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Before mid-September 2004: Melanie Abrahams of literary agency Renaissance...

Writer or writing item

Before mid-September 2004

Melanie Abrahams of literary agency Renaissance One organised a group photo of people of Afro, Caribbean, or Asian origin who make a significant contribution to contemporary British literature.
Levy, Andrea. “Made in Britain”. The Guardian, 18 Sept. 2004, pp. Review 34 - 5.
Review 34-5

1624: Thomas Heywood published Gynaikeion: or,...

Writer or writing item

1624

Thomas Heywood published Gynaikeion: or, Nine Bookes of Various History concerninge Women (on the title-page the first word is printed in Greek letters).
The Origins of Modern Feminism, 1567-1876. Quaritch, 1998.
Catalogue No. 11

14 March 1879: Albert Einstein, formulator of the theory...

Building and people item

14 March 1879

Albert Einstein , formulator of the theory of relativity, was born in Ulm, Germany.
“St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture”. Gale Databases: Gale Virtual Reference Library.

1779: Samuel Crompton brought together ideas from...

Building and people item

1779

Samuel Crompton brought together ideas from Richard Arkwright and James Hargreaves to invent the spinning mule.
Stephen, Sir Leslie, and Sidney Lee, editors. The Dictionary of National Biography. Smith, Elder, 1908–2026, 22 vols. plus supplements.

1870: By this date, the word lingerie began to...

Building and people item

1870

By this date, the word lingerie began to be used in its modern sense.
Adburgham, Alison. Shops and Shopping 1800-1914: Where, and in What Manner the Well-Dressed Englishwoman Bought Her Clothes. Allen and Unwin, 1964.
135

From about 1693: British seamen based on the island of Madagascar...

National or international item

From about 1693

British seamen based on the island of Madagascar mounted an escalating series of pirate attacks on passing shipping; plans were formed for procuring them pardon (at a price).
Baer, Joel H. “Penelope Aubin and the Pirates of Madagascar: Biographical Notes and Documents”. Eighteenth- Century Women: Studies in their Lives, Work, and Culture, edited by Linda V. Troost, Vol.
1
, 2001, pp. 49-62.
49-52

1 November 1990: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act...

National or international item

1 November 1990

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act addressed ethical issues of new reproductive technologies and acknowledged the active role played by doctors and scientists in establishing a code of practice.
Pfeffer, Naomi. The Stork and the Syringe: A Political History of Reproductive Medicine. Polity Press, 1993.
164
Price, Frances, and Jeanette et al Edwards. “Beyond Expectation: Clinical Practices and Clinical Concerns”. Technologies of Procreation: Kinship in the Age of Assisted Contraception, Manchester University Press, 1993, pp. 20-41.
20
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990. http://www.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts1990/Ukpga_19900037_en_1.htm.

3 December 1998: Ministry of Defence police arrested Tony...

Writer or writing item

3 December 1998

Ministry of Defence police arrested Tony Geraghty under the 1989 Official Secrets Act, as author of The Irish War, published that October, a book which covers three hundred years of history.
The Author. Alexander P. Watt.
(Winter 1999): 180

1847: Frances Osgood edited The Floral Offering,...

Writer or writing item

1847

Frances Osgood edited The Floral Offering, a Token of Friendship, which included illustrations by I. Ackerman .
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.

: The Libertas bookshop opened in Fossgate,...

Building and people item

Autumn 1998

The Libertas bookshop opened in Fossgate, York, England; during its five years in operation it was the biggest lesbian bookshop in Europe, and mounted an annual Lesbian Arts Festival.
“About Libertas”. Libertas: the best in lesbian shopping online.

March 1849: Having been defeated by the Austrians at...

National or international item

March 1849

Having been defeated by the Austrians at Novara, Charles Albert abdicated the throne of Piedmont; he was succeeded by Victor Emmanuel II .
Cowie, Leonard W., and Leonard Woolfson. Years of Nationalism: European History 1815-1890. Edward Arnold, 1985.
186, 274

10 December 1951: Sir John Douglas Cockcroft from Great Britain...

National or international item

10 December 1951

Sir John Douglas Cockcroft from Great Britain and Ernest Thomas Sinton Walton of Ireland were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their work in the artifical acceleration of atomic particles.
Schlessinger, Bernard S., and June H. Schlessinger. The Who’s Who of Nobel Prize Winners, 1901-1995. 3rd ed., Oryx Press, 1996.
The Nobel Foundation. Nobel E-Museum.

1725: William Hendley published A Defence of the...

