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By 19 September 2008: US novelist Marilynne Robinson published...

Writer or writing item

By 19 September 2008

US novelist Marilynne Robinson published what is only the third novel of her much-respected career: Home, a sequel to Gilead, which came out in 2004.
Scott, A. O. “Return of the Prodigal Son”. The New York Times Sunday Book Review, 19 Sept. 2008.

18 May 1723: The Black Act (originally directed against...

Building and people item

18 May 1723

The Black Act (originally directed against night-time poaching) passed the House of Commons .
Journals of the House of Commons. Printed by order of the House of Commons.
20: 217
Thompson, Edward Palmer. Whigs and Hunters: The Origin of the Black Act. Allen Lane, 1975.
23

16 January 1956: Britain ruled the import and export of heroin...

National or international item

16 January 1956

Britain ruled the import and export of heroin illegal.
Seymour, David, and Emily Seymour, editors. A Century of News. Contender Books, 2003.

26 December 1867: Ellen Terry and Henry Irving made the first...

Building and people item

26 December 1867

Ellen Terry and Henry Irving made the first of many stage appearances together when they played opposite one another in Katherine and Petruchio (better known as The Taming of the Shrew) at the new...

10 March 1664: Amy Duny was accused of trying to harm a...

Building and people item

10 March 1664

Amy Duny was accused of trying to harm a child by witchcraft when a toad was found in its blanket.
Purkiss, Diane. The Witch in History: early modern and twentieth-century representations. Routledge, 1996.
122, 140n13

20 July 1969: The first human being set foot on the surface...

National or international item

20 July 1969

The first human being set foot on the surface of the moon: it was Neil Armstrong of the USA's Apollo space mission.
Grun, Bernard. The Timetables of History. 3rd revised, Simon and Schuster, 1991.
“Eileen Marie Collins”. NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration): NASA History Division: Biographies: Astronauts.

August 1779-1783: Gibraltar sustained its longest blockade...

National or international item

August 1779-1783

Gibraltar sustained its longest blockade during its years as a British possession; writers like Mary Darwall and Catharine Upton chronicled this siege's acts of heroism, while Susanna Blamire gave voice to an ordinary soldier.
Messenger, Ann. Woman and Poet in the Eighteenth Century: The Life of Mary Whateley Darwall (1738-1825). AMS Press, 1999.
143-4

Grace Elliott

GE is not a courtesan memoirist in the usual sense, since her one surviving work, her published journal, is silent on the topic of her love-affairs. It covers exclusively her experience, mostly in Paris...
Grace Elliott Portrait of Grace Elliott by Thomas Gainsborough, c. 1782. She faces the viewer with a neutral expression, wearing a low-necked, high-waisted white gown with a pink bow and blue brooch at the decolletage. Her hair is styled away from her face, frizzed and powdered, and a black ribbon tied under her chin and hangs to her bosom.

1887: Enormous ostrich feather fans became fashionable...

Building and people item

1887

Enormous ostrich feather fans became fashionable ballroom accessories; they were so large they were likened to firescreens.
Adburgham, Alison. Shops and Shopping 1800-1914: Where, and in What Manner the Well-Dressed Englishwoman Bought Her Clothes. Allen and Unwin, 1964.
210

28 October 1909: Charlotte Despard edited the first issue...

Building and people item

28 October 1909

Charlotte Despard edited the first issue of The Vote: Organ of the Women's Freedom League, a weekly magazine from London covering a range of feminist issues, including suffrage.
Doughan, David, and Denise Sanchez. Feminist Periodicals, 1855-1984. Harvester Press, 1987.
29

2 July 1969: Newpapers reported that (following the Abortion...

Building and people item

2 July 1969

Newpapers reported that (following the Abortion Act of October 1967) abortion trips to England were being organized by the Danish Association for the Individual and Society .
Hindell, Keith, and Madeleine Simms. Abortion Law Reformed. Peter Owen, 1971.
219-20
Hordern, Anthony. Legal Abortion: The English Experience. Pergamon, 1971.
136

1885: American physician Silas Weir Mitchell's...

Building and people item

1885

American physician Silas Weir Mitchell 's treatment programme for anorectics was touted by British doctors as a highly successful approach to the disease.
Brumberg, Joan Jacobs. Fasting Girls. Harvard University Press, 1988.
144, 318

By February 1771: Scottish poet James Beattie published the...

