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1671: Madame de Sévigné of France first brought...

Building and people item

1671

Madame de Sévigné of France first brought the sheath (condom) to public attention by writing disparagingly of it.
Fraser, Antonia. The Weaker Vessel: Woman’s Lot in Seventeenth Century England. Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1984.
66
Trager, James. The Women’s Chronology: A Year-by-Year Record, from Prehistory to the Present. Henry Holt, 1994.
155

1948: Agnes Headlam-Morley became the first woman...

Building and people item

1948

Agnes Headlam-Morley became the first woman appointed to a full professorship at Oxford when she took up the Montague Burton Chair of International Relations.
“Women at Oxford”. University of Oxford.
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.

1850: The Interpretation Act (also known as Lord...

National or international item

1850

The Interpretation Act (also known as Lord Brougham 's Act) which aimed to simplify the language of legal statutes, laid down that the masculine includes the feminine (so that he should be understood to mean...

1871: The British Government began employing women...

National or international item

1871

The British Government began employing women as clerical workers.
Holcombe, Lee. Victorian Ladies At Work: Middle-Class Working Women in England and Wales, 1850-1914. Archon Books, 1973.
166

13 January 1976: Argentina suspended diplomatic ties with...

National or international item

13 January 1976

Argentina suspended diplomatic ties with Britain over the possession of the Falkland Islands.
Williams, Neville et al. Chronology of the 20th Century. Helicon, 1996.
412

12 February 1830: George Bradshaw published his first map of...

Writer or writing item

12 February 1830

George Bradshaw published his first map of British canals and railways; from this he went on to railway timetables.
Solo: Search Oxford University Libraries Online. 18 July 2011, http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?vid=OXVU1&fromLogin=true&reset_config=true.

1 May 1864: Frank Smedley, novelist, died at Grove Lodge,...

Writer or writing item

1 May 1864

Frank Smedley , novelist, died at Grove Lodge, Regent's Park, London.
Stephen, Sir Leslie, and Sidney Lee, editors. The Dictionary of National Biography. Smith, Elder, 1908–2026, 22 vols. plus supplements.

Una Marson

UM was a pioneering Jamaican poet, dramatist, journalist, and broadcaster whose most prolific period was the 1930s, during which she divided her time between Kingston, Jamaica, and London, England. Her writing consistently reflects...

January 1902: The Imperial Colonist began monthly publication...

Building and people item

January 1902

The Imperial Colonist began monthly publication in London from the British Women's Emigration Association and the South African Expansion Committee .
Doughan, David, and Denise Sanchez. Feminist Periodicals, 1855-1984. Harvester Press, 1987.
22

1927: Ptolemy type, based on a font used by Leonard...

Writer or writing item

1927

Ptolemy type, based on a font used by Leonard Holle at Ulm in 1482, was first used in printing the Ashendene Press 's Don Quixote.
Gentry, Helen, and David Greenhood. Chronology of Books and Printing. Rev. ed., Macmillan, 1936.
138
Rose, Jonathan, and Patricia J. Anderson, editors. Dictionary of Literary Biography 112. Gale Research, 1991.
29

1932: Alexander Korda formed London Film Productions...

Building and people item

1932

Alexander Korda formed London Film Productions and the Denham Studios .
Palmer, Alan, and Veronica Palmer. The Chronology of British History. Century, 1992.
376

30 April 1827: Charles X of France disbanded the National...

National or international item

30 April 1827

Charles X of France disbanded the National Guard at Paris.
Merriman, John M. “Contested Freedoms in the French Revolutions, 1830-1871”. Revolution and the Meanings of Freedom in the Nineteenth Century, edited by Isser Woloch, Stanford University Press, 1996, pp. 173-11.
178
Haydn, Joseph. Haydn’s Dictionary of Dates and Universal Information. Editor Vincent, Benjamin, 23rd ed., Ward, Lock, 1904.

1813: The monthly Female Preceptor, essays on the...

Writer or writing item

1813

The monthly Female Preceptor, essays on the duties of the female sex, conducted by a lady and dedicated to Hannah More , began publication.
Beetham, Margaret. A Magazine of Her Own?: Domesticity and Desire in the Woman’s Magazine, 1800-1914. Routledge, 1996.
216
Solo: Search Oxford University Libraries Online. 18 July 2011, http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?vid=OXVU1&fromLogin=true&reset_config=true.

1922: French designer Gabrielle Chanel introduced...

