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Probably 14 March 1646: Sir Thomas Browne published his Pseudodoxia...

Writer or writing item

Probably 14 March 1646

Sir Thomas Browne published his Pseudodoxia Epidemica, a giant compendium of popular misconceptions and antique thinking,
Hitchings, Henry. “Samuel Johnson and Sir Thomas Browne”. New Rambler, 2004–2005, pp. 46-56.
52
which, paradoxically, perpetuated many of the superstitions it contradicted.
English Short Title Catalogue. http://estc.bl.uk/.
The date is given on what is probably...

1947: A performance of Ponchielli's La Giocanda...

Building and people item

1947

A performance of Ponchielli 's La Giocanda introduced the singer Maria Callas to the world.
“Women’s History Timeline”. BBC: Radio 4: Woman’s Hour.

July 1908: The Territorial Force Nursing Service (TFNS)...

National or international item

July 1908

The Territorial Force Nursing Service (TFNS) was established as part of the War Office 's 1907 Territorial and Reserve Forces Act.
Summers, Anne. Angels and Citizens: British Women as Military Nurses 1854-1914. Routledge and Keegan Paul, 1988.
238-9
McGann, Susan. The Battle of the Nurses: A Study of Eight Women who Influenced the Development of Professional Nursing, 1880-1930. Scutari, 1992.
89

30 June 1940: Germany invaded the Channel Islands....

National or international item

30 June 1940

Germany invaded the Channel Islands.
Messenger, Charles. World War Two Chronological Atlas: When, Where, How and Why. Bloomsbury, 1989.
36
Palmer, Alan, and Veronica Palmer. The Chronology of British History. Century, 1992.
387

19 February 1904: The premier of Australia made proposals for...

National or international item

19 February 1904

The premier of Australia made proposals for the encouragement of immigration from the UK.
Keller, Helen, editor. The Dictionary of Dates. Macmillan, 1934, 2 vols.
I: 933

20 July 1815: Madame Vestris made her operatic debut as...

Building and people item

20 July 1815

Madame Vestris made her operatic debut as the leading lady of the King's Theatre , aged only eighteen.
Appleton, William Worthen. Madame Vestris and the London Stage. Columbia University Press, 1974.
8

23 April 1723: The Prince of Wales was formally reconciled...

National or international item

23 April 1723

The Prince of Wales was formally reconciled with his father, George I .
Sedgwick, Romney. The House of Commons, 1715-1754. Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1970.
1: 26, 2

August 1938: Theodore Thomas MacDonald founded the publishing...

Writer or writing item

August 1938

Theodore Thomas MacDonald founded the publishing firm T. T. MacDonald at Ludgate House, 110 Fleet Street, London.
Rose, Jonathan, and Patricia J. Anderson, editors. Dictionary of Literary Biography 112. Gale Research, 1991.
195
Mumby, Frank Arthur, and Ian Norrie. Mumby’s Publishing and Bookselling in the Twentieth Century. 6th ed., Bell and Hyman, 1982.
90

5 September 1793: The Reign of Terror began in earnest in Paris...

National or international item

5 September 1793

The Reign of Terror began in earnest in Paris with Billaud-Varenne declaring in the National Convention that terror would be the order of the day.
Elson Roessler, Shirley. Out of the Shadows: Women and Politics in the French Revolution, 1789-95. Peter Lang, 1996.
145-6
Soboul, Albert. The French Revolution 1787-1799. Translators Forrest, Alan and Colin Jones, Vintage, 1975.
333-5
Kafker, Frank A., and James M. Laux, editors. The French Revolution: Conflicting Interpretations. 4th ed., R. E. Krieger, 1989.
185-6
Connelly, Owen, editor. Historical Dictionary of Napoleonic France, 1799-1815. Greenwood Press, 1985.
3-4

1871: John Ruskin and George Allen founded George...

Writer or writing item

1871

John Ruskin and George Allen founded George Allen and Son to publish Ruskin's work.
Clair, Colin. A Chronology of Printing. Cassell, 1969.
157

11 November 1995: Nigeria was suspended from the Commonwealth...

National or international item

11 November 1995

Nigeria was suspended from the Commonwealth at the New Zealand Commonwealth meeting.
CNN World News: World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference, Seattle. http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/minist_e/min99_e/min99_e.htm.

1890: The London Booksellers' Society was foun...

Writer or writing item

1890

The London Booksellers' Society was founded.
Kingsford, Reginald John Lethbridge. The Publisher’s Association, 1896-1946. Cambridge University Press, 1970.
3
Mumby, Frank Arthur, and Ian Norrie. Mumby’s Publishing and Bookselling in the Twentieth Century. 6th ed., Bell and Hyman, 1982.
16
Feltes, Norman N. Modes of Production of Victorian Novels. University of Chicago Press, 1986.
79

1864: The National Institute of Medical Herbalists...

