Explore Orlando

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.

15 November 1847: Dr James Young Simpson of Edinburgh published...

Building and people item

15 November 1847

Dr James Young Simpson of Edinburgh published a pamphlet describing how he had proved in practice that chloroform was a successful anaesthetic for obstetrics; his pamphlet sold 1,500 copies within fourteen days.
Youngson, A. J. The Scientific Revolution in Victorian Medicine. Holmes and Meier, 1979.
68-70, 73, 75, 79-80, 84

21 February to July 1916: The battle of Verdun raged intermittently...

National or international item

21 February to July 1916

The battle of Verdun raged intermittently throughout these months. In this longest and most devastating battle of the Great War, the Germans failed in their attempt to destroy the French army by bleeding it to...

21 December 1846: Robert Liston, a Scottish surgeon working...

Building and people item

21 December 1846

Robert Liston , a Scottish surgeon working in England, performed a leg amputaton which was the first major operation in Britain under anaesthetic (which he called [t]his Yankee dodge).
Pennington, Hugh. “Can you close your eyes without falling over?”. London Review of Books, 11 Sept. 2003, pp. 30-1.
30
“Time Machines Exhibition”. Museum of the History of Science,, Oxford, 2012.

1926: Fanfrolico Press, founded in Australia in...

Writer or writing item

1926

Fanfrolico Press , founded in Australia in 1923 by Jack Lindsay and John T. Kirtley , established a London branch at 5 Bloomsbury Square.
Rose, Jonathan, and Patricia J. Anderson, editors. Dictionary of Literary Biography 112. Gale Research, 1991.
119
Myers, Robin. The British Book Trade, from Caxton to the Present Day. Andre Deutsch in association with the National Book League, 1973.
320
Cave, Roderick. The Private Press. Faber and Faber, 1971.
204-5

Harriet Shaw Weaver

HSW wrote reviews and leaders for the influential little magazine The Egoist while she was its editor. She wrote historical surveys of philosophical concepts of time and space, but neither of these was ever published...

1905: The British government passed the first Aliens...

Building and people item

1905

The British government passed the first Aliens Act to limit immigration.
Harding, Jeremy. “The Uninvited”. London Review of Books, 3 Feb. 2000, pp. 3-25.
12
Sandhu, Sukhdev. “Come hungry, leave edgy”. London Review of Books, 9 Oct. 2003, pp. 10-13.
11
Lerman, Antony. “Pollutants”. London Review of Books, Vol.
35
, No. 21, 7 Nov. 2013, pp. 31-2.
31, 32

1893: The Kensington Vestry in London appointed...

National or international item

1893

The Kensington Vestry in London appointed Rose Squire and Lucy Deane as sanitary inspectors.
Levine, Philippa. Victorian Feminism 1850-1900. Hutchinson, 1987.
93

: In the aftermath of the Chartist Petition's...

National or international item

Summer 1842

In the aftermath of the Chartist Petition's defeat in the House of Commons, a general strike occurred.
Jones, Gareth Stedman. Languages of Class: Studies in English Working Class History 1832-1982. Cambridge University Press, 1983.
51-2
Royle, Edward. Chartism. Longman, 1980.
28-31

29 January 1753: Henry Fielding published A Proposal for making...

Building and people item

29 January 1753

Henry Fielding published A Proposal for making an Effectual Provision for the Poor, which he planned to do by establishing a county workhouse system.
Fielding, Henry. “Introduction”. Tom Jones, edited by John Bender et al., Oxford University Press, 1996, p. ix - xliii.
xliii

10 May 1929: Lord Hailsham's Infant Life Preservation...

National or international item

10 May 1929

Lord Hailsham 's Infant Life Preservation Act declared that child destruction (that is, abortion) was no longer a felony if done to preserve the life of the mother.
Weeks, Jeffrey. Sex, Politics and Society: The Regulation of Sexuality since 1800. Longman, 1981.
195
Hordern, Anthony. Legal Abortion: The English Experience. Pergamon, 1971.
7
Law Reports: Statutes. Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1866–2026.
(1929): 773-4

February 1849: Matthew Arnold published his first volume...

Writer or writing item

February 1849

Matthew Arnold published his first volume of poetry, The Strayed Reveller, and Other Poems, anonymously under the initial A.
Athenæum. J. Lection.
1144 (29 Sept. 1849): 982-3
Neiman, Fraser. Matthew Arnold. Twayne, 1968.
9

By 1895: Around 100 charity organizations catering...

Building and people item

By 1895

Around 100 charity organizations catering to discharged criminals were working with more than 26,000 released convicts, close to 6,000 of whom were female.
Prochaska, F. K. Women and Philanthropy in Nineteenth-Century England. Clarendon, 1980.
149

1844: There was a public scandal over the British...

