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3 January 1831: London Society was introduced to the management...

Building and people item

3 January 1831

London Society was introduced to the management of Lucia Vestris at the Olympic Theatre with the opening of Olympic Revels; or, Prometheus and Pandora.
Moody, Jane. “Illusions of authorship”. Women and Playwriting in Nineteenth-Century Britain, edited by Tracy C. Davis and Ellen Donkin, Cambridge University Press, 1999, pp. 99-124.
104-5

1934-1935: The Great Dust Bowl devastated agricultural...

National or international item

1934-1935

The Great Dust Bowl devastated agricultural production and the lives of farm people on the North American prairies.
Bayly, Christopher Alan. Atlas of the British Empire. Facts on File, 1989.
206

27 December 1943: As the Allied invasion of Italy progressed,...

National or international item

27 December 1943

As the Allied invasion of Italy progressed, Canadian troops seized Ortona after particularly fierce street fighting.
Messenger, Charles. World War Two Chronological Atlas: When, Where, How and Why. Bloomsbury, 1989.
163

1759: David Garrick finally barred non-paying servants...

Writer or writing item

1759

David Garrick finally barred non-paying servants from the gallery of Drury Lane Theatre in London.
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.

1985-92: Protesters, ranging from the eccentric to...

Building and people item

1985-92

Protesters, ranging from the eccentric to the suburban middle class, opposed government plans for a major road cutting through the chalk of Twyford Down outside Winchester.
Bryant, Barbara, and Graham Anderson. Twyford Down: Roads, Campaigning and Environmental Law. Spon, 1995.
passim

Lady Charlotte Bury

LCB had the example in her family of genteel women whose writing was an important source of income to them. Her relations had addressed some of her favourite fictional topics: marriage into the nobility from...
Lady Charlotte Bury Painting of Lady Charlotte Bury as a teenager by Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein, 1789. She is sitting under a tree, wearing a white, classical-style gown and yellow mantle, with a garland on her blonde curly hair. She is reaching up for a branch with her left hand, while a deer beside her, on its hind legs, reaches too. Her right hand rests on a scroll lying across her lap. Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

By 6 August 2009: Monica Ali published a novel, In the Kitchen,...

Women writers item

By 6 August 2009

Monica Ali published a novel, In the Kitchen, whose protagonist works in the kitchen of a London hotel restaurant.
Grimes, William. “Londonstan”. The New York Times Sunday Book Review, 6 Aug. 2009.

1841-1863: The Houses of Parliament were rebuilt in...

National or international item

1841-1863

The Houses of Parliament were rebuilt in the Gothic style by Charles Barry and Augustus Pugin , following their destruction by fire in October 1834.
Maas, Jeremy. Victorian Painters. Barrie and Jenkins, 1978.
14
Phillips, Janet, and Peter Phillips. Victorians at Home and Away. Croom Helm, 1978.
44
Bell, Quentin. Victorian Artists. Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1967.
24
Boyle, Andrew. An Index to the Annuals. Andrew Boyle, 1967.
212

26 June 1815: Elizabeth Fenning, an Irish servant in London,...

Building and people item

26 June 1815

Elizabeth Fenning , an Irish servant in London, aged just twenty-two, was hanged for attempted murder, by poisoned dumplings, of her male employer and his son and daughter-in-law.
Barrell, John. “Like Unruly Children in a Citizenship Class”. London Review of Books, 21 Apr. 2005, pp. 23-5.
25

23 June 1516: The death of Ferdinand of Spain brought together...

National or international item

23 June 1516

The death of Ferdinand of Spain brought together the huge territories of Aragon, Castile, Burgundy, and the Low Countries, under the rule of Charles of Ghent, who soon became Holy Roman Emperor as Charles V

Sir James George Frazer

SJGF was a late Victorian academic, anthropologist and investigator of aboriginal peoples' religious beliefs and practices. His book The Golden Bough made a huge impact on writers as well as scientists.

November 1791: The Sheffield Constitutional Society, a working-class...

