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15 March 1907: The first women Members of Parliament for...

National or international item

15 March 1907

The first women Members of Parliament for a European country were elected—in Finland—following an Act of the previous year which extended the suffrage to women.
Seymour, David, and Emily Seymour, editors. A Century of News. Contender Books, 2003.

27 February 1933: A fire at the parliament building or Reichstag...

National or international item

27 February 1933

A fire at the parliament building or Reichstag in Berlin was used by Hitler to incite fears of a Communist takeover.
Messenger, Charles. World War Two Chronological Atlas: When, Where, How and Why. Bloomsbury, 1989.
13
Keegan, John. The Second World War. Viking, 1990.
35

19 July 1947: With Britain on the point of granting independence...

National or international item

19 July 1947

With Britain on the point of granting independence to Burma, the Burmese nationalist leader, Aung San , was shot dead by gunmen with most of his coalition cabinet.
Thant Myint-U. “What to do about Burma”. London Review of Books, 8 Feb. 2007, pp. 31-3.
31

1877: The Homely Friend for Young Women and Girls...

Building and people item

1877

The Homely Friend for Young Women and Girls began publication in London, to give them good and pleasant things to think of.
White, Cynthia L. Women’s Magazines 1693-1968. Michael Joseph, 1970.
71

After January 2002: To honour the memory of the beloved author...

Writer or writing item

After January 2002

To honour the memory of the beloved author of Pippi Longstocking, the Swedish government founded the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for children's and young people's literature.
The Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. http://www.alma.se/default_a.aspx?id=247&epslanguage=EN.

10 August 1961: Britain applied, for the first time, for...

Writer or writing item

10 August 1961

Britain applied, for the first time, for membership in the Common Market (later the European Community). This application was defeated by opposition from France in the person of President Charles de Gaulle .
“The Times Digital Archive 1785-2007”. Thompson Gale: The Times Digital Archive.
(10 August 1961): 8

8 July 1722: The Rev. Edmund Massey preached at St Andrew's...

Building and people item

8 July 1722

The Rev. Edmund Massey preached at St Andrew's Church, Holborn, a sermon published that year as A Sermon Against the Dangerous and Sinful Practice of Inoculation.
Grundy, Isobel. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu: Comet of the Enlightenment. Clarendon, 1999.
216
Winslow, Ola Elizabeth. A Destroying Angel: The Conquest of Smallpox in Colonial Boston. Houghton Mifflin, 1974.
63

Autumn 1953: The actor John Gielgud was convicted of persistently...

Building and people item

Autumn 1953

The actor John Gielgud was convicted of persistently importuning male persons for an immoral purpose, and fined.
“Sir John Gielgud: Master of the Bard onstage - and barbs off it”. National Post, 23 May 2000, p. A16.
(23 May 2000): A16
Jongh, Nicholas de. “Obituary: Sir John Gielgud”. Guardian Weekly, 1–7 June 2000, p. 12.
12
Bailey, Paul. Three Queer Lives: An Alternative Biography of Fred Barnes, Naomi Jacob and Arthur Marshall. Hamish Hamilton (Penguin), 2001.
3, 5

30 November 1939: The Soviet Union, professing concern over...

National or international item

30 November 1939

The Soviet Union, professing concern over recent aggressive acts by Germany, invaded Finland when a joint military agreement between the two countries could not be reached.
Spartacus Educational. 28 Feb. 2003, http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/.
Messenger, Charles. World War Two Chronological Atlas: When, Where, How and Why. Bloomsbury, 1989.
24
Keegan, John. The Second World War. Viking, 1990.
47-9

1146-87: The Second Crusade was fought, the crusaders...

National or international item

1146-87

The Second Crusade was fought, the crusaders defeated, and Jerusalem lost.
Haydn, Joseph. Haydn’s Dictionary of Dates and Universal Information. Editor Vincent, Benjamin, 23rd ed., Ward, Lock, 1904.

Mathilde Blind

MB was one of the leading poets of the later nineteenth century; her burning sense of political and social injustice runs like a unifying thread through her work. Her poetry combines great beauty of sound...
Mathilde Blind Three-quarter-length chalk drawing of Mathilde Blind by Lucy Madox Brown, 1872. Blind is seated, at a three quarter turn, her hands in her lap holding papers and her long, dark hair loose down her back. She is wearing a green dress with fur trim and an orange shawl.

18 October 2018: The Feminist Library in London opened a Crowdfunder...

Building and people item

18 October 2018

The Feminist Library in London opened a Crowdfunder appeal for money needed to acquire and move into new premises: the Sojourner Truth Community Centre at 161 Summer Road in Peckham.
“Finding a new home”. The Feminist Library, 2018.

