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7 October 1950: China invaded Tibet....

National or international item

7 October 1950

China invaded Tibet.
Macfarlane, Robert. “The Nominated Boy”. London Review of Books, 29 Nov. 2001, pp. 30-2.
31

23 March 1676-20 November 1677: Poor Robin's Intelligence, publishing over...

Writer or writing item

23 March 1676-20 November 1677

Poor Robin's Intelligence, publishing over this period, is said to include the first example of fiction appearing serially.
Wiles, Roy McKeen. Serial Publication in England Before 1750. Cambridge University Press, 1957.
76n1

1995: The British Department of Education and Science...

Building and people item

1995

The British Department of Education and Science (government Ministry for the universities) gave place to the Department for Education and Employment , which was succeeded in turn in 2001 by the Department for Education and Skills .
Collini, Stefan. “From Robbins to McKinsey”. London Review of Books, Vol.
33
, No. 16, 25 Aug. 2011, pp. 9-14.
9

1844: The issue of Sunday Closing was first raised...

Building and people item

1844

The issue of Sunday Closing was first raised at the annual meeting of the British Temperance Association .
Shiman, Lilian Lewis. Crusade against Drink in Victorian England. Macmillan, 1988.
87

1627: An anonymous book appeared at London entitled...

Women writers item

1627

An anonymous book appeared at London entitled A Mothers Teares over Hir Seduced Sonne (seduced not sexually but by the Catholic faith away from the Protestant).
English Short Title Catalogue. http://estc.bl.uk/.

1897-1910: Havelock Ellis published Studies in the Psychology...

Building and people item

1897-1910

Havelock Ellis published Studies in the Psychology of Sex, in 6 volumes. Volume one, Sexual Inversion, had appeared in German a year before its appearance in English.
Brome, Vincent. Havelock Ellis, Philosopher of Sex: A Biography. Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1979.
264
Bullough, Vern L. Science in the Bedroom: A History of Sex Research. Basic Books, 1994.
81-2, 84-5, 314
Robinson, Paul. The Modernization of Sex: Havelock Ellis, Alfred Kinsey, William Masters and Virginia Johnson. Harper and Row, 1976.
4-5, 11
Allen, Renée. “Henry Havelock Ellis, 1859-1939”. Brown University; University of Tulsa: The Modern Journalists Project: The New Age: Biographies.

Early 1975: Gay Sweatshop Theatre Company was founded...

Building and people item

Early 1975

Gay Sweatshop Theatre Company was founded as a result of plans by a London co-operative community arts resource centre, Inter-Action , for a season of gay plays to follow their successful women's season.
“Gay Sweatshop Theatre Company”. AIM25: Royal Holloway College, University of London.

1925: The Black US singer Josephine Baker, aged...

Building and people item

1925

The Black US singer Josephine Baker , aged nineteen, met with phenomenal success in Paris; she was seen as exemplifying the Jazz Age on one hand and a new racial consciousness on the other.
Nkosi, Lewis. “An UnAmerican in New York”. London Review of Books, 24 Aug. 2000, pp. 30-2.
30
Rogin, Michael. “Mon Pays”. London Review of Books, 22 Mar. 2001, pp. 21-3.
21-2

March 1883: The conservative National Review began publication,...

Writer or writing item

March 1883

The conservative National Review began publication, to mediocre reviews.
Houghton, Walter E., and Jean Harris Slingerland, editors. The Wellesley Index to Victorian Periodicals 1824-1900. University of Toronto Press, 1966–1989, 5 vols.
2: 529-31, 536

1780: The first recorded use was made of the word...

Building and people item

1780

The first recorded use was made of the word tourist, meaning a person who travels to see sights: in a notice of an Ode to the Genius of the Lakes in the North of England.
Oxford English Dictionary Online. http://dictionary.oed.com/.

12 December 1911: At a durbar or massive outdoor gathering...

National or international item

12 December 1911

At a durbar or massive outdoor gathering in Delhi, King George V was crowned Emperor of India, in the presence of 200 Indian princes and 80,000 of India's great and good.
Nelson, Dean. “India Relives the Glory Day of the Raj”. Sunday Times, 30 Oct. 2005, p. 29.
29

By 11 October 1976: More people in Britain held licences for...

Building and people item

By 11 October 1976

More people in Britain held licences for colour television sets than for black and white: the licence fee continued, to fund the BBC .
Williams, Neville et al. Chronology of the 20th Century. Helicon, 1996.
416

19 January 1944: A plainclothes policeman and a naval officer...

Building and people item

19 January 1944

A plainclothes policeman and a naval officer interrupted a seance conducted at Portsmouth in Hampshire by Scottish spiritualist medium Helen Duncan , and arrested her and three of her audience.
“Scotland’s Last Witch”. BBC History: Modern Scotland: History Oddities.
Heselton, Philip. “Letter”. Guardian Weekly, 12–18 July 2001, p. 14.
14

1560: The complete Geneva Bible appeared, translated...

