British Pathé's entire collection of newsreels is now available for free on YouTube. The 85,000 videos showcase 80 years in global events, ranging from the historically significant to the downright weird. The repository includes newsreels from the First and Second World Wars, footage of the 1937 Hindenburg Disaster and even a clip of a morbidly obese three-year old being tempted with chocolate.



Alastair White, General Manager of British Pathé, explains why the films were uploaded: "This archive is a treasure trove unrivalled 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." Pathé News, whose archive is now known as British Pathé, was widely regarded as one of the leading news companies of the 1900's. In its sixty years of media production, Pathé News helped memorialize every facet of the past century — including its callousness towards those outside of social norms.