffel Tower
The 1913 Derby
Frank Lockhart - 1928
Great Moustaches
November is now Movember where men across the globe grow their moustaches to raise awareness of prostate cancer. In light of this, British Pathé have delved in to their archive...
1890s Traffic Scenes
The British Pathe Early Traffic Scenes film has to be one of our most interesting newsreels. The film provides a montage of clips filmed around the UK in the 1890s. But it's not...
Outside Bank of England, 1897
Sunderland Bridge, County Durham, 1896
Boar Lane, Leeds, 1903
Fanaticism: Teenage Hysteria
Hysterical fans were sent wild in the 60s by the likes of The Beatles, Rolling Stones and Cliff Richard. These wonderful stills taken from the Pathé archive show teenage female...
Bunny Girls: Inside Playboy
The 1960s saw Hugh Hefner opening up his Playboy Clubs across the world. Those hostess showgirls wedged in to satin corsets and sprinkled with bunny ears and bow ties are still...
Bunny Girl Definition
Why Bunny?
Bunny Boot Camp
WWI: 10 Telling Images
10 telling images selected from British Pathé's extensive WWI footage. 'The war to end all wars' was a war without parallel: over 70 million military personnel were involved...
The Pipers
No Man's Land
Gas
WWI: Animals in War
Animals are often the forgotten army of World War I. Millions of animals gave their lives to help the forces on all sides. They were selected for their variety of natural skills...
Dogs in warfare
The War Horse
Horse Casualties
WWI: Shell Shock Victims
Images from WWI. These disturbing stills shows the effects of shell shock on war soldiers. War neuroses was little understood at the time and victims received little care or...
The thousand yard stare
Shaking and fitting
Swaying and nose wiping tic
Fifty Years of Bond
British Pathe followed the James Bond franchise since its first days. This gallery runs through some of the people, places and things that spring to mind when we think Bond,...
Moore the merrier
Go on then George!
Bond girls
British Pathe's Freshers Guide
This is British Pathe's Freshers Guide for students starting university. Lots of newspapers have written Freshers Guides with a bit of a heavy focus on drinking, drugs and...
Get to know your professors
Be selective when it comes to making friends
Don't fall asleep on nightbuses
10 All Time Greatest Questions
So what are the greatest questions of all time? The BBC magazine did an investigation and here we present 10 of them.
Do men have cellulite?
Why do your fingers and toes wrinkle if left in water too lo
Why does sunshine make you happy?
10 Amazing Transport Inventions
Private UFOs, flying bicycles, motorised wheels - Pathe's archive is awash with fabulous films of canny and creative transport inventions; some of them could have revolutionised...
The Flying Platform
Jet Packs
Flying Drainpipe
Gigantism - Extreme Bodies
Super sized humans have always attracted much attention and fascination and even our clips about the tallest people in the world are very popular with our viewers. So we thought...
Robert Wadlow 1918-1940 – 8ft11. Tallest man in History.
Robert Wadlow cont...
Ted Evans 1924-1958 - 7ft8
Elvis Presley: 35 years on
Elvis Presley died 35 years ago, on 16 August 1977. 70,000 of his fans will make their annual trip to Graceland where they will hold a candlelight vigil for the King of Rock n...
'It's a duty I've got to fill and I'm going to do it'
'I've never met a better group of boys'
'He's just like us'
50 Classic Cameras
This gallery picks out a selection of the several thousand classic cameras to appear in the British Pathe archive, a treat for amateur and professional photographers alike!
#1
#2
#3
Life on a Submarine in '68
British Pathe visited the nuclear-powered submarine HMS Dreadnought S101 in 1968. This gallery shares our naval findings from that day!
0600
0610
0611
Marilyn Monroe's Last Night
Marilyn Monroe would be 86 if she were alive today. Her death has been a subject of conjecture for the last 50 years but not surprising considering the key witnesses that...
Film Fanfare - No 23 - Section 1 & 2
Who visited Marilyn the day before she died?
The Housekeeper
When Sports Go Wrong
A collection of sporting accidents and catastrophes that British Pathe caught on camera.
