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15 May 1800: King George III narrowly escaped death when...

National or international item

15 May 1800

King George III narrowly escaped death when a bullet aimed for him lodged in the pillar of his box at Drury Lane Theatre .
Dobbs, Brian. Drury Lane: Three Centuries of the Theatre Royal, 1663-1971. Cassell, 1972.
128

1906: The coachman in the family of Winifred Knox...

Building and people item

1906

The coachman in the family of Winifred Knox (later Peck) pronounced on the subject of cars: Them things won't last; just a fad they are; won't last!
Peck, Winifred. Home for the Holidays. Faber and Faber, 1955.
74

Christian Milne

CM was a labouring-class Scottish poet of the early nineteenth century, who also wrote an autobiographical letter.

Lady Jane Lumley

LJL was a Renaissance translator who distinguished herself by producing the earliest extant English version of a tragedy by Euripides , which is also the earliest play by a woman in English. She also translated...
Lady Jane Lumley Black and white photograph of a painting of Lady Jane Lumley by Sieuwert van der Meulen, 1563, companion piece to a portrait of her husband. She stands in formal pose, wearing a long dark skirt and bodice with embroidered decoration. Her tight sleeves are puffed at the shoulders and the gold under-sleeves have small slashes. She has two rows of blue stones below a small ruff, and a circlet head ornament. In one hand she holds a pomander, in the other what might be the household purse.A small label is not le

7 July 1946: BBC television broadcast to children for...

National or international item

7 July 1946

BBC television broadcast to children for the first time, in For the Children.
Briggs, Asa. The BBC: The First Fifty Years. Oxford University Press, 1985.
379

Grace, Lady Mildmay

GLM , an amateur medical practitioner with unusual depth of skill and range of clients, left a mass of medical notes and recipes dating from the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. She also wrote...

1909: Liberal government introduced a child allowance...

National or international item

1909

Liberal government introduced a child allowance (£10 for each child) for income tax payers with children under 16.
Weeks, Jeffrey. Sex, Politics and Society: The Regulation of Sexuality since 1800. Longman, 1981.
135

1984: The Women's Rugby Football Union was est...

Building and people item

1984

The Women's Rugby Football Union was established.
“Women’s History Timeline”. BBC: Radio 4: Woman’s Hour.

1865: Gregor Mendel published the results of his...

Building and people item

1865

Gregor Mendel published the results of his genetics experiments in an obscure journal.
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.
336
Taton, René, editor. Science in the Nineteenth Century. Translator Pomerans, Arnold J., Vol. 3, Basic Books, 1965.
480-3

3 May 1919: The Third Afghan War began after Amir Amanullah...

National or international item

3 May 1919

The Third Afghan War began after Amir Amanullah declared a holy war (jihad) on Britain.
Cook, Chris, and John, 1946 - Stevenson. The Longman Handbook of Modern British History 1714-1987. 2nd ed., Longman, 1988.
215
Steinberg, Sigfrid Henry. Historical Tables: 58 BC-AD 1985. 11th ed., Garland Publishing, 1986.
233
Palmer, Alan, and Veronica Palmer. The Chronology of British History. Century, 1992.
357

About September 1521: Erasmus reported his approval of his friend...

Building and people item

About September 1521

Erasmus reported his approval of his friend Thomas More 's action in giving his whole household an education in good literature
Erasmus, Desiderius. Collected Works of Erasmus. Editors Schoeck, Richard J. and Beatrice Corrigan, University of Toronto Press, 1974–2026, 84 vols.
8: 297
(females equally with males).
Erasmus, Desiderius. Collected Works of Erasmus. Editors Schoeck, Richard J. and Beatrice Corrigan, University of Toronto Press, 1974–2026, 84 vols.
8: 294-9

24 October 1868: With the support of Lady Georgiana Fullerton,...

Building and people item

24 October 1868

With the support of Lady Georgiana Fullerton , novelist and journalist Frances Margaret Taylor established, in rented rooms off Fleet Street, London, the religious community that would become the Congregation of the Poor Servants of the Mother of God

10 February 1949: Arthur Miller's tragedy Death of a Salesman,...

Writer or writing item

10 February 1949

Arthur Miller 's tragedy Death of a Salesman, directed by Elia Kazan , opened on Broadway to great enthusiasm from critics.
Solman, Paul. “Interview with Arthur Miller”. PBS: Online Newshour: An American Classic, 10 Feb. 1999.
Ratcliffe, Michael. “Obituary: Arthur Miller”. Guardian Weekly, 18–24 Feb. 2005, p. 29.
29
Hurwitt, Robert. “Arthur Miller: 1915-2005”. SFGate.com: San Francisco Chronicle, 12 Feb. 2005, p. A 1.

