Explore Orlando

Here, you’ll find randomized material from across the textbase’s author profiles and timelines. To jump to the content of your choice, click on its image card.

1937: Under Eamon De Valera, Ireland unilaterally...

National or international item

1937

Under Eamon De Valera , Ireland unilaterally adopted a new Constitution making it no longer the Irish Free State but Eire.
Craig, Alec. The Banned Books of England and Other Countries. George Allen and Unwin, 1962.
132
Kelly, Matthew. “Now is your chance”. London Review of Books, 5 Oct. 2006, pp. 31-2.
31

1800: Nicolas-Louis Robert, a Frenchman, invented...

Writer or writing item

1800

Nicolas-Louis Robert , a Frenchman, invented a machine for making continuous-roll paper for printing.
Norris, F. H. Paper and Paper Making. Oxford University Press, 1952.
1

15-21 October 1945: The fifth Pan-African Congress, held in Manchester,...

National or international item

15-21 October 1945

The fifth Pan-African Congress , held in Manchester, UK, marked the beginning of the end of colonial rule in Africa and the Caribbean.
Andrews, Kehinde. “Spirit of the Pan–African Congress should be revived”. Guardian Weekly, 23 Oct. 2015, p. 8.

1588: Elizabeth I licensed a company for trading...

National or international item

1588

Elizabeth I licensed a company for trading to Africa.
Haydn, Joseph. Haydn’s Dictionary of Dates and Universal Information. Editor Vincent, Benjamin, 23rd ed., Ward, Lock, 1904.
under Africa

Margaret Gatty

MG was a popular and influential children's writer (of fiction and a famous periodical) and scientific writer in the mid-nineteenth century. She began by publishing a biography of her father. Apart from her writings she...
Margaret Gatty Faded sepia head-and-shoulders photo of Margaret Gatty in profile. Her smooth hair is gathered at the nape of her neck and her eyes cast down. Her dress is dark, with lace at the collar and bust, and she wears drop earrings.

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

July 1990: A British judge sentenced a man to three...

Building and people item

July 1990

A British judge sentenced a man to three years in prison for raping his estranged wife; this potentially extended the law on marital rape (which was still illegal only if a wife had already obtained...

Late 2015: The online marketing company Amazon opened...

Building and people item

Late 2015

The online marketing company Amazon opened its first IRL [in real life] bookshop. Amazon Books , in Seattle, planned to stock the 6,000 most popular titles on Amazon and to sell them at the...

Before 20 September 1653: Humphrey Chetham planned the organisation...

Building and people item

Before 20 September 1653

Humphrey Chetham planned the organisation which, after his death on this date, opened as the first public library in the modern world: Chetham's Library in Manchester (sometimes known as Cheetham's ).
“Chetham’s Library: a brief history and illustrated tour”. Chetham’s Library.
Stephen, Sir Leslie, and Sidney Lee, editors. The Dictionary of National Biography. Smith, Elder, 1908–2026, 22 vols. plus supplements.

7-8 November 1836: Charles Green's balloon (named the Vauxhall)...

Building and people item

7-8 November 1836

Charles Green 's balloon (named the Vauxhall) flew from Vauxhall Gardens, London, to Weilburg, Nassau, in eighteen hours.
Bruno, Leonard. On the Move: A Chronology of Advances in Transportation. Gale Research, 1993.
89
Dollfus, Charles. The Orion Book of Balloons. Translator Mason, Carter, Orion Press, 1960.
57

24 April 1833: The Wife by James Sheridan Knowles opened...

Writer or writing item

24 April 1833

The Wife by James Sheridan Knowles opened on stage in London; it was published this year with a Prologue and Epilogue by Charles Lamb .
Drabble, Margaret, editor. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 5th ed., Oxford University Press, 1985.
Cox, Michael, editor. The Oxford Chronology of English Literature. Oxford University Press, 2002, 2 vols.

1958: The weekly magazine Home Chat (launched on...

Writer or writing item

1958

The weekly magazine Home Chat (launched on 23 March 1895) ceased publication.
Beetham, Margaret. A Magazine of Her Own?: Domesticity and Desire in the Woman’s Magazine, 1800-1914. Routledge, 1996.
217

1845: American physician James Marion Sims conducted...

