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1894: Elizabeth Burgoyne Corbett, as Mrs George...

Women writers item

1894

Elizabeth Burgoyne Corbett , as Mrs George Corbett, issued a strong example among her many detective thrillers, When the Sea Gives Up Its Dead.
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.

1871: Joseph Lister's carbolic spray gained wide...

Building and people item

1871

Joseph Lister 's carbolic spray gained wide acceptance as an antiseptic after it was successfully used during the removal of an abscess from Queen Victoria 's left armpit.
Duin, Nancy, and Jenny Sutcliffe. A History of Medicine: From Prehistory to the Year 2020. Simon and Schuster, 1992.
63
Shryock, Richard Harrison. The Development of Modern Medicine: An Interpretation of the Social and Scientific Factors Involved. University of Wisconsin Press, 1979.
280
Youngson, A. J. The Scientific Revolution in Victorian Medicine. Holmes and Meier, 1979.
15, 150

By October 1778: An anonymous two-volume epistolary novel,...

Women writers item

By October 1778

An anonymous two-volume epistolary novel, The Offspring of Fancy, was written and published by Mary Ann Canning , a widow and former actress engaged in a liaison with actor Samuel Reddish .
Crowe, Julian. “The Offspring of Fancy, The Author Identified”. The Female Spectator (1995-), Vol.
10
, No. 3, 1 Sept.–30 Nov. 2006, pp. 5-6.

6 July 1928: Four days after the Representation of the...

Building and people item

6 July 1928

Four days after the Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act received the royal assent, a celebratory breakfast was held at the Hotel Cecil in London.
“July 6, 1928, Celebrating full women’s suffrage”. Guardian Weekly, 6 July 2007, p. 20.
20

Sarah Lewis:

SL , an obscure woman publishing in Britain in the mid-nineteenth century, is known only by two texts: a book about gender issues and women's moral influence for good, and an article that sought to...

8 June 1814: Novelist and playwright Charles Reade was...

Writer or writing item

8 June 1814

Novelist and playwright Charles Reade was born at Ipsden House, Ipsden, Oxfordshire.
Stephen, Sir Leslie, and Sidney Lee, editors. The Dictionary of National Biography. Smith, Elder, 1908–2026, 22 vols. plus supplements.
“Dictionary of Literary Biography online”. Gale Databases: Literature Resource Center-LRC.
21

1957: The film The Bridge on the River Kwai, starring...

Building and people item

1957

The film The Bridge on the River Kwai, starring Alec Guinness , directed by David Lean , and dealing with British prisoners of war in Asia, was released.
Palmer, Alan, and Veronica Palmer. The Chronology of British History. Century, 1992.
413
Pickard, Roy. The Oscar Movies from A to Z. Frederick Muller, 1977.
20

17 May 2002: The general election in the Republic of Ireland...

National or international item

17 May 2002

The general election in the Republic of Ireland returned the Fianna Fail to power with thirty members and 41.5 percent of the vote. Five Sinn Féin members were elected, and six Green Party members.
Hickey, D. J., and J. E. Doherty. A New Dictionary of Irish History From 1800. Gill and Macmillan, 2003.
149, 192, 446

1807: The Church Missionary Society set up a Corresponding...

Building and people item

1807

The Church Missionary Society set up a Corresponding Committee in Calcutta with the intention of beginning missionary work there.
Church Missionary Society Archive: Section VI: Missions to India. Adam Matthew.

Louisa Catherine Shore

LCS was a poet writing primarily on public and national topics during the later nineteenth century. She published mostly in company with her sister Arabella , though her one verse-drama appeared alone.

Amelia Bristow

AB wrote during the early nineteenth century for her inadequate living, turning out novels, more than one conduct book, and work for magazines. Most notable is her series of novels about the Jewish-Polish background from...

1851: Albumen photographic paper became commercially...

Building and people item

1851

Albumen photographic paper became commercially available.
Hannavy, John. Masters of Victorian Photography. David and Charles, 1976.
25-6

12-17 May 1919: The Women's International League for Peace...

National or international item

12-17 May 1919

The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom held its second conference at Zurich in Switzerland; it was at this conference that the organization assumed its lasting name.
Ducey, Mitchell F., editor. Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom Papers, 1915-1978. Microfilming Corporation of America, 1983.
1: H: 3

September 1937: General Franco's capture of the strongly...