Building and people item

1922

French designer Gabrielle Chanel introduced a stream-lined, calf-length, dropped-waist dress which became the epitome of fashion for the flapper.
Brumberg, Joan Jacobs. Fasting Girls. Harvard University Press, 1988.
239

29 July 1981: Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer...

National or international item

29 July 1981

Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer in a famously publicized ceremony at St Paul's Cathedral which was widely billed as fairy-tale.
“The Queen at 80: Timeline”. BBC News.

By May 1733: More than 20,000 children were reported by...

Building and people item

By May 1733

More than 20,000 children were reported by an article in the Gentleman's Magazine to have attended charity schools in London since the beginning of the century.
Gentleman’s Magazine. Various publishers.
3 (1733): 250

1867: The Compromise (or Ausgleich) won near-independence...

National or international item

1867

The Compromise (or Ausgleich) won near-independence for the Magyars when the Habsburg monarchy was divided into the Dual Monarchy of Austro-Hungary.
Hobsbawm, Eric John. The Age of Capital 1848-1875. Abacus, 1975.
90
Cowie, Leonard W., and Leonard Woolfson. Years of Nationalism: European History 1815-1890. Edward Arnold, 1985.
322

24 April 1900: The Daily Express newspaper was launched...

Writer or writing item

24 April 1900

The Daily Express newspaper was launched by Charles Pearson and Co. ; it was bought by Max Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook , in 1914, and was selling four million copies a day in the 1950s.
Bozman, Ernest Franklin, editor. Everyman’s Encyclopaedia. 4th Edition, J. M. Dent, 1958, 12 vols.
Haydn, Joseph. Haydn’s Dictionary of Dates and Universal Information. Editor Vincent, Benjamin, 23rd ed., Ward, Lock, 1904.

By February 1741: A monument was erected by subscription to...

Writer or writing item

By February 1741

A monument was erected by subscription to the memory of Shakespeare in Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey.
Gentleman’s Magazine. Various publishers.
11 (1741): 105

16 July 1967: The first Legalize Pot Rally was held in...

Building and people item

16 July 1967

The first Legalize Pot Rally was held in Hyde Park, London, under the auspices of an organization called Soma , often written as SOMA.
Greer, Germaine. The Madwoman’s Underclothes. Picador, 1987.
3
Abrams, Steve. “Hashish Fudge. The Times Advertisement and the Wootton Report”. Drug War Chronicle: Schaffer Library of Drug Policy, 7 Apr. 1993.

1848: Margaret Knight, age ten, invented a stop-motion...

Building and people item

1848

Margaret Knight , age ten, invented a stop-motion device for use in textile mills to prevent shuttles sliding out of looms and injuring workers; despite its popularity, she never patented it.
Franck, Irene, and David Brownstone. Women’s World: A Timeline of Women in History. HarperCollins; HarperPerennial, 1995.
128

1852: Cavour became Prime Minister of Piedmont,...

National or international item

1852

Cavour became Prime Minister of Piedmont, Italy.
Cowie, Leonard W., and Leonard Woolfson. Years of Nationalism: European History 1815-1890. Edward Arnold, 1985.
263

April 1927: Transition, edited by Eugene Jolas, began...

Writer or writing item

April 1927

Transition, edited by Eugene Jolas , began irregular publication in Paris.
Hanscombe, Gillian, and Virginia L. Smyers. Writing for Their Lives: The Modernist Women, 1910-1940. Women’s Press, 1987.
277
Marek, Jayne E. Women Editing Modernism: "Little" Magazines & Literary History. University Press of Kentucky, 1995.
12

16 March 1905: The Nursing Times began weekly publication...

Building and people item

16 March 1905

The Nursing Times began weekly publication in London from the Royal College of Nurses .
Doughan, David, and Denise Sanchez. Feminist Periodicals, 1855-1984. Harvester Press, 1987.
22
Ulrich’s International Periodicals Directory 1999. 37th ed., R. R. Bowker, 1998.
4673
Solo: Search Oxford University Libraries Online. 18 July 2011, http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?vid=OXVU1&fromLogin=true&reset_config=true.

1844: The anonymous publication of Robert Chambers's...

Writer or writing item

1844

The anonymous publication of Robert Chambers 's Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation influenced the evolutionary thinking of Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace .
Hellemans, Alexander, and Bryan Bunch. The Timetables of Science: A Chronology of the Most Important People and Events in the History of Science. Simon and Shuster, 1988.
310
Yeo, Richard. Defining Science: William Whewell, Natural Knowledge, and Public Debate in Early Victorian Britain. Cambridge University Press, 1993.
113-14, 232-3
Hill, Rosemary. “Snakes and Leeches”. London Review of Books, Vol.
40
, No. 1, 4 Jan. 2018, pp. 23-5.
25