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20 January 1936: King George V died and Edward VIII assumed...

National or international item

20 January 1936

King George V died and Edward VIII assumed the throne; he broadcast a message to the Empire the same day from the BBC 's headquarters, Broadcasting House.
Briggs, Asa. The History of Broadcasting in the United Kingdom. Oxford University Press, 1961, 5 vols.
1: 372

Mary Deverell

MD is a remarkably interesting and talented miscellaneous writer of lower-class background and strong feminist views. Her essays and short poems (published in the later eighteenth century) are delightful, her longer narrative poem and tragic...

A. E. Housman

AEH , who was also a classical scholar, editor, and critic, is best known for his poetry, mostly in ballad form. His first publication happened in 1896, and the last was posthumous. His characteristic subjects...

Barbara Blaugdone

BB was a later seventeenth-century Quaker minister and autobiographer.
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.
Her writing is, typically, political as well as religious.

: Each adult in England, of either sex, was...

National or international item

Spring 1554

Each adult in England, of either sex, was required by their bishop to make a formal statement of Catholic faith before they were eligible to make their Easter Communion.
Duffy, Eamon. “Rolling Back the Reformation”. London Review of Books, Vol.
30
, No. 3, 7 Feb. 2008, pp. 27-9.
28

1779: Samuel Crompton brought together ideas from...

Building and people item

1779

Samuel Crompton brought together ideas from Richard Arkwright and James Hargreaves to invent the spinning mule.
Stephen, Sir Leslie, and Sidney Lee, editors. The Dictionary of National Biography. Smith, Elder, 1908–2026, 22 vols. plus supplements.

7 November 1879: Leon Trotsky, revolutionary and writer, was...

National or international item

7 November 1879

Leon Trotsky , revolutionary and writer, was born in the village of Yanovka in Ukraine.
“Contemporary Authors”. Gale Databases: Literature Resource Centre-LRC.

2 February 1835: Thomas Babington Macaulay published his Minute...

National or international item

2 February 1835

Thomas Babington Macaulay published his Minute on Indian Education.
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.

Early 1874: Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was elected to...

Building and people item

Early 1874

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was elected to the British Medical Association , where she remained for nineteen years the only female member.
Blake, Catriona, and Wendy Savage. The Charge of the Parasols: Women’s Entry to the Medical Profession. Women’s Press, 1990.
189-90

29 January 1728: John Gay's The Beggar's Opera opened at Lincoln's...

Writer or writing item

29 January 1728

John Gay 's The Beggar's Opera opened at Lincoln's Inn Fields . It was published on 14 February.
The London Stage 1660-1800. Southern Illinois University Press, 1960–1968, 5 vols.
2: 931, 956-7
A Register of Books 1728-1732, extracted from the Monthly Chronicle. Gregg Press, 1964.
54

1971: In a crucial parliamentary vote on Britain's...

National or international item

1971

In a crucial parliamentary vote on Britain's future entry into the European Community or Common Market, Conservative members plus 68 pro-European Labour members voted in favour.
Marquand, David. “Roy Jenkins”. Guardian Weekly, 9–15 Jan. 2003, p. 19.
19

18 July 1874: The weekly Ladies' Own Journal and Miscellany...

Writer or writing item

18 July 1874

The weekly Ladies' Own Journal and Miscellany ceased publication.
Palmegiano, Eugenia M. Women and British Periodicals, 1832-1867: A Bibliography. Garland, 1976.
21

15 September 1789: James Fenimore Cooper, novelist, was born...

Writer or writing item

15 September 1789

James Fenimore Cooper , novelist, was born at Burlington, New Jersey, USA.
Kunitz, Stanley J., and Howard Haycraft, editors. American Authors, 1600-1900: A Biographical Dictionary of American Literature. H. W. Wilson, 1938.
177

21 May 1855: The Civil Service Commission was established...

National or international item

21 May 1855

The Civil Service Commission was established in response to public pressure to put an end to political appointments, or what the Administrative Reform Association called those influences which at present burden every department of Government...

1909-10: The annual sale of picture postcards in Britain...

