You Can Now Watch Thousands of Fascinating Old Newsreels on YouTube for Free

Alyssa Bereznak
·National Correspondent, Technology
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If you’re looking for a place to relive the most profound (and weird) newsreels of the past, a new bounty awaits on YouTube.

British Pathé, a newsreel archive that spans from 1896 to 1976, recently made all 85,000 of its archival videos available on its YouTube channel.

“Our hope is that everyone, everywhere who has a computer will see these films and enjoy them,” Alastair White, General Manager of British Pathé, said in a statement published on the organization’s WordPress blog. “This archive is a treasure trove unrivaled in historical and cultural significance that should never be forgotten. Uploading the films to YouTube seemed like the best way to make sure of that.”

Considering that tens of thousands of people have watched a YouTube video of a person counting down alongside a microwave timer, it’s safe to say that these priceless reels will (and should!) get some good play time.

Below are just a few highlights from the giant collection, ranging from Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Mr. Universe victory in 1969 to Queen Elizabeth’s tour of Ethiopia:

California’s future governor, covered head to toe in baby oil:

Proof that civilization’s obsession with humanizing animals existed long before BuzzFeed was created:

Before we had the Apple spaceship, there was Frank Lloyd Wright’s “Office Of A Dream!”

Here’s a mod fashion show in Paris:

Queen Elizabeth’s tour of Ethiopia (check out her very fashionable turbans):

And, last but certainly not least, the very first “mobile” phone, which required the assistance of an umbrella and a fire hydrant.

There’s a lot more where that came from.

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