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20 November 1975: The Spanish dictator Francisco Franco died....

National or international item

20 November 1975

The Spanish dictator Francisco Franco died. His government had been recognised by that of Britain on 28 February 1939, a month before Franco himself announced victory over the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War.
“The Times Digital Archive 1785-2007”. Thompson Gale: The Times Digital Archive.
19

1927: The Electricity Supply Board was established...

National or international item

1927

The Electricity Supply Board was established by statute in Ireland to generate, distribute, and sell electricity.
Electricity Council. Electricity Supply in Great Britain: A Chronology. Electricity Council, 1973.
19

1807: By this date plate glass was being used in...

Building and people item

1807

By this date plate glass was being used in shopfronts, and displays of goods for sale were becoming more common.
Adburgham, Alison. Shops and Shopping 1800-1914: Where, and in What Manner the Well-Dressed Englishwoman Bought Her Clothes. Allen and Unwin, 1964.
6

October 1883: The Methodist Protest, organ of the Wesleyan...

Building and people item

October 1883

The Methodist Protest, organ of the Wesleyan Society for Securing the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts, ceased publication in London.
Doughan, David, and Denise Sanchez. Feminist Periodicals, 1855-1984. Harvester Press, 1987.
8

24 September 1869: On this day, one of several later called...

National or international item

24 September 1869

On this day, one of several later called Black Friday, a financial panic broke out that caused the collapse of the U. S. gold market. Two speculators used deception and bribery to control the...

: Mary Russell Mitford complained satirically...

Building and people item

Autumn 1853

Mary Russell Mitford complained satirically of a Pusey ite curate in Reading, admired (to her embarrassment) by other women.
Mitford, Mary Russell. The Life of Mary Russell Mitford: Told by Herself in Letters To Her Friends. Editor L’Estrange, Alfred Guy Kingham, Harper and Brothers, 1870, 2 vols.
2: 338-9

18 February 1742: Horace Walpole noted at a masquerade the...

Building and people item

18 February 1742

Horace Walpole noted at a masquerade the popularity of Mary Queen of Scots costumes, and those dressed like Van Dyck portraits in vaguely seventeenth-century style.
Walpole, Horace. The Letters of Horace Walpole. Editor Toynbee, Mrs Paget, Clarendon, 1903–1925, 16 vols.
1: 181-2

8 June 1831: Sarah Siddons, great tragic actress, died...

Building and people item

8 June 1831

Sarah Siddons , great tragic actress, died in London.
Drabble, Margaret, editor. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 5th ed., Oxford University Press, 1985.
Stephen, Sir Leslie, and Sidney Lee, editors. The Dictionary of National Biography. Smith, Elder, 1908–2026, 22 vols. plus supplements.
Manvell, Roger. Sarah Siddons: Portrait of an Actress. Heinemann, 1970.
312, 341

25 May 1912: The Irish Citizen reported that thirteen...

National or international item

25 May 1912

The Irish Citizen reported that thirteen Irish Women's Franchise League members were jailed in London for up to two months each between November 1910 and March 1912.
Owens, Rosemary Cullen. Smashing Times: A History of the Irish Women’s Suffrage Movement 1889-1922. Attic, 1984.
48

March 1875: The Medical Enquirer, the organ of the National...

Building and people item

March 1875

The Medical Enquirer, the organ of the National Medical Association for the Abolition of the State Regulation of Prostitution, began in Liverpool as a quarterly journal and review.
Doughan, David, and Denise Sanchez. Feminist Periodicals, 1855-1984. Harvester Press, 1987.
7

Elizabeth Justice

EJ published in the mid eighteenth century two equally unusual books: an account of a voyage to Russia and an autobiographical novel.

3 March 1801: Stockbrokers operating from a house in Sweeting's...

Building and people item

3 March 1801

Stockbrokers operating from a house in Sweeting's Alley, London, known as the Stock Exchange, instituted a system of formal membership by subscription.
London Stock Exchange: Our History. http://web.archive.org/web/20090609182709/http://www.londonstockexchange.com/en-gb/about/cooverview/history.htm.

10 May 1929: The Age of Marriage Act, covering England,...

National or international item

10 May 1929

The Age of Marriage Act, covering England, Scotland, and Wales, increased the legal age for marriage to sixteen for both males and females.
Law Reports: Statutes. Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1866–2026.
(1929): 776-7
Pugh, Martin. Women and the Women’s Movement in Britain 1914 - 1959. Macmillan Education, 1992.
109

1855: A halfpenny postal rate was introduced for...

