Archives of IT

BT - Archives of IT BT, (or British Telecommunications to give the company its full name), began in 1846 with…

The Act meant Telecoms and the Post Office were separated and were no longer part of the UK government. In 1980, British Telecom, or BT as we know it today, was born. Many of our interviewees took part in the apprenticeship scheme advertised in this poster. Find out more: archivesit.org.uk/bt/
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The poster is from the mid twentieth century and shows a white man with dark hair wearing an overall coat, fixing a telephone fuse box with a screwdriver. A stylised red telephone handset frames the image on the left. Words say: ‘An engineering career in the Post Office’ with a GPO logo bottom right.

☎️ In this poster from BT Group Archives, a career in telephone engineering is being advertised by the General Post Office. Wondering why? Telecommunications and the Post Office came under the same government department until the Post Office Act in 1969.
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AIT collaborates with RSPB’s Big Schools’ Birdwatch 2026 - Archives of IT Main image: A pupil from Wigmore Primary School, Bedfordshire, taking part in the RSPB’s annual…

Archives of IT is delighted to be collaborating with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds @rspb.bsky.social Big Schools' Birdwatch with complementary lesson plans.

Big Schools’ Birdwatch submissions open today and offer a fun way to incorporate nature and data handling into curriculums.

Together we have raised £14,352 with the @biggiveorg Christmas Challenge! 🤩 Thank you to the AKO Foundation and all our generous supporters. There is still time today to donate to our work and get us closer to our target!
donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05...

Wow! Thanks to your amazing support, we’ve reached £12,790 — that’s 76% of our goal! And because of the #ChristmasChallenge, every donation has been doubled. 💚

We’re not done yet! There’s still time to double your difference by donating before midday tomorrow, Tuesday 9 December bit.ly/4iF44Tj ✨ 🙏

🚀 We’re halfway through the Big Give #ChristmasChallenge! 🎁🎁

Thanks to your generosity, we’ve raised £5,650 so far & every penny has been doubled. 💚

There’s still time to make double the impact before 9 December.

For more information & to donate see: bit.ly/4iF44Tj ✨ 🙏

Two Christmas elves with similar facial features, brown skin and black hair wearing green and red jackets and elf hats. They are working in a Christmas Santa's workshop tying parcels with red ribbon. White text says Double the difference at the top. At the bottom is Christmas Challenge, white tex on a red triangle and BigGive, white text on a black triangle.

The Big Give #ChristmasChallenge begins! For one week donations to us on the Big Give site will be matched £1 for £1, doubling your impact. Our aim? £16,800 to support our mission 'Capturing the past to inspire the future.' Thanks to pledgers and The AKO Foundation
donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05...

An office space divided by temporary walls into cubes. Each cube contains a desk with a PC and files, documents and books.

🧊 Early cube offices at the Digital offices in Galway, Ireland. DEC's first plant outside the USA opened there in 1971 and closed in 1993. Today, open plan offices are popular. Anyone remember working in a cube?
Image thanks to Digital Galway.
@exploreyourarchive.bsky.social

It’s great to be included in The National Archives’ Year in Archives 2025 for the work we completed publishing interviews with former workers of the Digital Equipment Corporation in collaboration with @readingmuseum.bsky.social and The National Museum of Computing. #AYearinArchives #OralHistory

Archives of IT's PR Manager Adrian talks about why his favourite interview is with internet pioneer Eva Pascoe. 🎂 AIT's 10th Anniversary - Adrian Murphy on Eva Pascoe #shorts

Adrian, our Public Relations and Communications Manager, has selected this conversation with Eva Pascoe, a cybercafe trailblazer. Remember them? Discover the reasons behind his choice and learn about the well-known personalities she introduced to the digital world!

A festive image with Archives of OT's logo and the Big Give's logo on a red and white background. An image shows two reindeers standing face on with red noses. They are surrounded by snow and trees.

We’re excited to join Big Give’s #ChristmasChallenge from 2–9 December. Your donation to Archives of IT will be doubled, enhancing our efforts to preserve tech heritage and inspire future STEM leaders. 💚 Thanks to our Pledgers and Big Give Champion, AKO Foundation, for their support.

