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23 August 1858: For the first time a passenger train ran...

National or international item

23 August 1858

For the first time a passenger train ran seriously out of control, on the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway ; fourteen people died.
Bruno, Leonard. On the Move: A Chronology of Advances in Transportation. Gale Research, 1993.
106

1967: Dress designer and interior decorator Laura...

Building and people item

1967

Dress designer and interior decorator Laura Ashley opened her first London shop, in Kensington.
“Women’s History Timeline”. BBC: Radio 4: Woman’s Hour.
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.

1749: Elizabeth Moxon published at Leeds her manual...

Women writers item

1749

Elizabeth Moxon published at Leeds her manual on cooking, entertaining, and running a household: English Housewifery. It went through fourteen editions by the end of the century, almost all published at Leeds.
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.

30 May 1800: Parliament debated a Divorce Bill....

Building and people item

30 May 1800

Parliament debated a Divorce Bill.
Brett, Simon, b. 1945, editor. The Faber Book of Diaries. Faber, 1987.
193

Carol Ann Duffy

CAD , Britain's first woman Poet Laureate, has published thirty books, which as well as poetry include plays, works for young people, and edited anthologies. Early in her career she began winning literary awards and...
Carol Ann Duffy Black and white photograph of Carol Ann Duffy at Humber Mouth literary festival, 2009. She sits with hands folded on a table that is not pictured. She wears a loose jacket with a large lapel, a brooch, and earrings. She looks to her right with a neutral expression, and her hair is curly, falling loose around her shoulders and forehead.

Elizabeth Sarah Gooch

ESG 's writing career began in the later eighteenth century with a sizeable pamphlet justifying her role in the quarrel with her estranged husband which had landed her in debtors' prison. From this she moved...
Elizabeth Sarah Gooch Oval print of Elizabeth Sarah Gooch, wearing a wig with ostrich feathers on top. Her own hair is visible below the wig, hanging in loose curls on her shoulders. She has a pendant hanging in her many-ruffled neckline.

Elizabeth Nihell

EN is a mid-eighteenth-century medical writer, a forceful, though a late voice in the feminist struggle to keep childbirth in female hands.
Elizabeth Nihell Print of an elderly Elizabeth Nihell, published the year she would have turned one hundred. She wears a cap covering her whole head and a heavy shawl. The inscription below reads "Elizabeth Nihel, Sage Femme", and gives her birth date. "Sage femme" is French for midwife: the image comes from "Biographie des Sages femmes célèbrées", 1833.

20 July 1944: High-ranking German officers made an unsuccessful...

National or international item

20 July 1944

High-ranking German officers made an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Hitler at his headquarters.
Messenger, Charles. World War Two Chronological Atlas: When, Where, How and Why. Bloomsbury, 1989.
183
Spark, Muriel. Curriculum Vitae: Autobiography. Constable, 1992.
151

20 March 1778: Louis XVI of France received American commissioners...

National or international item

20 March 1778

Louis XVI of France received American commissioners Benjamin Franklin , Silas Deane , and Arthur Lee .
Coakley, Robert, and Stetson Conn. The War of the American Revolution. Center of Military History, 1975.
111

November 1978: Sisterwrite Bookshop opened in London; at...

Writer or writing item

November 1978

Sisterwrite Bookshop opened in London; at the time it was the only bookshop in Britain specialising in women's books.
Cadman, Eileen et al. Rolling Our Own: Women as Printers, Publishers and Distributors. Minority Press-Group, 1981.
90

December 2004: An early nineteenth-century flintlock box-lock...

Building and people item

December 2004

An early nineteenth-century flintlock box-lock pocket pistol . . . with a spring bayonet below the barrel, once owned by the Rev. Patrick Brontë fetched £24,000 at auction.
Errington, Philip W. “Worth more than words”. The Author, Vol.
cxvi
, No. 3, 1 Sept.–30 Nov. 2005, pp. 113-15.
114

Susanna Haswell Rowson

SHR , who was active during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, has some claim to be regarded as both an English and an American writer, though her American allegiance came to predominate with...
Susanna Haswell Rowson Title-page of New York edition, 1814, of "Charlotte Temple, A Tale of Truth" by Susanna Haswell Rowson, first published in 1791. An oval portrait represents Charlotte, not Rowson. Up the left side runs a signature: "Mary L. Hyde.".

3 January 1993: The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty provided...

National or international item

3 January 1993

The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty provided that the USA and Russia should each reduce their stockpile of nuclear warheads to between 3,000 and 3,500.
Byers, Michael. “Back to the Cold War?”. London Review of Books, 22 June 2000, pp. 16-17.
16
Williams, Neville et al. Chronology of the 20th Century. Helicon, 1996.
514

6 February 1914: The United Suffragists was established as...

National or international item

6 February 1914

The United Suffragists was established as a new organisation open to men and women, militant and non-militant members.
Norquay, Glenda. Voices and Votes: A Literary Anthology of the Women’s Suffrage Campaign. Manchester University Press, 1995.
xii
Holton, Sandra Stanley. “Women and the Vote”. Women’s History: Britain, 1850-1945, edited by June Purvis and June Purvis, University College London, 1995, pp. 277-05.
295
John, Angela V. Evelyn Sharp: Rebel Woman, 1869–1955. Manchester University Press, 2009.
76

1705: The third edition appeared (apparently the...

