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By 9 May 1586: The young antiquary and historian William...

Writer or writing item

By 9 May 1586

The young antiquary and historian William Camden published the first, Latin edition of his popular and influential Britannia, an account of Britain under the Romans which drew on physical remains and place-names.
Woolf, Daniel. The Idea of History in Early Stuart England. University of Toronto Press, 1990.
116
English Short Title Catalogue. http://estc.bl.uk/.

1884: The Gospel Purity Association was founded...

Building and people item

1884

The Gospel Purity Association was founded by Robert Scott , George Gillett and Robert Morgan .
Bristow, Edward. Vice and Vigilance: Purity Movements in Britain Since 1700. Gill and Macmillan, 1977.
104

1820: The Stealing from Shops Act abolished the...

National or international item

1820

The Stealing from Shops Act abolished the death penalty for thefts of less than five shillings.
Emsley, Clive. Crime and Society in England 1750-1900. 2nd ed., Longman, 1996.
268

6 January 1931: Lilian Baylis re-opened Sadler's Wells Theatre...

Building and people item

6 January 1931

Lilian Baylis re-opened Sadler's Wells Theatre in London with a performance of Twelfth Night, starring John Gielgud as Malvolio.
Palmer, Alan, and Veronica Palmer. The Chronology of British History. Century, 1992.
374
Hartnoll, Phyllis, editor. The Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 4th ed., Oxford University Press, 1983.
608

10 December 1933: For his active participation in peace organizations...

National or international item

10 December 1933

For his active participation in peace organizations such as the World Committee against War and Fascism and the League of Nations , Sir Norman Angell from Great Britain was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Schlessinger, Bernard S., and June H. Schlessinger. The Who’s Who of Nobel Prize Winners, 1901-1995. 3rd ed., Oryx Press, 1996.
Nobel Prize in Literature. http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/.

6 April 1776: Defying British legislation, the American...

National or international item

6 April 1776

Defying British legislation, the American Continental Congress opened United Colonies ports to trade with all nations, except for British dominions or British goods.
Coakley, Robert, and Stetson Conn. The War of the American Revolution. Center of Military History, 1975.
98

1589: Richard Hakluyt published Principall Navigations,...

Writer or writing item

1589

Richard Hakluyt published Principall Navigations, Voiages, and Discoveries of the English Nation.
Cox, Michael, editor. The Oxford Chronology of English Literature. Oxford University Press, 2002, 2 vols.

Maria De Fleury

MDF was a Baptist—and anti-Catholic—religious, theological, and political polemicist active during the 1780s and 1790s who wrote with force and imagination, especially in her verse. She published one more private poem, an elegiac ode.

28 September 1711: A Post Office Act empowered the Royal Mail...

Building and people item

28 September 1711

A Post Office Act empowered the Royal Mail to carry letters other than on the main post roads to and from London: the bye or by and cross-post routes.
Whyman, Susan E. The Pen and the People: English Letter Writers 1660-1800. Oxford University Press, 2009.
53 and n70, 55

Probably 1758: Stenography, or Short-Hand Improved, by John...

Building and people item

Probably 1758

Stenography, or Short-Hand Improved, by John Angell the elder , appeared, with a prefatory dedication which has been ascribed to Samuel Johnson .
Solo: Search Oxford University Libraries Online. 18 July 2011, http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?vid=OXVU1&fromLogin=true&reset_config=true.

1 August 1815: The surveyor William Smith dated his first-ever...

Building and people item

1 August 1815

The surveyor William Smith dated his first-ever geological map of Britain; the national Geological Society cold-shouldered him and published its own map, five years later, which was essentially a plagiarism of his.
Fortey, Richard. “Prophet of the Rocks”. London Review of Books, 9 Aug. 2001, pp. 27-8.
27-8
Winchester, Simon. The Map that Changed the World. HarperCollins, 2001.
xvi
Piozzi, Hester Lynch. The Piozzi Letters. Editors Bloom, Edward A. and Lillian D. Bloom, University of Delaware Press; Associated University Presses, 1989–2002, 6 vols.
5: 442

1809: Charles Napier (a student at military college;...

Building and people item

1809

Charles Napier (a student at military college; later a general) wrote that soldiers ought to be encouraged to marry, but women be barred from going with their husbands on active service.
Page, F. C. G. Following the Drum: Women in Wellington’s Wars. Deutsch, 1986.
139-40

1952: Michael Ventris first deciphered the Linear...