Devon Loch Disaster
Foinavon
Donald Campbell
Top 10 Unusual Sports
We've all been a bit sported out here at British Pathe, what with the London Olympics, Wimbledon and Ascot - all major events that feature heavily in our archive. So to top off...
TEN: Cycle Skating
NINE: Blindfold Boxing
EIGHT: Roller Skiing
Unaccepted Olympics Sports
The Olympics events that never made it. Official Olympic events used to be held alongside unofficial ones, at the same place and time. These demonstration sports were added to...
Ballooning
Pigeon Racing
Cannon Shooting
Lost Olympic Sports
From Pelota to Polo and from Art Competitions to Tug of War; the Olympics have abandoned many sports over the last 120 years. Some were much loved (baseball) and some less so...
Art Competition
Jeu de Paume
Basque Pelota
Vertigo: Nerves of Steel
Life before health and safety laws. Men had to earn money to provide for their families and our gallery shows the extraordinary dangers construction workers went to in order to...
New York City in 1934
Cleaning the Empire State Building, New York, 1938.
Woolworth Building, New York, 1931
Get The Wimbledon Look
Another British summer, another gripping Wimbledon tournament. There are lots of great Wimbledon videos in our archive that you can watch here on this site. Here are some of our...
Strawberries and cream
Throwing shade
Hitting the net
Best Dressed Dogs
The arts of dressing dogs, associated with films like Legally Blonde and vapid celebrities like Paris Hilton has actually being going on for decades. The British Pathe archive...
Tweed
Fur
Leather
Royal Beauty: Princess Anne
This British Pathe gallery celebrates the fascinating life of Princess Anne on her 62nd birthday. Anne, the Princess Royal, is one of the Royal Family's most understated and yet...
Blue blooded woman
The first to arrive
Leading the way
The Queen's Day Off
We are used to seeing The Queen in her official role but what does she enjoy and get up to in her spare time? We've delved into the archive to find some stills that capture Her...
The Honeymoon
The Motherly Queen
The School Run
Queen Around The World
The Queen is the most well-travelled lady in the world. Her Majesty has made nearly 400 official overseas visits and has toured almost every country in the world. When it comes...
Inheriting the Earth
Queen of Fiji
A Tour of Lahore
Princess Elizabeth Windsor
We've searched the British Pathe archive to find beautiful still images from our newsreels and cinemagazines of The Queen in her youth. See the story of Her Majesty's early...
Introducing Elizabeth
The Braemar Highland Games
Elizabeth Growing Up
The Queen's Hats
In this Diamond Jubilee celebratory gallery of The Queen's hats we take you on a journey of millinery wisdom that we hope offers insight into Her Majesty's enviable knack for...
Hat Tricks
Rule 1: Wear it with pride
Rule 2: Make it work in black and white
The 1908 London Olympic Games
In 1908, following the shock eruption of Mount Vesuvius, London had to host the summer Olympics. British Pathe observed from the sidelines, cameras rolling. Here are 15 still...
Flexibility
English Weather
Going Swimmingly
Prince Philip's Classic Quotes
The Duke of Edinburgh has many talents, but it is his unique way with words that often receives the most attention. Whether it's women, race, religion or astronauts, Prince...
Grace of Monaco
With the news that Nicole Kidman is set to play Grace Kelly in a film, the Pathe archives have delved deep to find pictures that remind us of this beautiful Oscar-winning...
Introducing Grace
Grace Yourself
Making Movies
Titanic: 15 Telling Images
15 stills selected from the reels in British Pathe's Titanic Centenary Collection with information alongside, including original Titanic newsreel titlecards, shots of survivors...
The Unsinkable
Fitting out the Titanic
The Titanic sea trials
10 Forgotten Child Stars
The entertainment industry has always had a "start 'em young" mentality, be it Britney Spears or Justin Bieber. But before that the limelight often fell on actual children -...
Pat Wilson
Freddie Hodges
Petula Clark
Britain's Got Talent: Hopeful Stars of the Past
British Pathe started filming talent contest style variety shows and "turns" at the start of the last century. Although none of these hopeful stars are still with us, their...
The Man with X-Ray Eyes!
The Beggers-Belief Baby Impersonator
Bendy Ellen the Shady Elastic Lady!
