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1 December 1759: John Hawkesworth in turn adapted Thomas Southerne's...

Building and people item

1 December 1759

John Hawkesworth in turn adapted Thomas Southerne 's dramatic adaptation of Aphra Behn 's Oroonoko, making it for the first time a solidly anti-slavery text.
Basker, James G. “Intimations of Abolitionism in 1759: Johnson, Hawkesworth, and OroonokoThe Age of Johnson, edited by Paul J. Korshin and Jack Lynch, Vol.
12
, AMS Press, 2001, pp. 47-66.
47, 48, 53-5, 57, 59

1930s: Tuppenny libraries (also known as Pay-as-you-read...

Writer or writing item

1930s

Tuppenny libraries (also known as Pay-as-you-read or No Deposit libraries) greatly expanded during this decade.
McAleer, Joseph. Popular Reading and Publishing in Britain 1914-1950. Clarendon Press, 1992.
49-50, 58

April 1883: The Church of England Purity Society was...

Building and people item

April 1883

The Church of England Purity Society was founded at Lambeth Palace in London; its first president was Archbishop Benson .
Bristow, Edward. Vice and Vigilance: Purity Movements in Britain Since 1700. Gill and Macmillan, 1977.
102
Bristow, Edward. Vice and Vigilance: Purity Movements in Britain Since 1700. Gill and Macmillan, 1977.
100

From 1920: The Ministry of Education instituted a scheme...

Building and people item

From 1920

The Ministry of Education instituted a scheme of state studentships: grants for university education based on the student's results in Higher School Certificate (including special scholarship papers).
Mountford, Sir James Frederick. British Universities. Oxford University Press, 1966.
100-1

Olaudah Equiano

OE wrote, and published in 1789, the earliest known autobiography by a Black person. This book pioneered the genre of the slave narrative, and increased Equiano's opportunities for publishing other writing (public letters, petitions, and...

1715: A place of entertainment named Spring Gardens...

Building and people item

1715

A place of entertainment named Spring Gardens opened in Leeds, the earliest of many such enterprises in other towns modelled on Vauxhall Gardens in London.
Vickery, Amanda. “Venice-on-Thames”. London Review of Books, Vol.
35
, No. 3, 7 Feb. 2013, pp. 31-2.
31

1749: Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock published Der...

Writer or writing item

1749

Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock published Der Messias, a religious poem in three cantos.
Baillie, Joanna. The Collected Letters of Joanna Baillie. Editor Slagle, Judith Bailey, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1999, 2 vols.
1: 429

2 May 1906: Prince Henry of Battenburg opened the Sweated...

National or international item

2 May 1906

Prince Henry of Battenburg opened the Sweated Industries Exhibition, organized by Mary MacArthur at Queen's Hall, London.
Soldon, Norbert. Women in British Trade Unions 1874-1976. Gill and Macmillan, 1978.
64

1870: The discovery of diamonds at New Rush (later...

National or international item

1870

The discovery of diamonds at New Rush (later Kimberley) in what became the Orange Free State precipitated annexation of the territory by Britain.
Stanley, Liz. “Encountering the Imperial and Colonial Past through Olive Schreiners Trooper Peter Halket of MashonalandWomens Writing, Vol.
7
, No. 2, 2000, pp. 197-19.
216n11

865: A Danish or Viking Great Army landed in East...

National or international item

865

A Danish or Viking Great Army landed in East Anglia and began the process of subjugating the various kingdoms of England.
Morgan, Kenneth O., editor. The Oxford Illustrated History of Britain. Oxford University Press, 1984.
80

From 1685: In France a complex system of official record-keeping...

Building and people item

From 1685

In France a complex system of official record-keeping was put in place to control employment of wet-nurses, to prevent the infection of infants with venereal disease.
Dunlap, Barbara J. “The Problem of Syphilitic Children in Eighteenth-Century France and England”. The Secret Malady: Venereal Disease in Eighteenth-Century Britain and France, edited by Linda E. Merians, University Press of Kentucky, 1996, pp. 114-27.
119

1866: The removal of the tax on timber, following...

National or international item

1866

The removal of the tax on timber, following the lifting of other such taxes, meant that most building material was now tax free; it was hoped that this cost reduction would increase the quality of...

By April 1775: M. D. T. Bienville's Nymphomanie, 1771, appeared...

Building and people item

By April 1775

M. D. T. Bienville 's Nymphomanie, 1771, appeared in English translation as Nymphomania, or A Dissertation concerning the Furor Uterinus.
Dacre, Charlotte. Zofloya; or, The Moor. Editor Craciun, Adriana, Broadview, 1997.
21, 257-60
Critical Review. W. Simpkin and R. Marshall, 5 series.
39 (1775): 252-3
Gentleman’s Magazine. Various publishers.
45 (1775): 192

October 1885-February 1886: Sigmund Freud worked with Jean-Martin Charcot...

