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April 1880: The last issue of the New Quarterly Magazine...

Writer or writing item

April 1880

The last issue of the New Quarterly Magazine was published.
Houghton, Walter E., and Jean Harris Slingerland, editors. The Wellesley Index to Victorian Periodicals 1824-1900. University of Toronto Press, 1966–1989, 5 vols.
2: 611

Catharine Macaulay

CM is best known as a radical historian (the only historian of England from a republican point of view for almost two centuries after she wrote). The eight volumes of her History of England took...
Catharine Macaulay Portrait of Catharine Macaulay by Robert Edge Pine, c. 1776. Pine had already done a full-length painting which renders Macaulay's head and shoulders very similarly, but clearly shows her dressed as a Roman matron with the sash of a Roman senator. (The dress was blue and the sash purple; now the colours are reversed.) Macaulay, still rests an arm on a volume of her monumental "History of England", but now within a painted oval, without the classical backdrop of the larger, more political picture. There she

15 January 1924-25 March 1924: 1,600,000 cotton-mill workers went on strike...

National or international item

15 January 1924-25 March 1924

1,600,000 cotton-mill workers went on strike in Bombay because, owing to unfavourable trade conditions, they had not received their usual bonus.
Keller, Helen, editor. The Dictionary of Dates. Macmillan, 1934, 2 vols.
I: 841

1932: US poet Archibald MacLeish won the Pulitzer...

Writer or writing item

1932

US poet Archibald MacLeish won the Pulitzer Prize for his epic poem Conquistador, which traces the journey taken by Cortez through Mexico.
“Hernando Cortez (1460-1521): Spanish Explorer”. Thinkquest: Library: Explorers: Cortez.

1 January 1948: Railways in Britain were nationalised: the...

National or international item

1 January 1948

Railways in Britain were nationalised: the Big Four railways were merged as national property under the Transport Act, as British Rail .
Day, John R. The Story of London’s Underground. London Transport, 1974.
40
Allen, G. Freeman. Railways: Past, Present and Future. Orbis Publishing, 1982.
182
Bruno, Leonard. On the Move: A Chronology of Advances in Transportation. Gale Research, 1993.
252
“Railways Act 1993”. Railways Archive, 2004–2014.

1867: Walter Bagehot's classic introduction to...

Writer or writing item

1867

Walter Bagehot 's classic introduction to British politics, entitled The English Constitution, was published.
Drabble, Margaret, editor. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 5th ed., Oxford University Press, 1985.
59

1833: A temporary hospital was opened in Dublin...

Building and people item

1833

A temporary hospital was opened in Dublin by the Irish Sisters of Charity , with room for twelve patients.
Scanlan, Pauline. The Irish Nurse: A Study of Nursing in Ireland. Drumlin, 1991.
62

18 March 1967: A Liberian-registered oil supertanker, the...

National or international item

18 March 1967

A Liberian-registered oil supertanker, the Torrey Canyon, with a cargo of 100,000 tons of crude oil, ran aground on rocks off Land's End and began releasing what was at this date the biggest oil spill...

E. J. Scovell

EJS is a poet whose work spans a long period. Writing during the 1930s, she published from the forties through to the nineties, always against the grain or fashion of the time. She has also...
E. J. Scovell Black and white photograph of E. J. Scovell, shown from the shoulders up. She is wearing a collared corduroy jacket with buttons up the front, and her curly hair is brushed back from a centre parting. Her head is resting on her hand. She looks thoughtful.

1808: A law was passed to compel clergymen to reside...

Building and people item

1808

A law was passed to compel clergymen to reside in their parishes; it was hard to enforce, however, and absenteeism did not disappear.
Collins, Irene. “The Rev. Henry Tilney, Rector of Woodston”. Persuasions: Journal of the Jane Austen Society of North America, Vol.
20
, 1998, pp. 154-64.
160

3 February 1871: Thomas William Robertson, playwright, died...

Writer or writing item

3 February 1871

Thomas William Robertson , playwright, died at 6 Eton Terrace, Haverstock Hill, London.
Stephen, Sir Leslie, and Sidney Lee, editors. The Dictionary of National Biography. Smith, Elder, 1908–2025, 22 vols. plus supplements.

Jane Williams

JW 's eight books and several periodical publications appeared from the pre-Victorian to the mid-Victorian period in a number of genres, including poetry, literary criticism (of women writers in particular), and an account of her...

