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Here, you’ll find randomized material from across the textbase’s author profiles and timelines. To jump to the content of your choice, click on its image card.

1859: Artist James McNeill Whistler moved to L...

Building and people item

1859

Artist James McNeill Whistler moved to London.
Spencer, Robin. The Aesthetic Movement: Theory and Practice. Studio Vista, 1972.
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Eliza Fay

EF , a traveller and businesswoman of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, wrote lively, observant, opinionated travel diaries and letters which did well when she printed them.

July 1616: Frances Howard, Countess of Essex (and by...

National or international item

July 1616

Frances Howard, Countess of Essex (and by her latest marriage Countess of Somerset), pleaded guilty to accusations of having Sir Thomas Overbury poisoned to end his publicizing her sexual misconduct.
Purkiss, Diane. The Witch in History: early modern and twentieth-century representations. Routledge, 1996.
215-16, 223
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.

27 May 1941: The German battleship Bismarck was sunk following...

National or international item

27 May 1941

The German battleship Bismarck was sunk following a chase by British ships.
Messenger, Charles. World War Two Chronological Atlas: When, Where, How and Why. Bloomsbury, 1989.
45
Palmer, Alan, and Veronica Palmer. The Chronology of British History. Century, 1992.
388
Weinberg, Gerhard L. A World At Arms: A Global History of World War II. Cambridge University Press, 1994.
235-6

February 1989: Soviet forces withdrew from Afghanistan:...

National or international item

February 1989

Soviet forces withdrew from Afghanistan: the USA and UK (which had trained Afghan fighters) hailed a victory for freedom over Communism; the Mujahidin a victory for Islam over atheistic powers.
Hardy, Roger. “How China Colluded with the West in the Rise of Osama Bin Laden”. London Review of Books, 2 Mar. 2000, pp. 26-7.
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Forbes, Peter, editor. Scanning the Century. Viking, 1999.
169

1872: University College of Wales, Aberystwyth,...

Building and people item

1872

University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, opened for male students; in 1889 its charter as a university college gave women equality with men.
Evans, W. Gareth. Education and Female Emancipation: the Welsh Experience, 1847-1914. University of Wales Press, 1990.
7, 42, 209-10, 217, 228, 244
The World of Learning. 45th ed., Allen and Unwin, 1995.
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1912: A religious novel by Mary Dickens, The Debtor,...

Women writers item

1912

A religious novel by Mary Dickens , The Debtor, was published.
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.
Blain, Virginia et al., editors. The Feminist Companion to Literature in English: Women Writers from the Middle Ages to the Present. Yale University Press; Batsford, 1990.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman

CPG , a prolific early twentieth-century American writer and feminist social critic, published satirical poems and nationalist verse, newspaper articles, short stories, serialized novels, and a vast amount of non-fiction. She was unapologetically didactic, and...
Charlotte Perkins Gilman Black and white photograph of Charlotte Perkins Gilman, shown in profile, from the torso up, with one hand resting on a fur wrap. She wears a dark jacket over a white shirt and her wavy hair is done in a loose bun.

September 1991 : Glasgow Women's Library was founded. It sprang...

Building and people item

September 1991

Glasgow Women's Library was founded. It sprang (through hard work) from a grassroots organization called Women in Profile , which in turn came into being in response to the announcement that Glasgowwould become European...

1794: The patent obtained by American Eli Whitney...

Building and people item

1794

The patent obtained by American Eli Whitney for the recently-developed mechanical cotton gin (or ginny) made no mention of Catharine Littlefield Greene . She had initiated, funded, and collaborated on the invention; it helped fuel...

1948: The introduction in England of the Jaguar...

Building and people item

1948

The introduction in England of the Jaguar XK 120 sports car caused a sensation.
Bruno, Leonard. On the Move: A Chronology of Advances in Transportation. Gale Research, 1993.
251

10 January 1645: William Laud, Charles I's unpopular High...

National or international item

10 January 1645

William Laud , Charles I 's unpopular High Church Archbishop of Canterbury, impeached the previous autumn, was executed.
Cope, Esther S. Handmaid of the Holy Spirit: Dame Eleanor Davies, Never Soe Mad a Ladie. University of Michigan Press, 1992.
121-2
Purkiss, Diane. The English Civil War, A People’s History. Harper Perennial, 2007.
374
Lady Eleanor Douglas had both prophesied this event and called for it to be done.

8 March 1707: The last of George Farquhar's six comedies,...

Writer or writing item

8 March 1707

The last of George Farquhar 's six comedies, The Beaux' Stratagem, opened at the Haymarket .
Watson, George, and Ian Roy Wilson, editors. The New Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature. Cambridge University Press, 1969, 5 vols., http://U of A, HSS Ruth N Flr 1 Ref.