Building and people item

1909-10

The annual sale of picture postcards in Britain rose to 866,000,000 this year.
Staff, Frank. The Picture Postcard and Its Origins. F. A. Praeger, 1966.
91

4 June 1963: John Profumo, Secretary of State for War,...

Building and people item

4 June 1963

John Profumo , Secretary of State for War, resigned after he was found to have lied in the House of Commons about his relations with call-girl Christine Keeler .
Thomson, David, and Geoffrey Warner. England in the Twentieth Century, 1914-1979. 2nd ed., Penguin Books, 1981.
263-4
Palmer, Alan, and Veronica Palmer. The Chronology of British History. Century, 1992.
420
Roberts, Clayton, and David Roberts. A History of England: 1688 to the Present. Prentice-Hall, 1980.
825

September 1937: General Franco's capture of the strongly...

Building and people item

September 1937

General Franco 's capture of the strongly republican town Bilbao in the Basque country of Spain caused turmoil among 4,000 refugee Basque children living in camps in Kent.
Harding, Jeremy. “The Uninvited”. London Review of Books, 3 Feb. 2000, pp. 3-25.
13

1908: Crossriggs, a homely and unpretentious novel...

Women writers item

1908

Crossriggs, a homely and unpretentious novel by Mary and Jane Helen Findlater , was, said Susan Tweedsmuir years later, one of those books that make a milestone in one's life.
Tweedsmuir, Susan. The Edwardian Lady. G. Duckworth, 1966.
50-1

13 June 1908: The National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies...

National or international item

13 June 1908

The National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies organised a co-ordinated procession in London which included 10,000 women from forty-two organizations.
Tickner, Lisa. The Spectacle of Women: Imagery of the Suffrage Campaign, 1907-1914. University of Chicago Press, 1988.
79-80
Hume, Leslie Parker. The National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies, 1897-1914. Garland, 1982.
41
Holton, Sandra Stanley. Suffrage Days: Stories from the Women’s Suffrage Movement. Routledge, 1996.
133-4

Marie-Madeleine de Lafayette

MML , writing in France in the late seventeenth century, originated there the new form of the novel: shorter, less diffuse, more vigorous in its emotional effect than the long, many-storied, courtly romances. She was...
Marie-Madeleine de Lafayette Black and white, head-and-shoulders image of a lost painting of Marie-Madeleine de Lafayette by Louis Ferdinand Elle l'Aîné. She sits with her head resting on one hand, wearing a gown with a V neck and puffed sleeves, without jewellery. Her dark hair is pulled back into a pearl-wrapped bun, with a ringlet lying on her shoulder.

About 1760: A newly invented musical instrument, the...

Building and people item

About 1760

A newly invented musical instrument, the piano, was introduced into London; England soon became the world's leading piano producer.
Newman, Gerald, editor. Britain in the Hanoverian Age, 1714-1837: An Encyclopedia. Garland, 1997.
420-1

11 October 1963: French singer Edith Piaf died, physically...

Building and people item

11 October 1963

French singer Edith Piaf died, physically burned out at the age of forty-seven. Her friend the writer and artist Jean Cocteau died later the same day, after beginning to write an obituary for her.
“The Times Digital Archive 1785-2007”. Thompson Gale: The Times Digital Archive.
(12 October 1963): 10

19 May 1941: The Old Vic Theatre in Waterloo Road, London,...

Building and people item

19 May 1941

The Old Vic Theatre in Waterloo Road, London, was bombed.
Palmer, Alan, and Veronica Palmer. The Chronology of British History. Century, 1992.
402

1891: Gordon Roy (that is Helen Wallace) issued...

Women writers item

1891

Gordon Roy (that is Helen Wallace ) issued the novel His Cousin Adair. Adair is a strong woman and this is the story of her courtship.
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.

November 1894: Walter Arnold imported the first Benz car...

Building and people item

November 1894

Walter Arnold imported the first Benz car into England and manufactured the first English cars at East Peckham, Kent, based on Benz's model.
Harris, Melvin. ITN Book of Firsts. Michael O’Mara Books, 1994.
17
Richardson, Kenneth, and C. N. O’Gallagher. The British Motor Industry 1896-1939. Macmillan, 1977.
60