Writer or writing item

1560

The complete GenevaBible appeared, translated by English Protestant exiles from the reign of Mary : the first accessible or mass-circulation edition of the Bible in English, with small format and roman (not gothic) print.
Bible. Cambridge University Press, 1997.
MacCulloch, Diarmaid. “How good is it?”. London Review of Books, Vol.
33
, No. 3, 3 Feb. 2011, pp. 20-2.
20

27 March 1960: The first transmission of colour television...

National or international item

27 March 1960

The first transmission of colour television between Paris and London was demonstrated at the Institution of Electrical Engineers.
Briggs, Asa. The BBC: The First Fifty Years. Oxford University Press, 1985.
390

October 1915: At a meeting of the British Society for the...

Building and people item

October 1915

At a meeting of the British Society for the Study of Sex Psychology , Stella Browne presented a paper arguing that women's sexual and maternal instincts could be separated.
Weeks, Jeffrey. Sex, Politics and Society: The Regulation of Sexuality since 1800. Longman, 1981.
166

15 October 1874: The Home Secretary issued a circular to various...

National or international item

15 October 1874

The Home Secretary issued a circular to various politicians and government officials requesting their opinion on the current penal laws against assaults on women.
Shanley, Mary Lyndon. Feminism, Marriage, and the Law in Victorian England. Princeton University Press, 1989.
162-3

6 June 1982: Israeli troops invaded Lebanon; the same...

National or international item

6 June 1982

Israeli troops invaded Lebanon; the same day the Lebanese poet Khalil Hawi committed suicide.
Shlaim, Avi. “A History of Disappointment”. London Review of Books, 22 June 2000, pp. 18-19.
18

1530: Hieronymus Fracastorius of Verona, Italy,...

Building and people item

1530

Hieronymus Fracastorius of Verona, Italy, first used the word syphilis in print to name the disease, in his poem Syphilis or The French Disease.
Rosebury, Theodor. Microbes and Morals: The Strange Story of Venereal Disease. Viking Press, 1971.
29
Talbott, John H. A Biographical History of Medicine: Excerpts and Essays on the Men and Their Work. Grune and Stratton, 1970.
45

3 August 1916: In the aftermath of the Easter Rising, Irish...

National or international item

3 August 1916

In the aftermath of the Easter Rising, Irish nationalist Roger Casement , formerly Sir Roger, was executed for treason at Pentonville Prison in London for attempting to smuggle a shipment of German arms to Ireland.
Forbes, Peter, editor. Scanning the Century. Viking, 1999.
234
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.

June 1893: The Journal of the British Women's Temperance...

Building and people item

June 1893

The Journal of the British Women's Temperance Association began monthly publication in London.
Doughan, David, and Denise Sanchez. Feminist Periodicals, 1855-1984. Harvester Press, 1987.
17

1900: Onora, a novel by Rosa Mulholland, was published;...

Women writers item

1900

Onora, a novel by Rosa Mulholland , was published; it was re-issued fifteen years later as Norah of Waterford.
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.

1635: Sarah Jerom was the only woman among the...

Building and people item

1635

Sarah Jerom was the only woman among the holders of the first one hundred patents: for a machine that sliced timber (English patent number 87).
Vare, Ethlie Ann, and Greg Ptacek. Patently Female. John Wiley and Sons, 2002.
1

13 August 1888: The Local Government Act, based on the Municipal...

National or international item

13 August 1888

The Local Government Act, based on the Municipal Corporations Act (1882), gave women ratepayers (land owners) the right to vote for the newly created County Councils.
Hollis, Patricia. Ladies Elect: Women in English Local Government, 1865-1914. Clarendon, 1987.
306-7, 490
Law Reports: Statutes. Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1866–2026.
1888: 231-51
Halevy, Elie. The Rule of Democracy 1905-1914. Translator Watkin, Edward Ingram, Second (revised) Edition, Peter Smith, 1952, 2 vols.
512-13

19 February 2007: Sarah Thomas, an American, made history when...

Building and people item

19 February 2007

Sarah Thomas , an American, made history when she became the first woman and the first non-British person appointed Bodley's Librarian: head librarian at Oxford University 's Bodleian Library (opened on 8 November 1602).
Garner, Richard. “A double-first at the Bodleian library as US woman takes over”. The Independent, 21 Feb. 2007.
“First woman to become Bodley’s Librarian”. University of Oxford: News, 16 Nov. 2006.