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1914: In Burgess Unabridged: A New Dictionary of...

Writer or writing item

1914

In Burgess Unabridged: A New Dictionary of Words You Have Always Needed, Gelett Burgess coined the word blurb, meaning an author's testimonial for the work of another writer.
Cronin, Blaise. “Puff pellets”. The Author, Vol.
cxvi
, No. 4, 1 Dec. 2005–28 Feb. 2006, pp. 159-60.
159

August 1751: Mary Blandy allegedly poisoned her father...

Building and people item

August 1751

Mary Blandy allegedly poisoned her father at the instigation of her suitor William Cranstoun . The father opposed her marriage to Cranstoun, who later turned out to be married already.
Burmester, James et al. English Books. James Burmester Rare Books, 1985–2026, Numbered catalogues.
63: 3-4

1883: William Robinson lastingly affected the English...

Building and people item

1883

William Robinson lastingly affected the English style of gardening when he published The English Flower Garden, which went through many editions.
Lively, Penelope. A House Unlocked. Penguin, 2002.
132-4

April 1943: Cosmetics were very scarce and pipecleaners...

Building and people item

April 1943

Cosmetics were very scarce and pipecleaners were put to use as hairpins; the Victory Roll hairstyle eliminated the need for pins.
Minns, Raynes. Bombers and Mash: The Domestic Front 1939-45. Virago, 1980.
chronology

1919: Rebecca Clarke's Viola Sonata won second...

Building and people item

1919

Rebecca Clarke 's Viola Sonata won second place in Mrs Coolidge's Competition after originally tying for first place with Ernest Bloch 's Viola Suite.
Sadie, Julie Anne, and Rhian Samuel, editors. The New Grove Dictionary of Women Composers. Macmillan, 1994.
120
Sadie, Julie Anne, and Rhian Samuel, editors. The New Grove Dictionary of Women Composers. Macmillan, 1994.
120

April 1792: The Marseillaise was composed in France as...

National or international item

April 1792

The Marseillaise was composed in France as a revolutionary song.
Sandock, Mollie. “’I Burn with Contempt for my Foes’: Jane Austen’s Music Collections and Women’s Lives in Regency England”. Persuasions, Vol.
23
, 2001, pp. 105-17.
115

January 1805: The Eclectic Review, a Dissenting magazine,...

Writer or writing item

January 1805

The Eclectic Review, a Dissenting magazine, began publication in London; it ran until December 1868.
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.
531n25
University of Alberta Libraries On-line Catalogue. http://www.library.ualberta.ca/.

27 June 1900: The Tuppeny Tube, the central London underground...

Building and people item

27 June 1900

The Tuppeny Tube, the central London underground railway (now the Central Line) opened, running from Shepherd's Bush to the Bank; it charged a flat fare of twopence.
Palmer, Alan, and Veronica Palmer. The Chronology of British History. Century, 1992.
330
Bradley, Simon. “Coldbath Fields”. London Review of Books, 21 June 2007, p. 31.
31

August 1900: A world epidemic or pandemic of the plague...

Building and people item

August 1900

A world epidemic or pandemic of the plague (whose bacillus had been identified in Hong Kong in 1894) arrived at Glasgow in Scotland, its furthest point north.
Pennington, Hugh. “Two Spots and a Bubo”. London Review of Books, 21 Apr. 2005, pp. 30-1.
30-1

10 March 1943: The House of Commons debated whether Wrens...

National or international item

10 March 1943

The House of Commons debated whether Wrens (members of the Women's Royal Naval Service ) should continue to be restricted to jobs ashore.
Stanley, Jo. “Women’s History Month: Parliamentary debate: Should women work on warships? Army accepts women in principle, for first time”. Women’s History Network Blog, 10 Mar. 2010.

1898: Madame Laumaille, the first female motor-racing...

National or international item

1898

Madame Laumaille , the first female motor-racing driver, finished with the fastest time in her class on the first day of the Marseilles to Nice race in France.
Bruno, Leonard. On the Move: A Chronology of Advances in Transportation. Gale Research, 1993.
147

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...

