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Here, you’ll find randomized material from across the textbase’s author profiles and timelines. To jump to the content of your choice, click on its image card.

By April 1796: Robert Bage published Hermsprong, or, Man...

Writer or writing item

By April 1796

Robert Bage published Hermsprong, or, Man as He Is Not, best-known of his radical or Jacobin novels.
Bage, Robert. Hermsprong. Editor Perkins, Pamela, Broadview, 2002.
362

1786: The first recorded advertising agent, William...

Building and people item

1786

The first recorded advertising agent, William Taylor , announced his business in the opening issue of the Maidstone Journal.
Nevett, Terry R. Advertising in Britain: A History. Heinemann, 1982.
61-2, 64

1 February 1902: Foot-binding was denounced by Chinese ed...

National or international item

1 February 1902

Foot-binding was denounced by Chinese edicts.
Keller, Helen, editor. The Dictionary of Dates. Macmillan, 1934, 2 vols.
I: 792

1702-1704: The History of the Rebellion by Edward Hyde,...

Writer or writing item

1702-1704

The History of the Rebellion by Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon , was posthumously published.
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.

13 April 1955: The BBC television show For Deaf Children...

Building and people item

13 April 1955

The BBC television show For Deaf Children was first aired.
Briggs, Asa. The BBC: The First Fifty Years. Oxford University Press, 1985.
385

5 October 1710: A Whig periodical entitled the Medley was...

Writer or writing item

5 October 1710

A Whig periodical entitled the Medley was launched to combat the Tory Examiner; it was probably the work of Arthur Maynwaring and possibly of Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough .
McDowell, Paula. The Women of Grub Street: Press, Politics, and Gender in the London Literary Marketplace, 1678-1730. Clarendon, 1998.
270
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.
OCLC WorldCat. 1992–1998, http://www.oclc.org/firstsearch/content/worldcat/. Accessed 1999.

1696: The Treason Act first allowed defence counsel...

Building and people item

1696

The Treason Act first allowed defence counsel to play a part in criminal trials: for high treason only.
Sedley, Stephen. “Wringing out the Fault”. London Review of Books, 7 Mar. 2002, pp. 27-31.
28

1835: Caroline Herschel and Mary Somerville were...

National or international item

1835

Caroline Herschel and Mary Somerville were awarded honorary memberships by the Royal Astronomical Society .
Franck, Irene, and David Brownstone. Women’s World: A Timeline of Women in History. HarperCollins; HarperPerennial, 1995.
112
Alic, Margaret. Hypatia’s Heritage: A History of Women in Science. Women’s Press, 1985.
132
Phillips, Patricia. The Scientific Lady. Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1990.
114-16, 137-9, 159-162
Phillips, Patricia. The Scientific Lady. Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1990.
161
Phillips, Patricia. The Scientific Lady. Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1990.
115

8 September 1909: The first flight of over one hour in Britain...

National or international item

8 September 1909

The first flight of over one hour in Britain was made by S. F. Cody .
Gibbs-Smith, Charles Harvard. Aviation: An Historical Survey from its Origins to the end of World War II. Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1970.
245

Agatha Christie

AC , the Duchess of Death, produced eighty books, including sixty-six novels and detective fictions, and fourteen of short stories as well as poetry and suspense drama. At the height of her career she...
Agatha Christie Black and white photo of Agatha Christie as a child. Her hair is in curls and her face is amusingly expressionless. It is unclear what she is wearing, however we believe it is a dress, because of the fabric visible on her shoulder.

June 1921: Nansen passports were first issued by the...

National or international item

June 1921

Nansen passports were first issued by the League of Nations to identify refugees and stateless persons. Dr Fridjtof Nansen , Norwegian Arctic explorer appointed League of Nations Commissioner for refugees, was awarded the Nobel Peace...

1759: The London Magazine pronounced 1759 a year...

National or international item

1759

The London Magazine pronounced 1759 a year as glorious as ever appeared, even in the glorious annals of this nation - for the glory of Great Britain may now be justly said to extend from...

1594: The statutes of the Grammar School at Bunbury...

Building and people item

1594

The statutes of the Grammar School at Bunbury in Cheshire allowed for the admission of a number of girls.
Adamson, John William. ’The Illiterate Anglo-Saxon’ and Other Essays on Education, Medieval and Modern. Cambridge University Press, 1946.
60

November 1857-October 1859: William Makepeace Thackeray's novel The Virginians,...

Writer or writing item

November 1857-October 1859

William Makepeace Thackeray 's novel The Virginians, sequel to Henry Esmond, appeared monthly, with Thackeray's illustrations.
Athenæum. J. Lection.
1617: 515-16
Harden, Edgar F. A Checklist of Contributions by William Makepeace Thackeray to Newspapers, Periodicals, Books, and Serial Part Issues, 1828-1864. English Literary Studies, University of Victoria, 1996.
75-7
Drabble, Margaret, editor. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 5th ed., Oxford University Press, 1985.
1032

7 June 1840: Frederick William IV became King of Prussia...

National or international item

7 June 1840

Frederick William IV became King of Prussia upon the death of Frederick William III .
Cowie, Leonard W., and Leonard Woolfson. Years of Nationalism: European History 1815-1890. Edward Arnold, 1985.
171, 256
Encyclopædia Britannica Online. http://www.britannica.com/.