London Olympics Etiquette Guide
All eyes are on London as the Olympics hit the capital. The city will be brimming with people from all corners of the world. Every culture has its distinct customs and...
Doing the A-Ok sign
The Smile
Never call a Canadian an American
Gourmet of Yesterday
They say you shouldn't play with your food but the truth is Britons love to make visual masterpieces out of their meals. Our archive gives fascinating insight into the history...
1. We can't believe it's butter!
2. You've got egg on your neck
3. Lemon Queasy
The Death of King George VI
To mark the 60th anniversary of the death of King George VI, we've created a gallery featuring stills from a selection of original British Pathe newsreels. Celebrating our last...
Women In Trousers - Shocking!
Dresses are seen as feminine garments, some ladies only sport them for special occassions whilst others won't be seen dead in a dress these days. Yet back in the mid 20th...
The Leather Look
Stepping Out
Over The Threshold
Bestselling UK Music Acts Ever
British pop music emerged in the mid-to late 1950s, and has dominated the world charts ever since. With a wealth of pop history in it's archives, British Pathé salutes some of...
10. Fleetwood Mac
9. Engelbert Humperdinck
8. Dave Clark Five
What Makes Britons Great?
The British are said to be reserved in manners, dress and speech. They are famous for their politeness, self-discipline and sense of humour. British Pathé, a great British...
Bloodiest WWII Battles Caught on Film
World War II accounted for over 60 million deaths and innumerable lives shattered. Over a 6 year period, battles and assaults raged inexorably on almost every continent in the...
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Berlin
Battle of Moscow
Pathé's Guide to Etiquette
The British have always been famous for their manners. From work life and romance to table manners and body language, guiding lights like Debrett's and George Routledge have...
Handshakes
Tipping
Don't Eat With Your Mouth Open
Famous Last Words
From well-constructed and contrived quips to completely natural and seemingly spontaneous comments, there's something fascinating about people's last words. British Pathé...
Thomas Edison
Ernest Hemingway
Max Baer
Very Weird Weddings
Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. So no surprise then, that as well as filming some of the...
Trapeze Wedding
Trapeze Wedding
Wedding in a Lion's Den
12 Coolest Swimming Hats
Forget the tightly fitted, unflattering, rubber swimming caps we are all familiar with today. The 1960s saw colourful, flowery and exotic bathing caps come into vogue. Here are...
Most Dangerous Pets
Keeping exotic and dangerous pets in the 60s was in vogue. You just had to nip down to your local Harrods to pick yourself up a lion. And it certainly wasn't that unusual to see...
Boa Constrictor
Chimpanzee
Leopard
8 Great British Smiles
For centuries the people of Britain have had a reputation for being dentally challenged. British Pathé decided to investigate whether there was any basis for this age-old...
Before They Were Famous
British Pathé filmed the 20th Century's biggest names, some of them before they even became famous. Click through and guess who these soon-to-be celebrities were when first...
Pathé's Hollywood Goddesses
Cinema was one of the biggest cultural developments of the 20th Century. The rise of Hollywood would introduce us to a new of age of glamour and beauty, the scale of which had...
Sophia Loren
Brigitte Bardot
Elizabeth Taylor
Prince Charles - The First 21 Years
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales was born on 14 November 1948. As the heir to the throne, he has led a life in the spotlight from the moment he was born. The Pathe cameras...
10 Best Bachelor Pastimes
Whether you're a lonely man looking for a new hobby or a happily partnered hipster looking for something on the side - our Bachelor Pastimes gallery is for you! If you sign in...
Making things out of bottle tops
Building very realistic model Cathedrals
Micro-Thatching in Micro Shorts
15 Craziest Ladies Glasses
Glasses became a fashion accessory in the 1950s. They were glamorous, sensational and often outrageous. Specs were colourful creations, designed to beautify a woman and for the...
10 Biggest Weddings of the 1960s
We've scoured the entire British Pathe archive picking out our favourite celebrity marriages of the 1960s. Some lasted a lifetime, others ended in tears. Let us know what you...
10. Johnny Hallyday marries Sylvie Vartan 1965
9. Tommy Steele marries Anne Donague 1960
8. Cathy McGowan marries Hywel Bennett 1970