IT WAS very strange. A static display of newspapers that filled my head with sound.

Yeah! Yeah! USA! The front page headline on the Daily Mirror in February 8, 1964 with pictures of the Beatles and their screaming fans at JFK airport seemed just like yesterday (sorry).

Likewise, the the Evening Standard's Champions of the World splash with a huge picture of Bobby Moore holding up the World Cup, on August 1, 1966 echoed England's celebration and cheers in a rather timely fashion.

The exhibition is a rollercoaster of emotions for visitors who can view 200 front pages from the past century - newspapers may be throwaway items by day but this exhibition proves that from hot metal to hot gossip they are a treasure-trove of social history.

The pages are gathered in 12 sections and while they are rather weighted towards doom and gloom - assassinations, war and natural disasters - there is plenty to smile about, too, including man landing on the moon, Posh and Beck's wedding and fun headlines including Freddie Starr Ate My Hamster.

The Daily Telegraph's War on America front page (September 12, 2001) was voted the most memorable of the past 100 years in BBC Newsnight's Big-Read-All-About-It competition. As the events unfolded live on television, it was soon apparent that the first crash into the north tower of the World Trade Center was no accident. Despite watching hours of coverage, people still wanted to read about it in their newspapers the next day. In the 16 days after September 11, 2001, some 28 million extra copies of national newspapers were sold.

The exhibition's front pages have been chosen by journalists to illustrate the story behind the story, the differing styles in newspapers over the years, changes in news gathering techniques and influence of the Press in society. But it is the headlines that really bring home history. The centrepiece is an interactive newsroom where visitors can create their own pages and print them out to take home.LB

Front Page: Celebrating 100 years of the British Newspapers (1906-2006) is a free exhibition at the British Library, London NW1. It runs until October 8, 2006.

How to get there: From St Pancras station, turn right and the library is a couple of hundred yards along at 96 Euston Road. Telephone 0207 412 7332 or visit www.bl.uk

Opening times:

Monday 09.30 - 18.00

Tuesday 09.30 - 20.00

Wednesday 09.30 - 18.00

Thursday 09.30 - 18.00

Friday 09.30 - 18.00

Saturday 09.30 - 17.00

Sunday 11.00 - 17.00