20-25 June 1791: Louis XVI fled with Marie-Antoinette and...

National or international item

20-25 June 1791

Louis XVI fled with Marie-Antoinette and their family, intending to leave France and raise a counter-revolution; they were captured at Varennes near Vichy, and brought back to Paris.
Soboul, Albert. The French Revolution 1787-1799. Translators Forrest, Alan and Colin Jones, Vintage, 1975.
222-3

Amelia B. Edwards

ABE sustained a moderately successful authorial career, beginning in the mid-nineteenth century when she made the choice of writing as a profession—something she needed in order to earn a living. She was a periodical contributor...
Amelia B. Edwards Black and white portrait photograph of Amelia B. Edwards, signed "Yours very sincerely, Amelia B. Edwards", 1890. She sits facing the viewer, turned slightly to her right. She wears a coat lined with fur, and a scarf over a textured blouse. Her hair is pulled away from her face, and she smiles slightly.

13 March 1781: Astronomer William Herschel discovered the...

Building and people item

13 March 1781

Astronomer William Herschel discovered the existence of the planet Uranus: he had already discovered several previously unknown comets, as his sister Caroline did soon afterwards.
Radford, Tim. “Light fantastic at the end of the universe”. Guardian Weekly, 1 Mar. 2000, p. 19.
19
Stephen, Sir Leslie, and Sidney Lee, editors. The Dictionary of National Biography. Smith, Elder, 1908–2026, 22 vols. plus supplements.

April 1827: The Regent's Park Zoo, or Zoological Gardens,...

Building and people item

April 1827

The Regent's Park Zoo , or Zoological Gardens, opened, with restricted access and greater emphasis on science than on spectacle.
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.
1
Haydn, Joseph. Haydn’s Dictionary of Dates and Universal Information. Editor Vincent, Benjamin, 23rd ed., Ward, Lock, 1904.
under Zoology

21 August 1865: The Manchester Guardian reported the scandalous...

Building and people item

21 August 1865

The Manchester Guardian reported the scandalous discovery that medical army inspector James Barry, who had recently been found dead, had also been found to be a woman.
Blake, Catriona, and Wendy Savage. The Charge of the Parasols: Women’s Entry to the Medical Profession. Women’s Press, 1990.
89
Stephen, Sir Leslie, and Sidney Lee, editors. The Dictionary of National Biography. Smith, Elder, 1908–2026, 22 vols. plus supplements.
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.
James Barry was rarely included in...

16 November 1925-13 March 1926: Alan Cobham and his crew made the first round-trip...

Building and people item

16 November 1925-13 March 1926

Alan Cobham and his crew made the first round-trip flight from London to Cape Town.
Briggs, Asa. The BBC: The First Fifty Years. Oxford University Press, 1985.
366
Bruno, Leonard. On the Move: A Chronology of Advances in Transportation. Gale Research, 1993.
204

Early November 2012: A merger was proposed between the publishers...

Writer or writing item

Early November 2012

A merger was proposed between the publishers Penguin and Random House , that would create a mega-company with worldwide revenues of 4.1 billion dollars US.
Sabbagh, Dan. “Amazon fears underlie books merger”. Guardian Weekly, 2 Nov. 2012, p. 17.

1972: Look Now, a monthly fashion magazine directed...

Building and people item

1972

Look Now, a monthly fashion magazine directed at women aged 15 to 29, began publication from Stamford Street, London.
Winship, Janice. Inside Women’s Magazines. Pandora, 1987.
166
Braithwaite, Brian, and Joan Barrell. The Business of Women’s Magazines. Associated Business Press, 1979.
151
Ferguson, Marjorie. Forever Feminine: Women’s Magazines and the Cult of Femininity. Heinemann, 1983.
34

1912-1914: Numerous music hall sketches satirized the...

Building and people item

1912-1914

Numerous music hall sketches satirized the women's suffrage movement. A typical sketch from 1912, Helping the Cause, starred Lillie Langtry and lampooned the figure of the wealthy woman suffrage supporter.
Russell, Dave. “Varieties of life: the making of the Edwardian music hall”. The Edwardian Theatre: Essays on Performance and the Stage, edited by Michael R. Booth and Joel H. Kaplan, Cambridge University Press, 1996, pp. 61-85.
80, 85n46

14 April 1702: A Comparison Between theTwo Stages, probably...

Writer or writing item

14 April 1702

A Comparison Between theTwo Stages, probably by Charles Gildon , was anonymously published.
Gildon, Charles. A Comparison Between the Two Stages. Editor Wells, Staring B., Princeton University Press; Oxford University Press, 1942.
xii and n5
Staring B. Wells doubted this attribution, though it continues to be generally made.
Gildon, Charles. A Comparison Between the Two Stages. Editor Wells, Staring B., Princeton University Press; Oxford University Press, 1942.
xii n5