2 March 1790: Charles James Fox proposed in the House of...

Building and people item

2 March 1790

Charles James Fox proposed in the House of Commons the repeal of the Corporation and Test Acts (instruments of discrimination against Dissenters ). Next day his motion was voted down (its third rejection in four...

By November 1805: Richard Payne Knight published his influential...

Building and people item

By November 1805

Richard Payne Knight published his influential Analytical Inquiry into the Principles of Taste; that month it had the lead review in the Critical.
Critical Review. W. Simpkin and R. Marshall, 5 series.
3rd ser. 6 (1805): 225-37
OCLC WorldCat. 1992–1998, http://www.oclc.org/firstsearch/content/worldcat/. Accessed 1999.

24 May 1990: Through Peterloo Poets, Anna Adams published...

Women writers item

24 May 1990

Through Peterloo Poets , Anna Adams published her poetry pamphlet Nobodies.
OCLC WorldCat. 1992–1998, http://www.oclc.org/firstsearch/content/worldcat/. Accessed 1999.
Blackwell’s Online Bookshop. http://Bookshop.Blackwell.co.uk.

22 July 1946: The World Health Organization came into ...

National or international item

22 July 1946

The World Health Organization came into being.
International Organizations and Groups. http://userpage.chemie.fu-berlin.de/adressen/org-fact.html#ec.

By autumn 1963: For the first time most students entering...

Building and people item

By autumn 1963

For the first time most students entering university in Britain were admitted through the new national entrance scheme administered by UCCA (Universities Central Council on Admissions ).
Mountford, Sir James Frederick. British Universities. Oxford University Press, 1966.
94

Before 22 April 1739: Anne Dodd, for almost thirty years the best-known...

Writer or writing item

Before 22 April 1739

Anne Dodd , for almost thirty years the best-known of all the Londonmercuries or trade publishers, died, leaving the business to her daughters.
Bracken, James K., and Joel Silver, editors. Dictionary of Literary Biography 154. Gale Research, 1995.
154: 103-5

1885-1886: Ottmar Mergenthaler patented and marketed...

Writer or writing item

1885-1886

Ottmar Mergenthaler patented and marketed Linotype™, the first successful mechanical typesetting system.
Clair, Colin. A Chronology of Printing. Cassell, 1969.
161
Feather, John. A History of British Publishing. Croom Helm, 1988.
132

1 July 1865: Frederick Warne and Company began business...

Writer or writing item

1 July 1865

Frederick Warne and Company began business at 15 Bedford Square, Covent Garden, after Frederick Warne and George Routledge dissolved their partnership .
Rose, Jonathan, and Patricia J. Anderson, editors. Dictionary of Literary Biography 106. Gale Research, 1991.
106: 327

Deborah Moggach

DM 's literary career dates from the 1970s. By 2004 she had produced fifteen novels, a number of television screenplays, and two volumes of short stories, besides her journalistic output (reviews, essays, interviews). Her novels...
Deborah Moggach Photo of Deborah Moggach in conversation with Antonia Byatt during day one of the London Book Fair at Kensington Olympia

November 1739: Sir Roger L'Estrange's prose translation...

Writer or writing item

November 1739

Sir Roger L'Estrange 's prose translation of Aesop 's Fables (formerly treated in snappy couplets by Aphra Behn ) was printed—by Samuel Richardson .
Richardson, Samuel. Pamela. Editor Sabor, Peter, Penguin, 1985.
522n79

1913: Under the auspices of the Society for the...

Building and people item

1913

Under the auspices of the Society for the Health of Women and Children (better known as the Plunket Society), New Zealander F. Truby King issued in LondonFeeding and Care of Baby, his...

10 April 1732: William Hogarth began selling to subscribers...

Building and people item

10 April 1732

William Hogarth began selling to subscribers the prints of A Harlot's Progress, first of his visual narrative series of engravings done from paintings.
Hunt, Margaret R. The Middling Sort: Commerce, Gender, and the Family in England, 1680-1780. University of California Press, 1996.
73
Uglow, Jennifer S. Hogarth: A Life and A World. Faber and Faber, 1997.
211-12