Building and people item

1725

William Hendley published A Defence of the Charity-Schools, in response to Bernard Mandeville 's attack in An Essay on Charity and Charity Schools.
Hendley, William. A Defence of the Charity-Schools. W. Mears, 1725.
The fuller title is: A defence of the Charity-Schools. Wherein...

Margaret Roper

MR , though she is still known to history primarily as her father's daughter, was celebrated during her early-sixteenth-century lifetime for her letters and her translation of a theological treatise by Desiderius Erasmus .
Margaret Roper Head and shoulders of Margaret Roper, part of a More family-group painting commissioned by a later generation from Rowland Lockey, based on an original by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1593, which does not survive. Roper wears a dark red and black gown, several strings of beads, and a gable hood decorated with pearl trim and gold stitching. National Portrait Gallery.

November 1862: American Richard Jordan Gatling developed...

National or international item

November 1862

American Richard Jordan Gatling developed the first machine gun.
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.
333

By 17 February 1883: In the year she married her second husband,...

Women writers item

By 17 February 1883

In the year she married her second husband, Thomas Hungerford , Margaret Hungerford published the popular novel Portia under her previous married name of Margaret Argles.
Athenæum. J. Lection.
2886 (1883): 211

End of May 1942: Beryl Markham, horsewoman and aviator, published...

Women writers item

End of May 1942

Beryl Markham , horsewoman and aviator, published her memoir of her life in Africa, West with the Night, a work often compared with Out of Africa by Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen) .
Lovell, Mary S. Straight On Till Morning. Hutchinson, 1987.
3, 234-6, 241

May 1926: Eighteen-year-old actress Peggy Ashcroft...

Building and people item

May 1926

Eighteen-year-old actress Peggy Ashcroft made her professional debut in J. M. Barrie 's Dear Brutus with the Birmingham Repertory Company, when another performer was transferred.
Billington, Michael. Peggy Ashcroft, 1907-1991. Mandarin, 1991.
21-2

1688: Mary Holden, following in the footsteps of...

Building and people item

1688

Mary Holden , following in the footsteps of Sarah Jinner , published The Womans Almanack; it appeared the following year as well.
Sharp, Jane. “Introduction”. The Midwives Book, edited by Elaine Hobby, Oxford University Press, 1999, p. xi - xxxi.
xx and n27

May 1942: English-born Susan Travers, working as a...

National or international item

May 1942

English-born Susan Travers , working as a wartime driver with the French Légion Etrangère , led the breakout of Allied forces holding out in Bir Hakeim, ringed by mines and tanks.
“Susan Travers”. Daily Telegraph, 23 Dec. 2003, p. 19.
19

By May 1804: A year after the declaration of war with...

National or international item

By May 1804

A year after the declaration of war with France, 176,000 men in Britain were serving as soldiers: in the regular army, the militia, and private volunteer corps.
Colley, Linda. Britons: Forging the Nation, 1707-1837. Yale University Press, 1992.
293-4

1938: Soviet pilot Valentina Stepanovna Grizodubova...

National or international item

1938

Soviet pilot Valentina Stepanovna Grizodubova and two women companions made international fame when they broke the women's long-distance world flying record in their aeroplane, the Motherland.
Trager, James. The Women’s Chronology: A Year-by-Year Record, from Prehistory to the Present. Henry Holt, 1994.
496

1902: Popular operatic tenor Enrico Caruso began...

Building and people item

1902

Popular operatic tenor Enrico Caruso began making records for the gramophone.
Ford, Boris, editor. The Cambridge Guide to the Arts in Britain. Vol. 9 vols, Cambridge University Press, 1988–2026.
8: 123

7 February 1992: A fourteen-year-old rape victim was barred...

Building and people item

7 February 1992

A fourteen-year-old rape victim was barred from leaving Ireland to procure an abortion in England; the case became internationally known.
Franck, Irene, and David Brownstone. Women’s World: A Timeline of Women in History. HarperCollins; HarperPerennial, 1995.
591
Trager, James. The Women’s Chronology: A Year-by-Year Record, from Prehistory to the Present. Henry Holt, 1994.
716

1821: In the Australian convict colony at Parramatta,...

Building and people item

1821

In the Australian convict colony at Parramatta, a Factory was opened to house unemployed transported women.
Zedner, Lucia. Women, Crime, and Custody in Victorian England. Clarendon, 1991, http://U of A HSS.
175
Smith, Babette. A Cargo of Women: Susannah Watson and the Convicts of the Princess Royal. New South Wales University Press, 1988.
53