1951: The Fraudulent Mediums Act gave bona fide...

Building and people item

1951

The Fraudulent Mediums Act gave bona fide spiritualist mediums the right to practise; only those with intent to deceive could now be prosecuted.
Heselton, Philip. “Letter”. Guardian Weekly, 12–18 July 2001, p. 14.
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Ellis Cornelia Knight

ECK , whose life was lived close to some makers of history during the French Revolutionary period and later, indulged her scholarly or literary bent in unusual or pioneering genres: a sequel to Samuel Johnson
Ellis Cornelia Knight Photograph of the painting of Ellis Cornelia Knight bywearing Angellica Kauffman. Knight is seated at a desk or table bearing books, papers, and a quill pen in inkstand. She has her left elbow propped up on the desk and another pen in her right hand. She is a simple white dress and blue shawl, with a black belt at her high waist fastened with a cameo. Her dark, curly hair, held by a headband, falls below her shoulders. Her expression is meditative. Manchester Art Gallery.

From about 1817: The Australian Aborigines were subjected...

National or international item

From about 1817

The Australian Aborigines were subjected to brutal and rapid near-extermination.
Steinberg, Sigfrid Henry. Historical Tables: 58 BC-AD 1985. 11th ed., Garland Publishing, 1986.
926

End of June 1858: A heatwave combined with the discharge of...

Building and people item

End of June 1858

A heatwave combined with the discharge of raw sewage into the Thames brought to a climax terrible conditions of water pollution in London which became known as the Great Stink.
George, Rose. “Diary”. London Review of Books, 11 May 2006, pp. 36-7.
36
Hill, Rosemary. “Snakes and Leeches”. London Review of Books, Vol.
40
, No. 1, 4 Jan. 2018, pp. 23-5.
23, 25

1926: Frank Sheed and Masie Ward founded Sheed...

Building and people item

1926

Frank Sheed and Masie Ward founded Sheed and Ward Limited at 31 Paternoster Row, London, to publish and circulate Catholic thought.
Rose, Jonathan, and Patricia J. Anderson, editors. Dictionary of Literary Biography 112. Gale Research, 1991.
304

March 2000: Linda Grant published her second novel, When...

Women writers item

March 2000

Linda Grant published her second novel, When I Lived in Modern Times, which a few months later won the Orange Prize for Fiction (the second British winner in the award's five years).
“Biography”. Linda Grant.

Early 1847: Angry rioters in Berlin, Hamburg, and other...

National or international item

Early 1847

Angry rioters in Berlin, Hamburg, and other cities in Germanyprotested high prices by attacking bakeries and storehouses.
Sheehan, James J. “The German States and the European Revolution”. Revolution and the Meanings of Freedom in the Nineteenth Century, edited by Isser Woloch, Stanford University Press, 1996, pp. 246-79.
266

January 1915: The Catholic Suffragist began monthly publication...

Building and people item

January 1915

The Catholic Suffragist began monthly publication in London.
Doughan, David, and Denise Sanchez. Feminist Periodicals, 1855-1984. Harvester Press, 1987.
37

By 1927: English Electric was producing cookers, bowl...

Building and people item

By 1927

English Electric was producing cookers, bowl fires, and irons to sell to the domestic British market.
Hardyment, Christina. From Mangle to Microwave: The Mechanization of Household Work. Polity Press, 1988.
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December 1940: Grey Walls Press, an outgrowth of Channing...

Writer or writing item

December 1940

Grey Walls Press , an outgrowth of Channing Press , published its first book.
Rose, Jonathan, and Patricia J. Anderson, editors. Dictionary of Literary Biography 112. Gale Research, 1991.
112: 138

1903: Dorothy Levitt competed in a motor car race....

Building and people item

1903

Dorothy Levitt competed in a motor car race. She was the first woman to do so.
“Women’s History Timeline”. BBC: Radio 4: Woman’s Hour.

July 1879-December 1880: A pornographic monthly entitled The Pearl,...

Writer or writing item

July 1879-December 1880

A pornographic monthly entitled The Pearl, A Journal of Facetiae and Voluptuous Reading ran for eighteen issues.
Battersby, James. “A Prologue after, Not by, Johnson”. Johnsonian News Letter, edited by Robert, Jr DeMaria, Vol.
lv
, No. 2, Sept. 2004, pp. 55-8.
55

24 April 1497: At a special meeting of Aberdeen town council...

Building and people item

24 April 1497

At a special meeting of Aberdeen town council on the subject of the syphilis epidemic expected to spread from France, it was resolved to crack down on the town's prostitutes.
Pennington, Hugh. “Too much fuss?”. London Review of Books, 5 Sept. 2003, pp. 30-2.
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