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21 August 1885: The Criminal Law Amendment Act raised the...

National or international item

21 August 1885

The Criminal Law Amendment Act raised the age of sexual consent from thirteen to sixteen and criminalized both public and private sexual relations between males. It suppressed brothels and outlawed white slavery.
Petrow, Stefan. Policing Morals: The Metropolitan Police and the Home Office 1870-1914. Clarendon Press, 1994, p. 343.
159-60
Palmer, Alan, and Veronica Palmer. The Chronology of British History. Century, 1992.
311

December 1798 - February 1799: Unusually severe weather conditions gripped...

Building and people item

December 1798 - February 1799

Unusually severe weather conditions gripped most of Britain, compounding the hardships already being experienced by the poor.
Dunicliff, Joy. Mary Howitt: Another Lost Victorian Writer. Excalibur Press of London, 1992.
24-5

1911: An authorised English translation of Henri...

Writer or writing item

1911

An authorised English translation of Henri Bergson 's Laughter appeared, by Cloudesley Brereton and Fred Rothwell .
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.

1900: Madame Gaches-Sarraute, a Parisian corset-maker,...

Building and people item

1900

Madame Gaches-Sarraute , a Parisian corset-maker, designed a corset with a straight-fronted busk that exerted less pressure on the waist.
Waugh, Norah. Corsets and Crinolines. Theatre Arts Books, 1970.
85

6 June 1841: Marian Rebecca Hughes became the first woman...

Building and people item

6 June 1841

Marian Rebecca Hughes became the first woman to take the vow of holy celibacy in the Church of England since the Reformation.
Anson, Peter F. The Call of the Cloister: Religious Communities and Kindred Bodies in the Anglican Communion. Editor Campbell, A. W., Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1964.
288-9

10 March 1664: Amy Duny was accused of trying to harm a...

Building and people item

10 March 1664

Amy Duny was accused of trying to harm a child by witchcraft when a toad was found in its blanket.
Purkiss, Diane. The Witch in History: early modern and twentieth-century representations. Routledge, 1996.
122, 140n13

7 October 1954: The BBC aired its first television coverage...

National or international item

7 October 1954

The BBC aired its first television coverage of an annual Party Conference (that of the Conservatives, held in Blackpool).
Briggs, Asa. The BBC: The First Fifty Years. Oxford University Press, 1985.
384

April 1826: Benjamin Disraeli anonymously published his...

Writer or writing item

April 1826

Benjamin Disraeli anonymously published his novel Vivian Grey; a continuation appeared in 1827.
Drabble, Margaret, editor. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 5th ed., Oxford University Press, 1985.
276
Cox, Michael, editor. The Oxford Chronology of English Literature. Oxford University Press, 2002, 2 vols.

3 March 1851: John Ruskin published The Foundations, the...

Writer or writing item

3 March 1851

John Ruskin published The Foundations, the first volume of his influential study of architecture and culture entitled The Stones of Venice.
Smart, James P. A Complete Bibliography of the Writings in Prose and Verse of John Ruskin. Editor Wise, Thomas J., Vol.
2 vols.
, Dawsons of Pall Mall, 1964.
II: 47-58
Shepherd, Richard Herne. The Bibliography of Ruskin. E. Stock, 1881.
14

Christmas Day 1950: Four Scottish Nationalist students removed...

National or international item

Christmas Day 1950

Four Scottish Nationalist students removed from Westminster Abbey in London the Stone of Scone, on which Scottish kings had been crowned until Edward I seized it in 1296.
“The Stone of Destiny”. Brigadoonery Canada.
Palmer, Alan, and Veronica Palmer. The Chronology of British History. Century, 1992.
402

19 July 1913: Skywriting by aeroplane, a new form of advertising,...

National or international item

19 July 1913

Skywriting by aeroplane, a new form of advertising, was first introduced by Milton J. Bryant in the skies over Seattle, Washington.
Bruno, Leonard. On the Move: A Chronology of Advances in Transportation. Gale Research, 1993.
183

1826: Everywoman's Book or What is Love?, by Richard...

Building and people item

1826

Everywoman's Book or What is Love?, by Richard Carlile , was first published as an 18-penny pamphlet.
Fryer, Peter. The Birth Controllers. Secker and Warburg, 1965.
76-7
Jalland, Patricia, and John Hooper. Women from Birth to Death: The Female Life Cycle in Britain 1830-1914. Harvester, 1986.
32

Mary Sewell

MS wrote during the nineteenth century, predominantly in verse, often in ballad form, to instruct and improve children and members of the working classes. Her poems combine simplicity of language and structure with clear moral...