Building and people item

1952

Michael Ventris first deciphered the Linear B script used in ancient Mycenean tablets discovered fifty years earlier by Sir Arthur Evans at Knossos in Crete.
Sturrock, John. “Rongorongo”. London Review of Books, 19 Sept. 2002, pp. 11-12.
12
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.
under Evans, Sir Arthur John

November 1905: The first exhibition of the Friday Club was...

Building and people item

November 1905

The first exhibition of the Friday Club was held at the Alpine Club Gallery , London.
Windsor, Alan, editor. Handbook of Modern British Painting 1900-1980. Scolar Press, 1992.
26, 106

April-August 1870: The Siege of Devonport was undertaken by...

National or international item

April-August 1870

The Siege of Devonport was undertaken by national leaders and members of the movement to repeal the Contagious Diseases Acts.
Walkowitz, Judith R. Prostitution and Victorian Society: Women, Class, and the State. Cambridge University Press, 1980.
151-70

After March 1770: Following representations by merchants to...

National or international item

After March 1770

Following representations by merchants to the House of Commons , the duties on colonial trade with America imposed in 1767 were repealed—all except that of threepence a pound on tea.
Thomas, Peter David Garner. Tea Party to Independence: The Third Phase of the American Revolution, 1773-1776. Clarendon, 1991.
10
Gentleman’s Magazine. Various publishers.
40 (1770): 139

1879: The Society of Oxford Home Students was founded...

Building and people item

1879

The Society of Oxford Home Students was founded to provide for female students not attached to a hall; it later became St Anne's College .
Brittain, Vera. The Women at Oxford. George G. Harrap, 1960.
59-61, 197
Green, Vivian Hubert Howard. A History of Oxford University. Batsford, 1974.
185
Keene, Anne. “Mothers of the House”. Oxford Today, Vol.
15
, No. 2, 2003, pp. 29-31.
29, 30

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

30 October 1963: In South Africa the Rivonia trial began:...

National or international item

30 October 1963

In South Africa the Rivonia trial began: of black activist Walter Sisulu and others who had been arrested on 11 July in the upmarket Johannesburg suburb of Rivonia.
“The Times Digital Archive 1785-2007”. Thompson Gale: The Times Digital Archive.
55752 (13 July 1963); 55845 (30 October 1963): 8

1918: The National Mission of Repentance and Hope,...

Building and people item

1918

The National Mission of Repentance and Hope , an evangelising organisation created by the Church of England in 1916, published several reports.
Norman, Edward R. Church and Society in England, 1770-1970. Clarendon, 1976.
241, 244, 261
Wilkinson, Alan. The Church of England and the First World War. SPCK, 1978.
92-3

14 December 1973: The European Convention on Human Rights adopted...

National or international item

14 December 1973

The European Convention on Human Rightsadopted its Report on the British Commonwealth Immigration Act of 1 March 1968, concluding that British Asians refused entry to the UK had suffered degrading treatment.
Lester, Anthony. “East African Asians Versus the United Kingdom: The Inside Story”. The Odysseus Trust, 23 Oct. 2003, pp. 1-19.
4

29 September 1736: An act for Laying a Duty upon the Retailers...

Building and people item

29 September 1736

An act for Laying a Duty upon the Retailers of Spiritous Liquors (Gin Act) came into effect, making it harder to obtain a licence to retail spirits.
Hervey, John, Baron. Some Materials towards Memoirs of the Reign of King George II. Editor Sedgwick, Romney, AMS Press, 1970, 3 vols.
II: 568-9
Henderson, Tony. Disorderly Women. Longman, 1999.
143

20 February 1913: Lilian Lenton was first arrested, after she...

Building and people item

20 February 1913

Lilian Lenton was first arrested, after she and another suffragist set fire to a tea-house in Kew Gardens. She became notorious first because of damage to her health by force-feeding when she went on...

1650: Henry Vaughan published his poetry volume...

Writer or writing item

1650

Henry Vaughan published his poetry volume Silex Scintillans.
English Short Title Catalogue. http://estc.bl.uk/.

March 1942: The German Nazi Party banned Jews from buying...

Building and people item

March 1942

The GermanNazi Party banned Jews from buying flowers.
Powers, Thomas. “’A Thousand Mosquito Bites’”. London Review of Books, 21 Sept. 2000, pp. 3-7.
5