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More than a thousand years of human history live on in the records we care for. Browse collection highlights by the time periods they come from. -
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Blood in the Wear: The Sunderland Sailors' Strike and the North Sands Massacre of August 1825
Records of a coroner’s inquest on the body of the sailor Thomas Aird reveal details of a little-known seamen’s strike that was brutally suppressed. -
The story of
Jayaben Desai and the Grunwick dispute
In August 1976, a group of migrant workers led by Jayaben Desai took a historic stand against racism, low pay and limited workers’ rights. -
Record revealed
Japanese Instrument of Surrender, 1945
After six years of brutal global conflict, this document marked the end of the Second World War.