1843: The English Chartist Circular avowed that...

National or international item

1843

The English Chartist Circular avowed that hundreds of women had enrolled in the NCA or National Charter Association .
Thompson, Dorothy, 1923 - 2011. The Chartists: Popular Politics in the Industrial Revolution. Pantheon, 1984.
123
Thompson, Dorothy, 1923 - 2011. The Chartists: Popular Politics in the Industrial Revolution. Pantheon, 1984.
123-4

April 1774: The Monthly Review, in a notice on Hannah...

Women writers item

April 1774

The Monthly Review, in a notice on Hannah More 's The Inflexible Captive, quoted some lines which transform the Muses from ancient Greece into the living female poets of Britain.
Griffiths, Ralph, 1720 - 1803, and George Edward Griffiths, editors. Monthly Review. R. Griffiths.
50 (April 1774): 243-51

Mary Matilda Betham

MMB , writing during the Romantic period, had a vocation as a poet which she took very seriously and which was recognised during her lifetime by positive reviews and the respect of more famous poets...
Mary Matilda Betham Drawing of Mary Matilda Betham. Her head is hanging down a little; her low scoop neckline, worn with two strings of beads, reveals slightly rounded shoulders. Her hair is short and curly.

June 1914: The movement that became known as TOC H began...

Building and people item

June 1914

The movement that became known as TOC H began at Poperinge in Belgium at a rest house for soldiers run by chaplain Tubby Clayton .
“Welcome Page”. TOC H.

1935: Helena Swanwick (suffragist, pacifist, sister...

Women writers item

1935

Helena Swanwick (suffragist, pacifist, sister of artist Walter Sickert ) published her memoir I Have Been Young.
Doughan, David. email to Women’s History Network. 11 Dec. 2009.

1878: Electromechanical vibrators were probably...

Building and people item

1878

Electromechanical vibrators were probably first used medically in the treatment of hysteria at La Salpêtrière in Paris.
Maines, Rachel P. The Technology of Orgasm: ’Hysteria’, the Vibrator, and Women’s Sexual Satisfaction. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999.
93

1854: George Boole developed the first form of...

Building and people item

1854

George Boole developed the first form of symbolic logic, known today as Boolean algebra.
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.
325

1965: Elizabeth Lane, whose record already included...

Building and people item

1965

Elizabeth Lane , whose record already included becoming the third woman QC and the first woman judge in a County Court, began work this year as the first woman High Court judge.
“Women’s History Timeline”. BBC: Radio 4: Woman’s Hour.
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.

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

6 February 1685: King Charles II died and his brother James...

National or international item

6 February 1685

King Charles II died and his brother James II (who was also James VII of Scotland) assumed the throne.
Haydn, Joseph. Haydn’s Dictionary of Dates and Universal Information. Editor Vincent, Benjamin, 23rd ed., Ward, Lock, 1904.
426
Fryde, Edmund Boleslaw. Handbook of British Chronology. Editors Greenway, D. E. et al., 3rd ed., Offices of the Royal Historical Society, 1986.
44
Messenger, Ann. Pastoral Tradition and the Female Talent: Studies in Augustan Poetry. AMS Press, 2001.
99

1881: Cambridge University began admitting women...

Building and people item

1881

Cambridge University began admitting women to degree examinations, but women were not awarded degrees on the same terms as men until they finally obtained that privilege in 1947 (first degrees awarded in 1948).
Purvis, June. A History of Women’s Education in England. Open University Press, 1991.
116
McWilliams-Tullberg, Rita. Women at Cambridge. Gollancz, 1975.
82
“Fact sheet: Women at Cambridge: A Chronology”. University of Cambridge.

March 1821: Piedmont suffered a revolt instigated by...

National or international item

March 1821

Piedmont suffered a revolt instigated by the Carbonari ; its king, King Victor Emmanuel I , abdicated in favour of his brother Charles Felix ; but Austria put down the revolt, together with another in Naples.
Cowie, Leonard W., and Leonard Woolfson. Years of Nationalism: European History 1815-1890. Edward Arnold, 1985.
51, 273