British Pathé, the documentaries and newsreel maker who created footage covering everything from major events to culture throughout the 20^th century, has made all of its videos available on YouTube, in high definition.

The archive chronicles over 85,000 videos with more than 3,500 hours of film. The catalogue includes the Hiroshima Bombing, the Empire State Building’s construction and fashion designers’ predictions of clothing of the future.

The online collection has been set up with help from the German online television network Mediakraft Networks.

Founded by Charles Pathé in Paris in 1896, he launched a newsreel office in Britain in 1910. After essentially inventing the modern television news format, it stopped production 60 years later. It then launched as an independent archive in 2009, opening a YouTube channel since then and has finally announced it has uploaded its entire collection to Google’s video sharing platform.

Alastair White, general manager of British Pathé, said, “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.”

“Whether you’re looking for coverage of the Royal Family, the Titanic, the destruction of the Hindenburg, or quirky stories about British pastimes, it’ll be there on our channel. You can lose yourself for hours.”

The company plans to produce new content with Britsh Pathé material, in English and in foreign languages