All the news that’s fit to print just got easier to read. The Library has made an important addition to its digital assets with the appearance of the New York Times Historical Archive with Index. At present the database contains the fully digitized and indexed paper from 1851 – 2006; it is regularly updated with a three year lag. The archive is fully searchable, and articles can be displayed as pdf images of individual articles or in full page view. Abstracts are also available for many articles.

The detailed indexing permits highly flexible searching in the advanced search, and results can be limited to, for instance, the Book Review, or the Sunday Magazine.

But the most exciting feature is the presentation of history in its immediacy. Browse for the momentous:
ALLIED ARMIES LAND IN FRANCE IN THE HAVRE-CHERBOURG AREA; GREAT INVASION IS UNDER WAY
New York Times New York, N.Y.: Jun 6, 1944. p. 1 (1 page)

THEY ARE COMING,’ NAZIS SAY CURTLY
By Cable to THE NEW YORK TIMES.
New York Times Jun 6, 1944;

…or the quirky:

BROOKLYN IS WRATHFUL; The Sunday Shaving Law Looked Upon as a Great Indignity. BARBERS TALK OF A MASS MEETING Citizens Must Shave Themselves, Come to New-York, or Raise Beards — May Increase Church Attendance.
New York Times Jun 1, 1895. p. 9 (1 page)
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Try out the New York Times Historical Archive