Our trustee Martin Campbell-Kelly highlights his top oral history interview from the last decade. Hint: He unveiled Colossus's vital role in computing history. #ComputingHistory #OralHistory

In celebration of our decade milestone, our archivist Stephanie shares her top oral history interview. Hint: it's all about shopping and finding great deals! 🤩 🛍️ 💳

Since 2015, we've been capturing the stories of tech trailblazers. Trustee Tim Gregory's top pick is the memorable chat with legendary innovator Sir Clive Sinclair 🎙️

To celebrate our decade milestone, CEO Tola Sargeant shares why her top pick is our interview with tech innovator Duane Jackson 🎤

Trustee Mike Short's top pick from our archives is the oral history chat with UK space tech expert Prof. Sir Martin Sweeting. 🌌 #SpaceInnovation

Our Education Lead, Ravi Chagger, selected Sir Robin Saxby, ARM's founding CEO and a strong supporter of AIT's educational efforts, from a decade of interviews. Find out why 👇

For our 10th birthday, Trustee Bill Dutton shares his favourite interview from our archives, our most popular, the trailblazing Dame Stephanie ‘Steve’ Shirley 🎙️

Ten years of Archives of IT – building a legacy for future generations - Archives of IT In November 2015 Archives of IT was registered as a charity with the Charity…

To find out more about our history archivesit.org.uk/ten-years-of...

We are 10! 🎂
To celebrate we will be sharing our favourite oral history interviews throughout November. Here Chairman John Carrington introduces his. What would your favourite be?

Find our more about how we can help with your research project exhibitions.london.ac.uk/s/history-da...
#HistDay25

An iconic book cover there!

Making History Together History Day

IHR Director Professor Claire Langhamer @clairelanghamer.bsky.social has written about today’s History Day #histday25 here at Senate House, and how it reflects the crucial work of @ihr.bsky.social in supporting historical research in all its forms. Read more here! www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...

Happy History Day! 🥳
If you are wondering how we can help you with your tech research project, look no further 👀
@senatehouselib.bsky.social
@ihr.bsky.social
#HistDay25

💡 On 2 November 1897, Nikola Tesla patented the electrical transformer.
He described it as 'a novel form of transformer or induction-coil... in which the energy of the source is raised to a much higher potential for transmission over the line than has ever been practically employed heretofore' ⚡

1 week to go until History Day - don't forget to sign up! Read about why History Day is such a fantastic event in this blog by Claire Langhamer: buff.ly/ySfBuWR

#HistDay25 @senatehouselib.bsky.social

A black and white aerial view of a large factory. A railway line is to the south and to the north is a housing estate and fields.

English Electric's Stafford site was a key UK tech hub in the mid-20th century. Acquired by GEC in 1968 and Alstom in 1989, it was bought and demolished by General Electric in 2015, now replaced by housing. Photo: Express & Star Newspapers, Wolverhampton Archives.
@exploreyourarchive.bsky.social

A black and white photograph of the inside of a factpry, showing large transistors and components. The building has large windows down one side, and exposed metal beams and joists.

⚡ Ferranti's Greater Manchester factory produced transformers and meters from 1905, playing a key role in the establishment of the National Grid. Despite having international clients, their Transformer Division closed in 1975. Photo: @sciencemuseum.org.uk.
@exploreyourarchive.bsky.social

A black and white photograph of a building draped in camouflaged netting. A red stamp to the right says 'SECRET'.

Marconi established the UK's first radio factory in Chelmsford, Essex in 1912 and later set up research labs in Great Baddow in 1939. This Essex Record Office photo shows the labs camouflaged, taken for the Home Office ARP in November 1939, two months into WWII. @exploreyourarchive.bsky.social

A white man wearing a lab coat and hat, stood in front of a satellite, demonstrating it to a white woman in a green velvet hat, holding a handbag and a white man in a shirt and tie, white coat and hairnet. They are all in a lab.

🌓 Professor Sir Martin Sweeting, Queen Elizabeth II, and UoSAT-12 at Surrey Satellite Technology in 1999.
The UoSAT-12 mission highlighted innovations like imaging cameras and internet expansion to space. Its 'Firsts' include capturing a lunar eclipse in 2000.
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