1734: Jean Adam or Adams published at Glasgow her...

Women writers item

1734

Jean Adam or Adams published at Glasgow her Miscellany Poems.
Blain, Virginia et al., editors. The Feminist Companion to Literature in English: Women Writers from the Middle Ages to the Present. Yale University Press; Batsford, 1990.

24 May 1799: Pizarro by Richard Brinsley Sheridan opened...

Writer or writing item

24 May 1799

Pizarro by Richard Brinsley Sheridan opened at Drury Lane . An adaptation of Kotzebue 's melodrama about Peru, Pizarro voiced the anti-French feelings (fore-runners of anti-Napoleonic feelings) disturbing the English people at this time.
The London Stage 1660-1800. Southern Illinois University Press, 1960–1968, 5 vols.
5: 2097-8, 2177-89

1845: John Thurnam's Observations and Essays on...

Building and people item

1845

John Thurnam 's Observations and Essays on the Statistics of Lunacy estimated that male patients at the York Retreat Insane Asylum outnumbered female inmates by approximately 30%.
Showalter, Elaine. The Female Malady: Women, Madness, and English Culture, 1830-1980. Pantheon Books, 1985.
52, 259

1 June 1937: Woman, a mass weekly directed at housewives,...

Building and people item

1 June 1937

Woman, a mass weekly directed at housewives, began publication; it was the first magazine printed in colour.
Winship, Janice. Inside Women’s Magazines. Pandora, 1987.
166
Dancyger, Irene. A World of Women: An Illustrated History of Women’s Magazines. Gill and Macmillan, 1978.
147
Ferguson, Marjorie. Forever Feminine: Women’s Magazines and the Cult of Femininity. Heinemann, 1983.
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Matthew Arnold

1964: Dulcie Gray, with her husband Michael Denison,...

Women writers item

1964

Dulcie Gray , with her husband Michael Denison , published an introduction to the craft of acting for children entitled The Actor and His World.
OCLC WorldCat. 1992–1998, http://www.oclc.org/firstsearch/content/worldcat/. Accessed 1999.

1880: The Matrons' Aid or Trained Midwives' Registration...

Building and people item

1880

The Matrons' Aid or Trained Midwives' Registration Society was founded in London by Louisa M. Hubbard .
Donnison, Jean. Midwives and Medical Men: A History of Inter-Professional Rivalries and Women’s Rights. Schocken Books, 1977.
99-101
Towler, Jean. Midwives in History and Society. Croom Helm, 1986.
165
Rivers, John. Dame Rosalind Paget, 1855-1948: A Short Account of Her Life and Work. Midwives Chronicle, 1981.
27-8
Leap, Nicky, and Billie Hunter. The Midwife’s Tale: An Oral History from Handywoman to Professional Midwife. Scarlet Press, 1993.
2-3
There is discrepancy over the date the Society was founded: Donnison and Towler give...

1898: English publication of the journal Cosmopolis...

Writer or writing item

1898

English publication of the journal Cosmopolis ceased after two years.
Sutherland, John, b. 1938. The Stanford Companion to Victorian Fiction. Stanford University Press, 1989.
151

27 December 1979: Russia invaded Afghanistan: Soviet troops...

National or international item

27 December 1979

Russia invaded Afghanistan: Soviet troops entered Kabul, claiming that their assistance had been requested. The USA meanwhile supported the anti-Soviet side.
Bradsher, Henry S. Afghanistan and the Soviet Union. Duke University Press, 1983.
189, 173
Roy, Arundhati. The Soviet Intervention in Afghanistan. Associated Publishing House, 1987.
v

Ella K. Maillart

EKM was a Swiss traveller whose website calls her [w]riter and journalist through necessity, photographer by predilection.
Ella Maillart. http://www.ellamaillart.ch/index_en.php.
She published five books about her journeys, three books of reminiscence, and numerous newspaper and magazine articles. Collections...
Ella K. Maillart Portrait of Ella K. Maillart. She is wearing a light blue polo shirt. Behind her is a stack of books, blurred in the background.

10 December 1941: Two British ships, the Prince of Wales and...

National or international item

10 December 1941

Two British ships, the Prince of Wales and the Repulse, were sunk by the Japanese off the coast of Malaya.
Spartacus Educational. 28 Feb. 2003, http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/.

23 December 1953: On orders from Nikita Krushchev, Lavrenty...

National or international item

23 December 1953

On orders from Nikita Krushchev , Lavrenty Beria (former head of Stalin 's NKVD ) was shot dead in secret by a firing squad. He was cremated and his ashes dispersed by a fan.
Strauss, Julian. “Stalin’s depraved executioner has grip on Moscow”. Daily Telegraph, 23 Dec. 2003, p. 11.
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