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24 November 1958: The world's first large exhibition of electronic...

National or international item

24 November 1958

The world's first large exhibition of electronic computers was held at Earl's Court, London.
Palmer, Alan, and Veronica Palmer. The Chronology of British History. Century, 1992.
414

1853: Elisha Otis of Yonkers, New York, invented...

Building and people item

1853

Elisha Otis of Yonkers, New York, invented the lift or elevator: this made possible a huge increase in the height of urban buildings.
Sayle, Murray. “In the Tart Shop”. London Review of Books, 5 Oct. 2000, pp. 31-4.
32

17 December 1779: It was disapprovingly noted what immense...

National or international item

17 December 1779

It was disapprovingly noted what immense sums of public money Marie-Antoinette was paying to her personal friend the comtesse de Polignac .
Roulston, Christine. “Separating the Inseparables: Female Friendship and its Discontents in Eighteenth-Century France”. Eighteenth-Century Studies, Vol.
32
, No. 2, 1998–1989, pp. 215-31.
225 and n45

1911: Ida Ashworth Taylor contributed the Life...

Women writers item

1911

Ida Ashworth Taylor contributed the Life of Madame Roland to her oeuvre of biographies.
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.

15-21 June 1772: A series of London banking firms collapsed...

National or international item

15-21 June 1772

A series of London banking firms collapsed after the bank associated with Alexander Fordyce stopped payment; ensuing panic brought the biggest stock-market crash since the South Sea Bubble burst in late 1720.
Clifford, James L. Hester Lynch Piozzi (Mrs Thrale). Clarendon Press, 1987.
93 and n2

1910: Isabella Fyvie Mayo published her autobiography,...

Women writers item

1910

Isabella Fyvie Mayo published her autobiography, Recollections of what I saw, what I lived through, and what I learned, during more than fifty years of social and literary experience.
OCLC WorldCat. 1992–1998, http://www.oclc.org/firstsearch/content/worldcat/. Accessed 1999.

Jean Plaidy

Twentieth-century popular writer JP wrote over 200 novels under seven different pseudonyms: some eighty-seven historical novels as Jean Plaidy, at least thirty-one gothic romances as Victoria Holt, and another nineteen historical romances as Philippa Carr...

January 1850: The London Mesmeric Infirmary opened at 9...

Building and people item

January 1850

The London Mesmeric Infirmary opened at 9 Bedford Street, Bedford Square, and was patronized by a number of respectable citizens including the second Earl of Ducie , who served as president.
Gauld, Alan. A History of Hypnotism. Cambridge University Press, 1992.
213

Lady Margaret Sackville

Margaret Sackville was a prolific poet of the earlier twentieth century, whose work spanned a range of poetic genres from dramatic verse to epigrams and fantasy for children. She also wrote fairy-tales, plays, and introductory...
Lady Margaret Sackville Black and white photograph of Lady Margaret Sackville, shown from the shoulders up, wearing a light dress and a pearl necklace, with a scarf tied around her dark, curly, jaw-length hair.

1988: The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, appointed...

Building and people item

1988

The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden , appointed its first woman conductor, Sian Edwards .
“Women’s History Timeline”. BBC: Radio 4: Woman’s Hour.

20 October 1909: The Trade Boards Act was passed—a success...

National or international item

20 October 1909

The Trade Boards Act was passed—a success for feminist campaigns against sweatshops and for minimum wages in the British clothing industry.
Law Reports: Statutes. Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1866–2026.
(1909): 91, 101
Mitchell, Sally, editor. Victorian Britain: An Encyclopedia. Garland Press, 1988.
777
Wilson, Elizabeth. Adorned in Dreams: Fashion and Modernity. Virago Press, 1985.
76

1 November 1872: A famous London music hall, The Oxford, was...

Building and people item

1 November 1872

A famous London music hall, The Oxford , was destroyed by fire.
Cheshire, David F. Music Hall in Britain. David and Charles, 1974.
29

1881: Liverpool University College was founded...