National or international item

1855

A halfpenny postal rate was introduced for printed circulars; for letters the penny post remained in force.
Nevett, Terry R. Advertising in Britain: A History. Heinemann, 1982.
92

1762-December 1772: Under the auspices of the third Duke of Bridgewater,...

Building and people item

1762-December 1772

Under the auspices of the third Duke of Bridgewater , a canal was built connecting Manchester with Liverpool (about 56 miles).
Stephen, Sir Leslie, and Sidney Lee, editors. The Dictionary of National Biography. Smith, Elder, 1908–2026, 22 vols. plus supplements.
White, Daniel E. “The Joineriana: Anna Barbauld, the Aikin Family Circle, and the Dissenting Public Sphere”. Eighteenth-Century Studies, Vol.
32
, No. 4, 1999, pp. 511-33.
533n48

December 1958: Plans were laid for a Royal Shakespeare Company,...

Building and people item

December 1958

Plans were laid for a Royal Shakespeare Company , to perform both at Stratford and in London.
Billington, Michael. Peggy Ashcroft, 1907-1991. Mandarin, 1991.
182-3

Later 1832: Following the First Reform Bill of 7 June...

National or international item

Later 1832

Following the First Reform Bill of 7 June 1832, a number of offences (stealing and various types of forgery) ceased to be subject to the death penalty.
Davenport-Hines, Richard. “Suffocating Suspense”. London Review of Books, 16 Mar. 2000, pp. 36-37.
37
Collins Dictionary of British History. Collins, 2002.
78

1909: Dorothy Levitt published The Woman and the...

National or international item

1909

Dorothy Levitt published The Woman and the Car: A Chatty Little Handbook for All Women Who Motor or Want to Motor.
Adburgham, Alison. Shops and Shopping 1800-1914: Where, and in What Manner the Well-Dressed Englishwoman Bought Her Clothes. Allen and Unwin, 1964.
266
Barker, Theodore Cardwell, and Dorian Gerhold. The Rise and Rise of Road Transport, 1700-1990. Macmillan, 1993.
78

1 December 1897: Zululand was annexed to Natal....

National or international item

1 December 1897

Zululand was annexed to Natal.
Keller, Helen, editor. The Dictionary of Dates. Macmillan, 1934, 2 vols.
I: 762
Langer, William L., editor. An Encyclopedia of World History: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern, Chronologically Arranged. 4th ed., Houghton Mifflin, 1968.
888, 890

Madeleine de Scudéry

MS is the most famous of the seventeenth-century French authors of heroic romances: fictions of great length, which centred on the lives, loves, and philosophical disquisitions of aristocratic characters. She also wrote poetry and letters.
Madeleine de Scudéry Oval head-and-shoulders engraving of Madeleine de Scudéry by Charles Devrits, from his "Poètes normands: portraits gravés", 1845. She wears a jewelled brooch at her low V-neck, a string of pearls, and a dark shawl wrapped around her. Her dark curly hair is partly tied back, partly in ringlets around her face.

After March 2006: Irène Némirovsky's Suite Française, an unfinished,...

Writer or writing item

After March 2006

Irène Némirovsky 's Suite Française, an unfinished, two-part novel about the Nazi occupation of France in 1941-2, reached print in English translation sixty-four years after composition.
Némirovsky, Irène. Suite Française. Translator Smith, Sandra, Vintage Books, 2007.
prelims, 356-7, 359, 402

By December 1825: The Literary Remains of Lady Jane Grey were...

Women writers item

By December 1825

The Literary Remains of Lady Jane Grey were published with a memoir by R. H. Nicholas.
Quarterly Review. J. Murray.
33 (1825): 277

31 August 1907: Under the terms of the Anglo-Russian Treaty,...

National or international item

31 August 1907

Under the terms of the Anglo-Russian Treaty, the UK undertook neither to annex nor to occupy any Afghan territory; Russia agreed to conduct political relations in the area through the British Government.
Keller, Helen, editor. The Dictionary of Dates. Macmillan, 1934, 2 vols.
I: 770
Steinberg, Sigfrid Henry. Historical Tables: 58 BC-AD 1985. 11th ed., Garland Publishing, 1986.
222

1883: Thomas Edison of the US and Joseph Swan of...

Building and people item

1883

Thomas Edison of the US and Joseph Swan of the UK, inventors of incandescent carbon-filament electric lamps, formed a partnership in the UK and founded Edison and Swan United Electric Light Company Limited .
Derry, Thomas Kingston, and Trevor I. Williams. A Short History of Technology From the Earliest Times to A.D. 1900. Clarendon, 1960.
633

1926: Siegfried Sassoon published Satirical Poems;...

Writer or writing item

1926

Siegfried Sassoon published Satirical Poems; they were frequently reprinted over the next few years.
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.