24 October 1944: A railway clerk named Mrs W. recorded in...

National or international item

24 October 1944

A railway clerk named Mrs W. recorded in her diary (now in the Mass-Observation archive): I cannot write what I feel about all this evil. My soul cries out in distress. I am a Jew...

1777: Henry Mackenzie published his sentimental...

Writer or writing item

1777

Henry Mackenzie published his sentimental novel Julia de Roubigné, whose heroine is poisoned by the jealous husband she has married to please her father.
Manning, Susan. “Julie de Roubigné: Last Gasp, or First Fruits?”. Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies, Vol.
24
, No. 2, 1 Sept.–30 Nov. 2001, pp. 161-73.
163

1784: A daytime patrol of watchmen was established...

Building and people item

1784

A daytime patrol of watchmen was established in the City of London—the earliest example of policing on the beat other than at night.
Henderson, Tony. Disorderly Women. Longman, 1999.
105

21 August 1415: The Portuguese capture of Ceuta, Morocco,...

National or international item

21 August 1415

The Portuguese capture of Ceuta, Morocco, opened Africa to European penetration.
Shyllon, Folarin Olanole. Black Slaves in Britain. Oxford University Press, 1974.
1
Bozman, Ernest Franklin, editor. Everyman’s Encyclopaedia. 4th Edition, J. M. Dent, 1958, 12 vols.
3: 244

Mary Boyle

MB wrote throughout the nineteenth century, composing novels, short stories, historical catalogues, and verse. She also contributed to several periodicals. Though well-liked and frequently praised by her peers, her works are now little read.

18 February 1793: A Catholic Relief Act repealed some parts...

National or international item

18 February 1793

A Catholic Relief Act repealed some parts of the infamous Penal Laws operative in Ireland. Either J. S. Anna Liddiard or her husband wrote in 1819 that this was the source of the improvement...

16 December 1789: The Society for Constitutional Information...

National or international item

16 December 1789

The Society for Constitutional Information (a potentially radical political organization) held its semi-annual meeting at the London Tavern, to commemorate the centenary of the Bill of Rights.
Butler, Marilyn, editor. Burke, Paine, Godwin, and the Revolution Controversy. Cambridge University Press, 1984.
7
Goodwin, Albert. The Friends of Liberty: The English Democratic Movement in the Age of the French Revolution. Hutchinson, 1979.
113
Gentleman’s Magazine. Various publishers.
59 (1789): 1183

11 February 1858: At Lourdes in the French Pyrenees, a fourteen-year-old...

Building and people item

11 February 1858

At Lourdes in the French Pyrenees, a fourteen-year-old peasant girl, Bernadette Soubirous , saw a vision which others identified as the Virgin Mary.
Palmer, Alan, and Veronica Palmer. The Chronology of British History. Century, 1992.
279
Trager, James. The Women’s Chronology: A Year-by-Year Record, from Prehistory to the Present. Henry Holt, 1994.
268
Bell, David A. “Who mended Pierre’s leg?”. London Review of Books, 11 Nov. 1999, pp. 30-1.
30-1

1930: Woman and Beauty magazine began publicat...

Building and people item

1930

Woman and Beauty magazine began publication.
McLaughlin, Terence. The Gilded Lily. Cassell, 1972.
139

By 31 May 1862: George Meredith published Modern Love and...

Writer or writing item

By 31 May 1862

George Meredith published Modern Love and Poems of the English Roadside, with Poems and Ballads.
Athenæum. J. Lection.
1805 (1862): 719

Leonora Carrington

Though LC is best known for her visual art, she produced ample fiction, plays, and life writing that engage with aesthetic and political movements of her time, particularly surrealism and feminism. Her writing (published between...

11-12 October 2008: This weekend the banking system in Britain...

National or international item

11-12 October 2008

This weekend the banking system in Britain approached collapse. The government bailed out the Royal Bank of Scotland (the world's largest company measured in assets) with £20 billion.
Lanchester, John. “It’s Finished”. London Review of Books, Vol.
31
, No. 10, 28 May 2009, pp. 3-13.
3