Building and people item

1845

American physician James Marion Sims conducted the first surgical repair of a vesico-vaginal fistula.
Franck, Irene, and David Brownstone. Women’s World: A Timeline of Women in History. HarperCollins; HarperPerennial, 1995.
124
Bynum, William F. Science and the Practice of Medicine in the Nineteenth Century. Cambridge University Press, 1994.
204
Shryock, Richard Harrison. The Development of Modern Medicine: An Interpretation of the Social and Scientific Factors Involved. University of Wisconsin Press, 1979.
177

September 1869: A report critical of the Admiralty's administration...

Building and people item

September 1869

A report critical of the Admiralty 's administration of the Contagious Diseases Acts was circulated to the press by four senior surgeons of the Royal Albert Hospital at Devonport.
Walkowitz, Judith R. ’We Are Not Beasts of the Field’: Prostitution and the Campaign Against the Contagious Diseases Acts, 1869-1886. University of Rochester, 1974.
114

Eugenia:

Eugenia is the unidentified signature on a prose answer to a notorious misogynist sermon preached by the Rev. John Sprint in 1699.

18 December 1933: Newfoundland's Constitution was suspended...

National or international item

18 December 1933

Newfoundland's Constitution was suspended owing to bankruptcy.
Bayly, Christopher Alan. Atlas of the British Empire. Facts on File, 1989.
206
Steinberg, Sigfrid Henry. Historical Tables: 58 BC-AD 1985. 11th ed., Garland Publishing, 1986.
240
Williams, Neville et al. Chronology of the 20th Century. Helicon, 1996.
541

Summer 1779: A combined French and Spanish fleet, massed...

National or international item

Summer 1779

A combined French and Spanish fleet, massed in the English Channel for invasion of southern England, retired in disarray after smallpox broke out on one of the ships and spread rapidly.
Williams, Gareth. Angel of Death. The Story of Smallpox. Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.
50

By October 1820: A revolution in Naples—instigated by the...

National or international item

By October 1820

A revolution in Naples—instigated by the Carbonari (a secret political society founded in 1815)—provoked Ferdinand I to grant a constitution, which included the establishment of an elected parliament.
Cowie, Leonard W., and Leonard Woolfson. Years of Nationalism: European History 1815-1890. Edward Arnold, 1985.
26, 50-1, 273

27 May 1973: The Soviet Union for the first time subscribed...

Writer or writing item

27 May 1973

The Soviet Union for the first time subscribed to the protocols of the International Copyright Convention.
Maryles, Daisy. “Publishing”. The Americana Annual, 1974, p. 390.
390

Before 11 November 1933: The Women's Co-operative Guild instituted...

National or international item

Before 11 November 1933

The Women's Co-operative Guild instituted the sale and wearing of white poppies for Remembrance Day, often alongside the red poppies sold by the British Legion .
White Poppies. Peace Pledge Union, 2009.

22 May 1915: Britain's worst rail disaster, caused by...

National or international item

22 May 1915

Britain's worst rail disaster, caused by a signalling error, occurred near Carlisle, over the Scottish border.
Bruno, Leonard. On the Move: A Chronology of Advances in Transportation. Gale Research, 1993.
186

1970-9: All states in the USA reviewed and revised...

National or international item

1970-9

All states in the USA reviewed and revised their laws, policies and procedures on rape.
Brownmiller, Susan. In Our Time: Memoir of a Revolution. Dial, 1999.
253

1764: Twenty-four sepoys or native soldiers who...

National or international item

1764

Twenty-four sepoys or native soldiers who had mutinied at Patna in India were executed by cannonade: standing against the mouth of a cannon fired point-blank at their shoulders.
Gott, Richard. “Shoot them to be sure”. London Review of Books, 25 Apr. 2002, pp. 26-9.
28

Deborah Levy

South-African-born DL began writing experimental fiction, plays, and poetry during the 1980s. She also worked in journalism, performance art and mixed media. By 2021 she had published six novels, three volumes of stories, and three...
Deborah Levy Portrait of Deborah Levy. She is against a faint green backdrop and wears a black cardigan and naby top. She has a very fierce gaze.

5 January 1895: The Lancet published a feature on an anorectic...

Building and people item

5 January 1895

The Lancet published a feature on an anorectic who had died from her emaciated condition; the article was accompanied by a sketch of a skeletal, topless young woman. This is considered the first reported death...