• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, July 5, 2006

Video search engine blinkx has forged a deal with The History Channel UK to start carrying audio and video clips from the TV channel's library, including speeches by scientist Albert Einstein, astronaut Neil Armstrong, and U.S. Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy.

"With increasing numbers of people watching video online, we are keen to make as many of our programme clips available as possible on the website," said Emily Lloyd, History Channel UK, in a statement.

With this deal, The History Channel UK joins the growing roster of content providers that blinkx.tv works with, including BusinessWeek Online, Reuters, Fox News, and The New York Times. The deal with History Channel also comes just one week after blinkx added public information films from National Archives in mWest London; that material contains historical footage dating back to 1945.

The privately held blinkx currently boasts more than 4 million hours of audio and video content in its index. Most of the clips were professionally produced, but about one in four were uploaded by users. In recognition of the rapidly growing user-created video field, blinkx last week launched a channel devoted exclusively to consumer-generated video clips.