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Between late 1584 and early 1585: Francis Bacon wrote his Letter of Advice...

Writer or writing item

Between late 1584 and early 1585

Francis Bacon wrote his Letter of Advice to Queen Elizabeth.
Stephen, Sir Leslie, and Sidney Lee, editors. The Dictionary of National Biography. Smith, Elder, 1908–2026, 22 vols. plus supplements.

1843: The Rebecca Riots took place near Newport...

National or international item

1843

The Rebecca Riots took place near Newport in South Wales; the rioters were protesting against the Poor Law Amendment Act and turnpike tolls, among other things.
West, Julius. A History of the Chartist Movement. Houghton Mifflin, 1920.
172
Royle, Edward. Chartism. Longman, 1980.
70
Haydn, Joseph. Haydn’s Dictionary of Dates and Universal Information. Editor Vincent, Benjamin, 23rd ed., Ward, Lock, 1904.
1446

1831: Sir John Herschel published Preliminary Discourse...

Writer or writing item

1831

Sir John Herschel published Preliminary Discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy, a cheaply-produced book designed to teach scientific practices and scientific standards to people lacking in formal education.
Jay, Mike. “Like Cooking a Dumpling”. London Review of Books, Vol.
36
, No. 22, 20 Nov. 2014, pp. 25-6.
25

Bernardine Evaristo

Since the late twentieth century, BE has written novels both in prose and, unusually, in verse. Her topics range from the romantic history of her own family, to Roman London thousands of years in the...
Bernardine Evaristo Close-up colour photograph of Bernardine Evaristo, during the Booker Prize Winner event at Guildhall, London, 14 October 2019. She wears a colorful patterned headband, silver hoop earings, and a bright pink blazer jacket.

May 1953: The British submarine Andrew made its first...

National or international item

May 1953

The British submarine Andrew made its first underwater crossing of the English Channel.
Bruno, Leonard. On the Move: A Chronology of Advances in Transportation. Gale Research, 1993.
264

By 19 December 1831: Cholera was sufficiently widespread in London...

Building and people item

By 19 December 1831

Cholera was sufficiently widespread in London for Joanna Baillie to comment on the general panic and uneasiness.
Baillie, Joanna. The Collected Letters of Joanna Baillie. Editor Slagle, Judith Bailey, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1999, 2 vols.
1: 472

1863: A Government Commission on art was established;...

Building and people item

1863

A Government Commission on art was established; Robertson Blaine proposed full Royal Academy membership for women.
Nunn, Pamela Gerrish. Victorian Women Artists. Women’s Press, 1987.
48

10 December 2007: In the Christmas rush twelve years after...

Writer or writing item

10 December 2007

In the Christmas rush twelve years after the online bookseller Amazon was founded, it sold on this single day almost five and a half million items.
McCrum, Robert. “A Thriller in 10 Chapters”. The Guardian, 25 May 2008, pp. Review 6 - 8.
6

Archibald Alison

1820: By this date, there were over five thousand...

National or international item

1820

By this date, there were over five thousand Sunday Schools established by Evangelicals, with a total of approximately five hundred thousand pupils.
Bradley, Ian. The Call to Seriousness: The Evangelical Impact on the Victorians. Jonathan Cape, 1976.
44

By September 1800: The high price of wheat produced hardship...

Building and people item

By September 1800

The high price of wheat produced hardship and scarcity in Britain and Ireland.
Colley, Linda. Britons: Forging the Nation, 1707-1837. Yale University Press, 1992.
158
Critical Review. W. Simpkin and R. Marshall, 5 series.
2nd ser. 30 (1800): 116-7, 458
A hundredweight (a measure of 112 pounds weight or one cwt) must be meant here...

Early 1948: In the spring the Conservative Party established...