Writer or writing item

By February 1771

Scottish poet James Beattie published the first book of his poem The Minstrel.
Critical Review. W. Simpkin and R. Marshall, 5 series.
31 (1771): 143-4
Critical Review. W. Simpkin and R. Marshall, 5 series.
38 (1774): 351-4
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.

1862: Herbert Spencer published his exposition...

Writer or writing item

1862

Herbert Spencer published his exposition of First Principles.
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.

8 August 1851: The system of tithes (one-tenth of the produce...

National or international item

8 August 1851

The system of tithes (one-tenth of the produce of agricultural land paid yearly for the support of the Church of England ) was abolished at the instigation of William Blamire the younger (1790-1862).
Maycock, Christopher. A Passionate Poet: Susanna Blamire, 1747-94: A Biography. Hypatia, 2003.
97
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.
under Blamire

1877: The Victoria Street Society and the International...

Building and people item

1877

The Victoria Street Society and the International Association for the Total Suppression of Vivisection undertook a placarding campaign in London.
French, Richard D. Antivivisection and Medical Science in Victorian Society. Princeton University Press, 1975.
256

1975: Peter Singer published Animal Liberation,...

Building and people item

1975

Peter Singer published Animal Liberation, a foundational text for the animal rights movement.
Singer, Peter. Animal Liberation. 3rd ed., Ecco, Harper Collins Publishers, 2002.
ix-xix

1938: As Lucy Betty MacRaye, Lucy Webling concluded...

Women writers item

1938

As Lucy Betty MacRaye, Lucy Webling concluded her literary career with the novel Centre Stage.
“Contemporary Authors”. Gale Databases: Literature Resource Centre-LRC.
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.

13 April 1951: The first Miss World contest was held at...

Building and people item

13 April 1951

The first Miss World contest was held at the Lyceum Theatre in London.
Palmer, Alan, and Veronica Palmer. The Chronology of British History. Century, 1992.
404

July 1803: An invasion scare gripped England. Young...

National or international item

July 1803

An invasion scare gripped England. Young men joined volunteer regiments ready for a landing and occupation by Napoleon 's troops—though at the same time people continued to plan their lives normally.
McCarthy, William. Anna Letitia Barbauld, Voice of the Enlightenment. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008.
McCarthy, Voice 460-1

1611: The last burning for heresy in England took...

Building and people item

1611

The last burning for heresy in England took place: at Lichfield in Staffordshire.
McIntyre, Ian. Garrick. Penguin, 1999.
12

Carson McCullers

CMC 's four novels and one novella, published between 1940 and 1961, compose a startling picture of the American South, from which she came: a society in which people's behaviour is in part wholly predictable...
Carson McCullers Black and white photograph of Carson McCullers, shown from the shoulders up, against a backdrop of flower-patterned drapery. She has jaw-length hair with short bangs, and she is wearing a baggy collared shirt with lines of decorative stitching up the front, boxy shoulders, and wide frayed sleeves.

25 January 1844: The first patients were admitted to the Hospital...

Building and people item

25 January 1844

The first patients were admitted to the Hospital for the Diseases of Women in Red Lion Square, London.
Moscucci, Ornella. The Science of Woman: Gynaecology and Gender in England, 1800-1929. Cambridge University Press, 1990.
86-7
Moscucci, Ornella. The Science of Woman: Gynaecology and Gender in England, 1800-1929. Cambridge University Press, 1990.
86

By April 1976: Ellen Moers published at New York a pioneering...

Writer or writing item

By April 1976

Ellen Moers published at New York a pioneering work of literary criticism entitled Literary Women.
Coffey, Marilyn et al. “April 1976 Newsletter”. New York Woman’s Literary Salon, Apr. 1976.

1914: Nearly a century after the battle, artist...

Building and people item

1914

Nearly a century after the battle, artist Elizabeth, Lady Butler , painted On the Morning of Waterloo: her military subjects gained her a substantial following.
Casteras, Susan P., and Linda H. Peterson. A Struggle for Fame: Victorian Women Artists and Authors. Yale Center for British Art, 1994.
54
OCLC WorldCat. 1992–1998, http://www.oclc.org/firstsearch/content/worldcat/. Accessed 1999.