Building and people item

October 1885-February 1886

Sigmund Freud worked with Jean-Martin Charcot at La Salpêtrière in Paris.
Micale, Mark S. Approaching Hysteria: Disease and its Interpretations. Princeton University Press, 1995, http://HSS.
27
Hergenhahn, Baldwin Ross. An Introduction to the History of Psychology. 2nd ed., Wadsworth Publishing, 1992, http://HSS.
461
Owen, Alan Robert George. Hysteria, Hypnosis and Healing: The Work of J.-M. Charcot. Garrett Publications, 1971, http://HSS.
35
Borch-Jacobsen, Mikkel. “Gentlemen’s Spleen”. London Review of Books, Vol.
31
, No. 16, 27 Aug. 2009, pp. 25-7.
25-7

June 1856: Adelaide Ristori, famous Italian actress,...

Building and people item

June 1856

Adelaide Ristori , famous Italian actress, made her British debut in London at the Lyceum Theatre .
Booth, Michael R. et al. Three Tragic Actresses: Siddons, Rachel, Ristori. Cambridge University Press, 1996.
143-4, 153-5, 161

Martin Ross

It is widely suspected that MR may have been the dominant partner, the chief creative spirit, in the partnership of Somerville and Ross which occupied the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (though the opposite...
Martin Ross Black and white, head-and-shoulders photo of Martin Ross, seen in profile. She wears a dark, sleeveless evening dress with beading at the shoulder, and her dark, curly hair in a pleat on her head..

11 June 1790: Parliament was dissolved, and election campaigning...

National or international item

11 June 1790

Parliament was dissolved, and election campaigning for a new parliament began.
Namier, Sir Lewis Bernstein, and John, 1920 - Brooke, editors. The House of Commons, 1754-1790. Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1964.
1: 536

22 January 1828: The Duke of Wellington, leader of the Tory...

National or international item

22 January 1828

The Duke of Wellington , leader of the Tory party, formed the government.
Arthur Wellesley was created Viscount Wellington in 1809, earl of Wellington in 1812, marquess in 1812, and duke in 1814.
Palmer, Alan, and Veronica Palmer. The Chronology of British History. Century, 1992.
491
Parry, Jonathan. The Rise and Fall of Liberal Government in Victorian Britain. Yale University Press, 1993.
334
Cook, Chris, and John, 1946 - Stevenson. The Longman Handbook of Modern British History, 1714-1980. Longman, 1983.
51

12 May 1845: German critic August Wilhelm von Schlegel...

Writer or writing item

12 May 1845

German critic August Wilhelm von Schlegel died.
“Dictionary of Literary Biography online”. Gale Databases: Literature Resource Center-LRC.
94

1880: The first published report of in vitro fertilisation...

Building and people item

1880

The first published report of in vitro fertilisation was made by the Viennese embryologist S. L. Schenk .
Spallone, Patricia. Beyond Conception: The New Politics of Reproduction. Bergin and Garvey, 1989.
87

20 April 1534: Elizabeth Barton (often called the Nun—or...

National or international item

20 April 1534

Elizabeth Barton (often called the Nun—or the Fair Maid—of Kent) was executed at Tyburn for seeking the king 's death.
Stephen, Sir Leslie, and Sidney Lee, editors. The Dictionary of National Biography. Smith, Elder, 1908–2026, 22 vols. plus supplements.

1898: The Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts...

Building and people item

1898

The Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts was founded at Peckham Road, Camberwell, London.
Weinreb, Ben, and Christopher Hibbert, editors. The London Encyclopaedia. Papermac, 1987, http://4-22.
115
Windsor, Alan, editor. Handbook of Modern British Painting 1900-1980. Scolar Press, 1992.
51

Before 21 October 1714: George Berkeley compiled and published The...

Writer or writing item

Before 21 October 1714

George Berkeley compiled and published The Ladies Library, as by a Lady.
Steele, Sir Richard. The Correspondence of Richard Steele. Editor Blanchard, Rae, Oxford University Press, 1941.
95 and n1

3 February 1871: Thomas William Robertson, playwright, died...

Writer or writing item

3 February 1871

Thomas William Robertson , playwright, died at 6 Eton Terrace, Haverstock Hill, London.
Stephen, Sir Leslie, and Sidney Lee, editors. The Dictionary of National Biography. Smith, Elder, 1908–2026, 22 vols. plus supplements.

Marie Stopes

MS was best known for her early-twentieth-century writing on motherhood and birth control, and for her strong commitment to educating women in the practice of contraception. In order to communicate detailed instructions on topics that...
Marie Stopes Black and white, head-and-shoulders photograph of Marie Stopes, c. 1918. She has short curly hair, and wears a dress with dark sleeves and broad white collar, a necklace of large beads, and a white Panama-style hat with a dark bow.