Building and people item

September 1937

General Franco 's capture of the strongly republican town Bilbao in the Basque country of Spain caused turmoil among 4,000 refugee Basque children living in camps in Kent.
Harding, Jeremy. “The Uninvited”. London Review of Books, 3 Feb. 2000, pp. 3-25.
13

Alice Munro

AM , a Canadian writer of the later twentieth and twenty-first centuries, is widely regarded as one of the leading modern practitioners of the short story form. One of her collections is alternatively titled a...

1086: William the Conqueror ordered the compilation,...

National or international item

1086

William the Conqueror ordered the compilation, for tax purposes, of an unprecedentedly detailed survey of his new lands in England; this inventory was popularly called Domesday Book.
Bryant, Arthur. The Story of England: Makers of the Realm. Collins, 1953.
170-1

May 1828: French chemist Richard Chenevix experimented...

Building and people item

May 1828

French chemist Richard Chenevix experimented with animal magnetism on peasants during a visit to Ireland.
Gauld, Alan. A History of Hypnotism. Cambridge University Press, 1992.
198-9

1 January 1954: Flashing indicator lights (as opposed to...

Building and people item

1 January 1954

Flashing indicator lights (as opposed to pointers which swung out from the car body) became compulsory on newly manufactured British cars.
Williams, Neville et al. Chronology of the 20th Century. Helicon, 1996.
277

October 1910: The Working Gentlewomen's Journal, a monthly...

Building and people item

October 1910

The Working Gentlewomen's Journal, a monthly with articles on genteel employment, ceased publication in London.
Doughan, David, and Denise Sanchez. Feminist Periodicals, 1855-1984. Harvester Press, 1987.
238
Harrison, Royden et al. The Warwick Guide to British Labour Periodicals, 1790-1970: A Check List. Harvester Press, 1977.
615

18 November 1943: The Battle of Berlin began; four bombing...

National or international item

18 November 1943

The Battle of Berlin began; four bombing raids in the month of November resulted in the deaths of 4,500 Berliners.
Messenger, Charles. World War Two Chronological Atlas: When, Where, How and Why. Bloomsbury, 1989.
166
Keegan, John. The Second World War. Viking, 1990.
428

1713: The first English lunatic asylum outside...

Building and people item

1713

The first English lunatic asylum outside London was established: at Norwich, for between 20 and 30 patients.
Scull, Andrew. The Most Solitary of Afflictions: Madness and Society in Britain, 1700-1900. Yale University Press, 1993.
18

5 May 1813: Søren Kierkegaard, existentialist philosopher,...

Writer or writing item

5 May 1813

Søren Kierkegaard , existentialist philosopher, was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, the youngest of his parents' seven children.
Drabble, Margaret, editor. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 5th ed., Oxford University Press, 1985.
“Dictionary of Literary Biography online”. Gale Databases: Literature Resource Center-LRC.
300

1 August 1895: Anti-missionary violence in China (including...

National or international item

1 August 1895

Anti-missionary violence in China (including the deaths of 8 ladies and 2 children) led to the arrival of a British admiral and the punishment of those responsible.
Keller, Helen, editor. The Dictionary of Dates. Macmillan, 1934, 2 vols.
I: 787

10 March 1768: Lord Bolingbroke divorced his wife, the former...

Building and people item

10 March 1768

Lord Bolingbroke divorced his wife, the former Lady Diana Spencer , for her adultery with Topham Beauclerk , though his own infidelities were well known in society.
Rizzo, Betty. “Decorums”. The Secret Malady: Venereal Disease in Eighteenth-Century Britain and France, edited by Linda E. Merians, University Press of Kentucky, 1996, pp. 149-67.
159, 156-60, 163

17 November 1858: Robert Owen, socialist, died at Newtown in...

Writer or writing item

17 November 1858

Robert Owen , socialist, died at Newtown in Montgomeryshire.
Stephen, Sir Leslie, and Sidney Lee, editors. The Dictionary of National Biography. Smith, Elder, 1908–2026, 22 vols. plus supplements.
“Dictionary of Literary Biography online”. Gale Databases: Literature Resource Center-LRC.
107