About The Old Broadside

The Old Broadside is a daily publication of history. Every day it opens on a new page — the events, births and deaths that fell on this date across the centuries — chosen for significance, presented with the care a good story deserves.

Before the news had a front page, it had the broadside: a single printed sheet, pasted to a wall or read aloud in the square, carrying the day's most remarkable happenings. We borrow the name and the spirit. History is not a textbook here; it is the day's edition.

What you'll find

Each date carries its most significant events — wars ended and begun, discoveries made, treaties signed, disasters endured — alongside the notable lives that began or closed on that day. Every story links to a full account, and a year-round archive lets you wander to any date you please.

We do not flinch from difficult history. Atrocity, tragedy and injustice belong in the record, and a serious publication treats them factually and respectfully — never sensationalised, never sanitised.

Our sources

The historical accounts on The Old Broadside are drawn from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, and are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike licence. Every article links to its Wikipedia source, and the work of that project's volunteer editors is what makes a publication like this possible. Our contribution is the selection, the presentation, and the daily ritual.

Who makes it

The Old Broadside is a product of Florence Publishing Ltd, an independent publisher based in the United Kingdom. It is built and edited by a very small team with a large affection for the past.

If you enjoy the paper, you can keep the presses running on Ko-fi, follow @theoldbroadside wherever you get your feeds, or simply come back tomorrow — there will be a new page waiting.