Building and people item

1881

Liverpool University College was founded.
Barnard, Howard Clive. A History of English Education from 1760. 2nd ed., University of London Press, 1961.
198
The World of Learning. 45th ed., Allen and Unwin, 1995.
1608

31 January 1926: The Women's Service Library, later known...

Writer or writing item

31 January 1926

The Women's Service Library , later known as the Fawcett Library , and presently known as the Women's Library , was established.
Cadman, Eileen et al. Rolling Our Own: Women as Printers, Publishers and Distributors. Minority Press-Group, 1981.
96
“The Women’s Library”. London Metropolitan University.
Buhasz, Laszlo. “Notebook: Women’s Library to reopen in London”. The Globe and Mail, 1 Dec. 2001, p. T12.
T8

1628: Publication began of the legal treatise known...

Building and people item

1628

Publication began of the legal treatise known to later generations as Coke upon Littleton: The first part of the Institutes of the Lawes of England, or a Commentarie upon Littleton by jurist Sir Edward Coke

12 August 1678: Titus Oates laid his allegations of a Popish...

National or international item

12 August 1678

Titus Oates laid his allegations of a Popish plot against the crown and government of England: this triggered immediate panic and the prolonged Exclusion Crisis, an attempt to bar the Catholic Duke of York

1 December 1969: The Calthorpe Nursing Home opened in Birmingham...

Building and people item

1 December 1969

The Calthorpe Nursing Home opened in Birmingham as Britain's only clinic dealing solely with abortions.
Hindell, Keith, and Madeleine Simms. Abortion Law Reformed. Peter Owen, 1971.
217
Hordern, Anthony. Legal Abortion: The English Experience. Pergamon, 1971.
181

7 September 1968: Feminist protesters disrupted the Miss America...

Building and people item

7 September 1968

Feminist protesters disrupted the Miss America contest at Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA.
Williams, Neville et al. Chronology of the 20th Century. Helicon, 1996.
365
Pollitt, Katha. “Our Soft-Shelled Condition”. London Review of Books, 14 Nov. 2002, pp. 32-3.
32

23 September 1766: The Gentleman's Magazine reported on the...

Building and people item

23 September 1766

The Gentleman's Magazine reported on the serious food riots that were following a bad harvest, high bread prices, an increase in enclosure, and the perception of profiteering by landlords.
Neeson, J. M. Commoners: Common Right, Enclosure and Social Change in England, 1700-1820. Cambridge University Press, 1993.
20 and n15
Gentleman’s Magazine. Various publishers.
36 (1766): 436

Catherine Carswell

CC is best known for her 1920 novel, Open the Door!, and her insightful critical biography of her close friend D. H. Lawrence . Her literary corpus consists of two novels, three biographies, and...

1714: The Schism Act made further inroads on the...

Building and people item

1714

The Schism Act made further inroads on the civil rights of Dissenters.
Porter, Roy. English Society in the Eighteenth Century. Penguin, 1982.
108

23 October 1920: In his novel Main Street, Sinclair Lewis...

Writer or writing item

23 October 1920

In his novel Main Street, Sinclair Lewis excoriated the small-town life often represented in American literature as the backbone of national life.
Borne Back Daily. 2001, http://borneback.com/ .
23 October 2008
Oehlschlaeger, Fritz H. “Hamlin Garland and the Pullitzer Prize Controversy of 1921”. American Literature, Vol.
51
, No. 3, Nov. 1979, pp. 409-14.
410

16 January 1926: Father Ronald Knox created widespread alarm...

Building and people item

16 January 1926

Father Ronald Knox created widespread alarm with his broadcast of a fictitious report about a mob of unemployed workers who roasted a philanthropist alive.
Briggs, Asa. The BBC: The First Fifty Years. Oxford University Press, 1985.
367

June 1880: Victoria Magazine, produced by Emily Faithfull...

Building and people item

June 1880

Victoria Magazine, produced by Emily Faithfull at the Victoria Press in London, ended publication.
Blain, Virginia et al., editors. The Feminist Companion to Literature in English: Women Writers from the Middle Ages to the Present. Yale University Press; Batsford, 1990.
352-3
Doughan, David, and Denise Sanchez. Feminist Periodicals, 1855-1984. Harvester Press, 1987.
2