24 September 1939: Petrol rationing began in Britain as a result...

National or international item

24 September 1939

Petrol rationing began in Britain as a result of the outbreak of war.
Palmer, Alan, and Veronica Palmer. The Chronology of British History. Century, 1992.
385

1967: This year the number of US troops in Vietnam...

National or international item

1967

This year the number of US troops in Vietnam rose to 500,000 (up from 23,000 in early 1965).
Kettle, Martin. “Nixon ’wrecked early peace in Vietnam’”. The Guardian, 9 Aug. 2000, p. 3.
3

1575: The very early comedy Gammer Gurtons Nedle,...

Writer or writing item

1575

The very early comedy Gammer Gurtons Nedle, by Mr S., M[aste]r of Art (William Stevenson ), was printed by Thomas Colwell .
Still, John et al. Gammar Gurtons Nedle. Editor Brett-Smith, H. F. B., Basil Blackwell, 1939.
Cox, Michael, editor. The Oxford Chronology of English Literature. Oxford University Press, 2002, 2 vols.

1864-1867: The Reader, a weekly Review of Literature,...

Building and people item

1864-1867

The Reader, a weekly Review of Literature, Science, and the Arts
Roos, David A. “The Aims and Intentions of Nature”. Victorian Science and Victorian Values: Literary Perspectives, edited by James Paradis and Thomas Postlewait, New York Academy of Sciences, 1981, pp. 159-80.
163
appeared.
Roos, David A. “The Aims and Intentions of Nature”. Victorian Science and Victorian Values: Literary Perspectives, edited by James Paradis and Thomas Postlewait, New York Academy of Sciences, 1981, pp. 159-80.
163

1790: Newspaper sales in England totalled more...

Building and people item

1790

Newspaper sales in England totalled more than 16 million.
Suarez, Michael F. “The Business of Literature: The Book Trade in England from Milton to Blake”. A Companion to Literature from Milton to Blake, edited by David Womersley, Blackwell, 2000, pp. 131-47.
139

1 January 1886: The first recorded death from chloroform...

Building and people item

1 January 1886

The first recorded death from chloroform poisoning, that of Edwin Bartlett , led to his wife Adelaide Bartlett 's sensational trial for murder.
Hartman, Mary S. Victorian Murderesses. Schocken Books, 1977.
175-214

March 1961: Jane Duncan's autobiographical book My Friend...

Women writers item

March 1961

Jane Duncan 's autobiographical book My Friend Annie, treating her often rocky relationship with her stepmother, was published.
The British National Bibliography. Council of the British National Bibliography; British Library, Bibliographic Services Division, 1950.

December 1837-April 1839: George Grey made two journeys to explore...

National or international item

December 1837-April 1839

George Grey made two journeys to explore the coastal areas north of Perth, Western Australia.
Clark, Charles Manning Hope. A History of Australia. Melbourne University Press, 1981.
III: 38-40, 74

December 1915: The Irish Republican Brotherhood established...

National or international item

December 1915

The Irish Republican Brotherhood established a Military Council to plan a rebellion in Ireland.
Moody, Theodore William et al., editors. A New History of Ireland. Clarendon, 1976–2025, 10 vols.
390

February 1913: The Women's Social and Political Union began...

Building and people item

February 1913

The Women's Social and Political Union began a concerted campaign of destruction of public and private property.
Hume, Leslie Parker. The National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies, 1897-1914. Garland, 1982.
193
Hume, Leslie Parker. The National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies, 1897-1914. Garland, 1982.
193

June 1967: Woman's Outlook, which combined general interest,...

Writer or writing item

June 1967

Woman's Outlook, which combined general interest, home hints, and socialist-feminist political articles, ceased publication.
Doughan, David, and Denise Sanchez. Feminist Periodicals, 1855-1984. Harvester Press, 1987.
43
Harrison, Royden et al. The Warwick Guide to British Labour Periodicals, 1790-1970: A Check List. Harvester Press, 1977.
603

1835: Doctor Peter Parker embarked on long-term...

Building and people item

1835

Doctor Peter Parker embarked on long-term volunteer medical work in China.
Neill, Stephen. A History of Christian Missions. 2nd ed., Penguin, 1990.
217

1910: Paul Ehrlich and Sahachiro Hata developed...

Building and people item

1910

Paul Ehrlich and Sahachiro Hata developed in Berlin the first chemotherapy treatment for venereal disease.
Bullough, Vern L. Science in the Bedroom: A History of Sex Research. Basic Books, 1994.
100