BBC Sound Archive

The BBC Sound Archive is a collection of audio recordings maintained by the BBC and founded in 1936. Its recordings date back to the late 19th century and include many rare items, including contemporary speeches by public and political figures, folk music, British dialects and sound effects.

The archive includes material dating back to the 19th century, including about 200 wax cylinders, one of which is an 1890 recording of Florence Nightingale. The collection has continued to grow over the years, and from 1998 was regularly drawn on for the BBC Radio 4 series The Archive Hour. In 2007 a limited sample was made available online as part of the BBC Archive Trial

More information on the Wikipedia page.