National or international item

November 1791

The SheffieldConstitutional Society , a working-class reform association, was formed.
Goodwin, Albert. The Friends of Liberty: The English Democratic Movement in the Age of the French Revolution. Hutchinson, 1979.
159, 167

1672: A Quaker committee set up by the first Yearly...

Women writers item

1672

A Quakercommittee set up by the first Yearly Meeting began the work which resulted in decisions about members' publications: to vet them for acceptability, to finance, edit and distribute them, and to archive them.
McDowell, Paula. The Women of Grub Street: Press, Politics, and Gender in the London Literary Marketplace, 1678-1730. Clarendon, 1998.
157

1836: Chromolithography was invented by Gottfried...

Building and people item

1836

Chromolithography was invented by Gottfried Engelmann .
Nevett, Terry R. Advertising in Britain: A History. Heinemann, 1982.
87

1886: Alexander Graham Bell, Chichester Bell, and...

Building and people item

1886

Alexander Graham Bell , Chichester Bell , and Charles Tainter , vastly improved the sound recording ability of Thomas Edison 's phonograph with their invention of the graphophone.
Millard, Andre J. America on Record: A History of Recorded Sound. Cambridge University Press, 1995.
30, 31

Leonora Carrington

Though LC is best known for her visual art, she produced ample fiction, plays, and life writing that engage with aesthetic and political movements of her time, particularly surrealism and feminism. Her writing (published between...

1990: Penelope Gilliatt published this year both...

Women writers item

1990

Penelope Gilliatt published this year both Lingo, a short-story volume, and To Wit: In Celebration of Comedy, a study of the genre.
OCLC WorldCat. 1992–1998, http://www.oclc.org/firstsearch/content/worldcat/. Accessed 1999.

February 1918: Chief Commander Margaret Damer Dawson and...

National or international item

February 1918

Chief Commander Margaret Damer Dawson and Sub-Commandant Mary Allen of the Women's Police Service were invested as Officers of the Order of the British Empire.
Allen, Mary S. The Pioneer Policewoman. AMS Press, 1973.
128, 129

1 July 2007: British publisher Tank Books released a series...

Writer or writing item

1 July 2007

British publisher Tank Books released a series of classic books, Tales to Take Your Breath Away, designed to mimic cigarette packets—the same size, packaged in flip-top cartons with silver foil wrapping and sealed in cellophane.
TankBooks: Tales to Take Your Breath Away. http://web.archive.org/web/20090620103236/http://www.tankmagazine.com/tankbooks/.
Campbell, Duncan, journalist. “Battle ahead for ’cigarette pack’ books”. Guardian Unlimited Books, 16 Jan. 2008.
TankBooks: Tales to Take Your Breath Away. http://web.archive.org/web/20090620103236/http://www.tankmagazine.com/tankbooks/.

Flora Thompson

FT , who wrote in the early to mid twentieth century, had limited education and lived outside the literary mainstream. She had little success as a poet or novelist, but built herself a career as...

Charles Cowden Clarke

1634: Charles I granted a warrant to Sir Saunders...

Building and people item

1634

Charles I granted a warrant to Sir Saunders Duncombe to construct and hire out sedan chairs in London and Westminster.
Jones, Thomas, editor. “Short Cuts”. London Review of Books, 8 Aug. 2002, p. 20.
20

By 17 April 1969: Philip Roth published his very funny novel...

Writer or writing item

By 17 April 1969

Philip Roth published his very funny novel Portnoy's Complaint, titled from a rant addressed to the narrator's psychiatrist and from his affliction of an obsessive urge to masturbate.
“Who Needs Dreams?”. Times Literary Supplement, No. 3503, 17 Apr. 1969, p. 405.
405

16 August 1788: De Brienne, the French Finance Minister who...

National or international item

16 August 1788

De Brienne , the French Finance Minister who replaced Calonne , announced national bankruptcy.
Paxton, John. Companion to the French Revolution. Facts on File, 1988.
213

18 June 1871: George Grote, historian, died in London....

Writer or writing item

18 June 1871

George Grote , historian, died in London.
Stephen, Sir Leslie, and Sidney Lee, editors. The Dictionary of National Biography. Smith, Elder, 1908–2026, 22 vols. plus supplements.