National or international item

1844

There was a public scandal over the British government's secret interception of the correspondence of Giuseppe Mazzini , then living in England as a political exile from Italy.
Porter, Bernard. “Boarder or Day Boy?”. London Review of Books, 15 July 1999, pp. 13-15.
13

1838: Duty on opium was substantially lowered to...

National or international item

1838

Duty on opium was substantially lowered to four shillings per pound, creating massive increases in opium imports.
Parssinen, Terry M. Secret Passions, Secret Remedies: Narcotic Drugs in British Society 1820-1930. Institute for the Study of Human Issues, 1983.
14

Lydia Howard Sigourney

LHS has been called the first professional woman poet of the USA.
Watts, Emily Stipes. The Poetry of American Women from 1632 to 1945. University of Texas Press, 1977.
90
Immensely prolific, she published more than sixty-five books (didactic, educational, biography, children's, and travel books as well as poetry), and stopped counting...
Lydia Howard Sigourney Full-length photograph of Lydia Howard Sigourney by Matthew Brady. She is seated on a wooden chair with wooden panelling behind her, wearing a dark jacket and hood with lace bonnet and collar, and a full, boldly checked skirt. She holds a handkerchief in her hands.

1927: The design of bicycles for women changed...

Building and people item

1927

The design of bicycles for women changed as a response to changes in women's clothing: from voluminous skirts to split skirts or slacks.
Bruno, Leonard. On the Move: A Chronology of Advances in Transportation. Gale Research, 1993.
207
Harris, Melvin. ITN Book of Firsts. Michael O’Mara Books, 1994.
222

16 May-19 May 1890: An exhibition of postal history was held...

National or international item

16 May-19 May 1890

An exhibition of postal history was held in Guildhall in celebration of the Jubilee of Penny Postage.
Staff, Frank. The Picture Postcard and Its Origins. F. A. Praeger, 1966.
54

1790: Newspaper sales in England totalled more...

Building and people item

1790

Newspaper sales in England totalled more than 16 million.
Suarez, Michael F. “The Business of Literature: The Book Trade in England from Milton to Blake”. A Companion to Literature from Milton to Blake, edited by David Womersley, Blackwell, 2000, pp. 131-47.
139

Françoise de Graffigny

FG , novelist, dramatist, and writer of stories, fables, and especially letters,
DeJean, Joan E. et al. “Introduction and Note on Text”. Lettres d’une Péruvienne, Modern Language Assocation of America, 1993, p. ix - xxvi.
x
is chiefly remembered, especially in relation to English literature, for her single novel, Lettres d'une Péruvienne, 1747.
Françoise de Graffigny Oval head-and-shoulders engraving of Françoise de Graffigny by C. E. Gaucher, from a portrait. Her hair is covered by a large cap; she has a lace collar and embroidery. The engraving (in which a chequered pattern surrounds the oval and her name stands below in capitals: "Françoise d'Happoncourt de Graffigny") was used in an 1802 edition of de Graffigny's most famous novel in English translation: "Letters of a Peruvian Princess".

1970: The first recorded university course in women's...

Building and people item

1970

The first recorded university course in women's studies was offered, at San DiegoState College .
Olin, Jessica. “Don’t sit around and giggle”. London Review of Books, 10 May 2007, pp. 38-9.
39

1413: England's Statute of Additions stipulated...

National or international item

1413

England's Statute of Additions stipulated that legal documents begin recording the statuses, occupations, and places of abode in addition to the names of individuals involved in royal courts of law.
Masschaele, James. “The Renaissance Depression Debate: The View from England”. The History Teacher, Vol.
27
, No. 4, Aug. 1994, pp. 405-16.
415

1875: Eight years after public executions were...

Building and people item

1875

Eight years after public executions were abolished, sixty people were invited to watch as Henry Wainwright (who had shot and then dismembered a woman he had bigamously married) was hanged inside Newgate Prison.
Davenport-Hines, Richard. “Horrid Mutilation! Read all about it!”. London Review of Books, 4 Apr. 2002, pp. 37-9.
37

1934: Mother, aimed at lower- and middle-class...

Building and people item

1934

Mother, aimed at lower- and middle-class women, began monthly publication in London; it ran until 1936.
White, Cynthia L. Women’s Magazines 1693-1968. Michael Joseph, 1970.
95
Braithwaite, Brian, and Joan Barrell. The Business of Women’s Magazines. Associated Business Press, 1979.
152

23 April 1979: Blair Peach, a London teacher, suffered a...

Building and people item

23 April 1979

Blair Peach , a London teacher, suffered a fractured skull when he was hit on the head by a police officer as he was leaving an anti-National Front demonstration at Southall. He died...

1679: The Licensing Act of 1662 lapsed; penalties...

Writer or writing item

1679

The Licensing Act of 1662 lapsed; penalties being no longer in force, Quaker printers began putting their names on the title-pages issuing from their shops.
Bracken, James K., and Joel Silver, editors. Dictionary of Literary Biography 170. Gale Research, 1996.
249