World History: Primary Sources

Often referred to as "first hand" accounts or "original" records, primary sources are the evidence historians use to build interpretations of the past. 
Most primary sources are created at the time an historical event occurred, while others, such as autobiographies, are produced long after the events they describe.
Here are some examples:

For more recent historical topics (20th century topics), documentaries and personal interviews can serve as excellent primary sources.  Remember, in a primary source the person speaking on the event or topic must have experienced it directly themselves.  

The Library of Congress provides some examples of citing various primary source types from their collections:

Most print newspapers have online editions. Most of these offer some free content. The amount and selection of online content compared to print content varies.

Depending on the topic, you may find a collection of historical primary sources that have been translated into English and published as a recent book.  Keep in mind that these collections may also include introductions, commentaries, and other secondary sources as well.  

Add the primary source type as a keyword in your search. It may look like this: 

"nuclear arms" sources
slavery "personal narratives"
Lyndon Johnson diaries
Ancient greek military maps
"World War II" "primary sources"
"FDR" "speeches"

You can see there are "" marks around phrases or specific names of events.

There is no single comprehensive database of primary sources, you may need to explore different strategies for locating resources. Here are some databases that do have primary sources as part of their holdings: