Newsreels

The Internet Archive has released their collection of public domain Universal Newsreels. There is a significant amount of mid-century history here presented in pre-television informational film format. Check out the Atomic Bomb; a May Day Parade in Red Square, Moscow that contains the first reports of the felled US U-2 high-altitude spy plane; partials from Algerian riots on screen; and two UN newsreels: UN World Leaders and Ike's Plan for Disarmament.

A chronicle of fascinating news. The medium allows these moments to come to life in strange ways- When Kruschev pounds the table in the World Leaders piece, the motion of his fist communicates so much more fury and global frustration than a still image can. There are hundreds upon hundreds more Universal Newsreel films, each bringing history to life with motion.