Building and people item

1705

The third edition appeared (apparently the first to survive) of a pornographic work masquerading as social exposé: The London-Bawd. With her Character and Life. Discovering the Various and Subtile Intrigues of Lewd Women.
London, April. “Avoiding the Subject: The Presence and Absence of Venereal Disease in the Eighteenth-Century English Novel”. The Secret Malady: Venereal Disease in Eighteenth-Century Britain and France, edited by Linda E. Merians, University Press of Kentucky, 1996, pp. 213-27.
216
English Short Title Catalogue. http://estc.bl.uk/.

March 1849: The Select Committee on Public Libraries...

Building and people item

March 1849

The Select Committee on Public Libraries was appointed; William Ewart , chair, worked closely with Edward Edwards to write the report that became the basis for the Public Libraries Bill of February 1850.
Black, Alistair. A New History of the English Public Library: Social and Political Contexts, 1850-1914. Leicester University Press, 1996.
68, 71, 74-5
Kelly, Thomas. A History of Public Libraries in Great Britain 1845-1975. 2nd ed., Library Association, 1977.
12

1901: Hubert Cecil Booth, a British inventor, patented...

Building and people item

1901

Hubert Cecil Booth , a British inventor, patented the suction vacuum cleaner.
Williams, Trevor I. A Short History of Twentieth-Century Technology, c.1900-c.1950. Clarendon, 1982.
392
Panati, Charles. Panati’s Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things. Perennial Library, 1987.
138-9
Harris, Melvin. ITN Book of Firsts. Michael O’Mara Books, 1994.
201

1973: The Matrimonial Causes Act was passed, setting...

Building and people item

1973

The Matrimonial Causes Act was passed, setting out the reasons for which a marriage could be dissolved, and making arrangements for the distribution of assets and provision of relief with far greater equality than seen...

20 June 1837: William IV of Britain was succeeded as the...

National or international item

20 June 1837

William IV of Britain was succeeded as the King of Hanover by the Duke of Cumberland , who then suppressed the Hanoverian constitution.
Cowie, Leonard W., and Leonard Woolfson. Years of Nationalism: European History 1815-1890. Edward Arnold, 1985.
118
The Concise Dictionary of National Biography: From Earliest Times to 1985. Oxford University Press, 1995, 3 vols.
II: 937
Palmer, Alan, and Veronica Palmer. The Chronology of British History. Century, 1992.
262

1883: Popular baptist preacher William Landels...

Building and people item

1883

Popular baptist preacher William Landels published The Marriage Ring, emphasizing wives' duty to obey their husbands.
Hammerton, A. James. Cruelty and Companionship: Conflict in Nineteenth-Century Married Life. Routledge, 1992.
152, 210n79

4 June 1878: Britain acquired the territory of Cyprus...

National or international item

4 June 1878

Britain acquired the territory of Cyprus from the Ottoman Empire, without parliamentary sanction, after an Anglo-Turkish convention.
Haydn, Joseph. Haydn’s Dictionary of Dates and Universal Information. Editor Vincent, Benjamin, 23rd ed., Ward, Lock, 1904.
343
Smith, Paul. “Refuge for the Aristocracy”. London Review of Books, 21 June 2001, pp. 30-1.
30

10 December 2003: Shirin Ebadi of Iran was awarded the Nobel...

National or international item

10 December 2003

Shirin Ebadi of Iran was awarded the Nobel Peace Price for her work for human rights, especially for women and children.
The Nobel Foundation. Nobel E-Museum.

Sarah Waters

SW made her high-profile literary debut in 1998 with her first lesbian historical novel, Tipping the Velvet (which had been rejected by many publishers before it reached print). Her novels since then have been all...
Sarah Waters Colour photograph of Sarah Waters displayng a copy of her book "The Night Watch", 2006. She leans forward, with short blonde-streaked hair, blue eyes, and a smile, wearing a black shirt and holding a pen.

1860: A puerperal fever epidemic erupted in London;...

Building and people item

1860

A puerperal fever epidemic erupted in London; it recurred in 1861.
Towler, Jean. Midwives in History and Society. Croom Helm, 1986.
154

25 August 1857: The Obscene Publications Act allowed for...

Building and people item

25 August 1857

The Obscene Publications Act allowed for the censorship of pornographic materials entering Britain.
Ledbetter, Rosanna. A History of the Malthusian League: 1877-1927. Ohio State University Press, 1976.
28
The Statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Printed by J. Bentham, 1762–2026.
605
Weeks, Jeffrey. Sex, Politics and Society: The Regulation of Sexuality since 1800. Longman, 1981.
84
Craig, Alec. The Banned Books of England and Other Countries. George Allen and Unwin, 1962.
41-2