Building and people item

Early 1948

In the spring the Conservative Party established the Committee on Women's Questions , chaired by Malcolm McCorquodale .
Smith, Harold L. “The Politics of Conservative Reform: The Equal Pay for Equal Work Issue, 1945-1955”. The Historical Journal, Vol.
35
, No. 2, June 1992, pp. 401-15.
404

1920: Professor George Burchett, tattooist, opened...

Building and people item

1920

Professor George Burchett , tattooist, opened a salon at 141 Bond Street, London, together with a beauty specialist.
Angeloglou, Maggie. A History of Make-up. Studio Vista, 1970.
125

January 1716: John Gay published Trivia; or, The Art of...

Writer or writing item

January 1716

John Gay published Trivia; or, The Art of Walking the Streets of London.
British Library Catalogue. http://explore.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?dscnt=0&tab=local_tab&dstmp=1489778087340&vid=BLVU1&mode=Basic&fromLo.

28 July 1827: The first issue of the Foreign Quarterly...

Writer or writing item

28 July 1827

The first issue of the Foreign Quarterly Review appeared.
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: 129-30, 132-3

November 1980: A new Irish bill permitted the sale of contraceptives...

National or international item

November 1980

A new Irish bill permitted the sale of contraceptives (with certain restrictions).
Francome, Colin. “United Kingdom”. International Handbook on Abortion, edited by Paul Sachdev, Greenwood, 1988, pp. 458-61.
461

December 1903: Australian feminist and suffragist Vida Goldstein...

National or international item

December 1903

Australian feminist and suffragist Vida Goldstein became the first woman in the British Empire to run for a national parliament, standing for the Senate while two other Australian women stood for the House of Representatives...

1824: The Manchester Mechanical Institute was ...

Building and people item

1824

The Manchester Mechanical Institute was founded.
Haydn, Joseph. Haydn’s Dictionary of Dates and Universal Information. Editor Vincent, Benjamin, 23rd ed., Ward, Lock, 1904.
783
The World of Learning. 47th ed., Allen and Unwin, 1997.
1997: 1563

By 1830: Barthélemy Thimmonier, a tailor at Lyons...

Building and people item

By 1830

Barthélemy Thimmonier , a tailor at Lyons in France, produced the first chain-stitch sewing machine to specifications invented by himself.
Hardyment, Christina. From Mangle to Microwave: The Mechanization of Household Work. Polity Press, 1988.
42-4
Adburgham, Alison. Shops and Shopping 1800-1914: Where, and in What Manner the Well-Dressed Englishwoman Bought Her Clothes. Allen and Unwin, 1964.
113

1880: Henry Vizetelly founded Vizetelly and Company...

Writer or writing item

1880

Henry Vizetelly founded Vizetelly and Company at 42 Catherine Street, Strand, London, with his sons Frank and Arthur .
Rose, Jonathan, and Patricia J. Anderson, editors. Dictionary of Literary Biography 106. Gale Research, 1991.
106: 317

After 7 April 1668: On the death of Sir William Davenant, his...

Building and people item

After 7 April 1668

On the death of Sir William Davenant , his widow took over the running of Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre; she managed it until the 1670s, and therefore presided over the debut of Aphra Behn .
The London Stage 1660-1800. Southern Illinois University Press, 1960–1968, 5 vols.
1: 143

1960: Gavin Maxwell issued his best-known book,...

Writer or writing item

1960

Gavin Maxwell issued his best-known book, about otters on Cambusfearna (that is Sandaig, an island off Western Scotland), entitled Ring of Bright Water (from a line by Kathleen Raine : He has married me...

1724: Sixteen new novels or works of fiction were...

Writer or writing item

1724

Sixteen new novels or works of fiction were published in England this year, besides three translations.
Downie, James Alan. “Mary Davys’s ’Probable Feign’d Stories’ and Critical Shibboleths about ’The Rise of the Novel’”. Eighteenth-Century Fiction, Vol.
12
, No. 2-3, Jan.–Apr. 2000, pp. 309-26.
311