Domesday Book Online

I usually focus on US documents, but I thought this was pretty cool. The Domesday Book, the UK's oldest surviving public record, has been made available by the UK National Archives. The public can now search the 920-year old Book by name of town, city or village. In 2005 it was voted the nation's finest treasure, yet a recent survey conducted in conjunction with today´s launch revealed that less than 1 per cent of the population have actually been to see the original in The National Archives' museum.
At Christmas 1085 William the Conqueror commissioned a great survey to discover the resources and taxable values of all the boroughs and manors in England. He wanted to discover who owned what, how much it was worth, and how much was owed to him as King. It was a massive enterprise, and the record of that survey, Domesday Book, was a remarkable achievement.

Thank you to Free Government Information for this entry.