Building and people item

1864

The National Institute of Medical Herbalists was founded by A. I. Coffin; its founding indicates the strong presence of alternative medical remedies.
Parssinen, Terry M. Secret Passions, Secret Remedies: Narcotic Drugs in British Society 1820-1930. Institute for the Study of Human Issues, 1983.
26
Bynum, William F. Science and the Practice of Medicine in the Nineteenth Century. Cambridge University Press, 1994.
52
Youngson, A. J. The Scientific Revolution in Victorian Medicine. Holmes and Meier, 1979.
19
Historian A. J. Youngson suggests that homeopathy and herbal remedies...

12 June 1724: Frances Seymour, Lady Hertford reported that...

Building and people item

12 June 1724

Frances Seymour, Lady Hertford reported that the English Court had almost universally taken to wearing French fashions.
Hughes, Helen Sard. The Gentle Hertford, Her Life and Letters. Macmillan, 1940.
86

1774: Louise d'Epinay, former friend and patron...

Writer or writing item

1774

Louise d'Epinay , former friend and patron of Rousseau , published Conversations d'Emilie, a book on education for girls designed to counter the message of his Emile.
Goodman, Dena. Becoming a Woman in the Age of Letters. Cornell University Press, 2009.
64-5, 151 and n78

August-September 1796: Political lectures given by the radical John...

National or international item

August-September 1796

Political lectures given by the radical John Thelwall at Norwich and King's Lynn were disrupted by gangs of sailors.
Goodwin, Albert. The Friends of Liberty: The English Democratic Movement in the Age of the French Revolution. Hutchinson, 1979.
404

14 August 1737: George II signed the Charter for the proposed...

Building and people item

14 August 1737

George II signed the Charter for the proposed Foundling Hospital in London.
Uglow, Jennifer S. Hogarth: A Life and A World. Faber and Faber, 1997.
329-30
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.
under Coram

1 June 1850: Alfred Tennyson anonymously published his...

Writer or writing item

1 June 1850

Alfred Tennyson anonymously published his poetic sequence In Memoriam.
Wise, Thomas J. A Bibliography of the Writings of Alfred Lord Tennyson. Dawsons of Pall Mall, 1967, 2 Vols.
108-11
Borne Back Daily. 2001, http://borneback.com/ .
1 June 2010

1899: This year saw the earliest known printing...

Writer or writing item

1899

This year saw the earliest known printing of what was later called an advertising blurb on a book jacket: that of John Barrett 's Admiral George Dewey.
Barcham, Maureen. “Letter”. Guardian Weekly, 5–11 July 2001, p. 18.
18

1 December 1897: Zululand was annexed to Natal....

National or international item

1 December 1897

Zululand was annexed to Natal.
Keller, Helen, editor. The Dictionary of Dates. Macmillan, 1934, 2 vols.
I: 762
Langer, William L., editor. An Encyclopedia of World History: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern, Chronologically Arranged. 4th ed., Houghton Mifflin, 1968.
888, 890

Just before 4 May 1723: A prostitute was sentenced to a year in prison...

Building and people item

Just before 4 May 1723

A prostitute was sentenced to a year in prison for fatally stabbing a client whom she suspected of seeking to seduce her younger sister.
Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley. The Complete Letters of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Editor Halsband, Robert, Clarendon Press, 1965–1967, 3 vols.
2: 20 and n2

5 November 1686: Mother Frances Bedingfield (using, for safety,...

Building and people item

5 November 1686

Mother Frances Bedingfield (using, for safety, the alias Frances Long) signed the contract for the purchase of property on the site of the present Bar Convent in York, to use as a girls' school .
Gregory, M., and Isobel Grundy. Email about Mother Mary Davies to Isobel Grundy. 19 Apr. 2002.
Lerner, Gerda. The Creation of Feminist Consciousness: From the Middle Ages to Eighteen-Seventy. Oxford University Press, 1993.
199

Around 1866: In the Sheffield outrages, skilled workers...

Building and people item

Around 1866

In the Sheffield outrages, skilled workers throughout the country defended their jobs against machine workers.
Mitchell, Sally, editor. Victorian Britain: An Encyclopedia. Garland Press, 1988.
765

30 June 1936: Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind was...

Writer or writing item

30 June 1936

Margaret Mitchell 's Gone With the Wind was published in the USA after extensive pre-publication boosting as a candidate for the position of Great American Novel.
Borne Back Daily. 2001, http://borneback.com/ .
30 June 2009

Summer 1850: The phenomenally popular hippopotamus Obaysch,...

Building and people item

Summer 1850

The phenomenally popular hippopotamus Obaysch, who became a national institution, arrived at Regent's Park Zoo .
Jones, Robert W. “‘The Sight of Creatures Strange to Our Clime’: London Zoo and the Consumption of the Exotic”. Journal of Victorian Culture, No. 1, 1997, pp. 1-26.
14-5