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28 September 1810: Abraham Goldsmid, a London banker, committed...

Building and people item

28 September 1810

Abraham Goldsmid , a London banker, committed suicide; his suicide was symptomatic of the current financial collapse.
“Death of Mr. Abraham Goldsmid”. Times, 29 Sept. 1810, p. 3.
3
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.

21 April 1926: Princess Elizabeth was born: the future Queen...

National or international item

21 April 1926

Princess Elizabeth was born: the future Queen Elizabeth II, though at this time there was no apparent prospect of her succeeding to the throne.
“Women’s History Timeline”. BBC: Radio 4: Woman’s Hour.

27 October 1785: The London Hospital Medical College, established...

Building and people item

27 October 1785

The London Hospital Medical College , established this year, opened its operating theatre.
Harte, Negley. The University of London 1836-1986. Athlone, 1986.
57
The World of Learning. 45th ed., Allen and Unwin, 1995.
1620
Gentleman’s Magazine. Various publishers.
55 (1785): 914

29 April 1892: George Gissing published his novel Born in...

Writer or writing item

29 April 1892

George Gissing published his novel Born in Exile.
Solo: Search Oxford University Libraries Online. 18 July 2011, http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?vid=OXVU1&fromLogin=true&reset_config=true.
Cox, Michael, editor. The Oxford Chronology of English Literature. Oxford University Press, 2002, 2 vols.

9 July 1785: Publisher-printer William Strahan died worth...

Writer or writing item

9 July 1785

Publisher-printer William Strahan died worth nearly £100,000. His firm was at this date operating eleven printing presses.
Stephen, Sir Leslie, and Sidney Lee, editors. The Dictionary of National Biography. Smith, Elder, 1908–2026, 22 vols. plus supplements.
Suarez, Michael F. “The Business of Literature: The Book Trade in England from Milton to Blake”. A Companion to Literature from Milton to Blake, edited by David Womersley, Blackwell, 2000, pp. 131-47.
134
Buchan, James. “That sh—te Creech”. London Review of Books, 5 Apr. 2007, pp. 13-14.
14

Late 1859: The offices of The English Woman's Journal...

Women writers item

Late 1859

The offices of The English Woman's Journal moved from Cavendish Square to 19 Langham Place, where a ladies' club was also planned.
Herstein, Sheila R. A Mid-Victorian Feminist: Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon. Yale University Press, 1985.
140
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.

December 1943: Women's membership in trades unions stood...

Building and people item

December 1943

Women's membership in trades unions stood at 1,870,000.
Minns, Raynes. Bombers and Mash: The Domestic Front 1939-45. Virago, 1980.
chronology
Pugh, Martin. Women and the Women’s Movement in Britain 1914 - 1959. Macmillan Education, 1992.
274

Early 1958 to late 1960: Mao Tse-tung carried out in China the ironically-named...

Building and people item

Early 1958 to late 1960

Mao Tse-tung carried out in China the ironically-named Great Leap Forward, forcibly converting the peasants to collective agriculture and collective living and eating.
Becker, Jasper. “Business as Usual at the ’People’s Daily’”. London Review of Books, 29 July 1999, pp. 26-7.
26-7
Scott, James C. “Tyranny of the Ladle”. London Review of Books, Vol.
34
, No. 23, 6 Dec. 2012, pp. 21-8.
21

1980: Elisabeth Bond wrote The Partition Wallahs...

Women writers item

1980

Elisabeth Bond wrote The Partition Wallahs for its performance on television.
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.

1875: The weekly and monthly magazine Myra's Journal...

Writer or writing item

1875

The weekly and monthly magazine Myra's Journal of Dress and Fashion began publication.
Beetham, Margaret. A Magazine of Her Own?: Domesticity and Desire in the Woman’s Magazine, 1800-1914. Routledge, 1996.
217

23 October 1641: Many Protestants (but perhaps not so many...

National or international item

23 October 1641

Many Protestants (but perhaps not so many as reported) were killed in a Rebellion or massacre in Ulster.
Cope, Esther S. Handmaid of the Holy Spirit: Dame Eleanor Davies, Never Soe Mad a Ladie. University of Michigan Press, 1992.
99, 107
Morrill, John. “The Stuarts (1603-1688)”. Oxford Illustrated History of Britain, edited by Kenneth O. Morgan, Oxford University Press, 1984, pp. 286-51.
314
Purkiss, Diane. The English Civil War, A People’s History. Harper Perennial, 2007.
109, 114

3 October 1924: The BBC radio presented its first outside...

Building and people item

3 October 1924

The BBC radio presented its first outside broadcast, from London Zoo.
Briggs, Asa. The BBC: The First Fifty Years. Oxford University Press, 1985.
366

26 July 1913: The National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies...

National or international item

26 July 1913

The National Union of Women's Suffrage SocietiesWomen's Pilgrimage culminated in London with a meeting in Hyde Park.
Hume, Leslie Parker. The National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies, 1897-1914. Garland, 1982.
199
Tickner, Lisa. The Spectacle of Women: Imagery of the Suffrage Campaign, 1907-1914. University of Chicago Press, 1988.
145-7

1892: Amy Hughes, who had already worked as a district...

Building and people item

1892

Amy Hughes , who had already worked as a district nurse, became superintendent of county nursing associations in Britain, working with Queen Victoria's Jubilee Institute for Nurses .
Dolan, Josephine A. History of Nursing. 12th ed., Saunders, 1968.
280
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.

By 27 July 1912: During the Olympic Games in Stockholm, the...

National or international item

By 27 July 1912

During the Olympic Games in Stockholm, the British women's relay swimming team won a gold medal for the four-times-hundred-metres freestyle. This was the first year the event was open to women, and the first...

Marcel Proust

French novelist, whose novel sequence A la recherche du temps perdu, published between 1913 and 1927, blends memory, invention, and psychological study of the human response to time passing. It has been almost immeasurably influential.
Marcel Proust Black and white photograph of Marcel Proust from the chest up. He is looking straight at the viewer, and is posing with his left hand touching the side of his face.

14 June 1777: The American Congress resolved that the new...

National or international item

14 June 1777

The American Congress resolved that the new flag of the United States should have thirteen stars and stripes.
Coakley, Robert, and Stetson Conn. The War of the American Revolution. Center of Military History, 1975.
105-6

1819: An epidemic of smallpox in Norwich led doctors...

Building and people item

1819

An epidemic of smallpox in Norwich led doctors to strengthen their demand for compulsory vaccination.
Smith, Francis Barrymore. The People’s Health, 1830-1910. Croom Helm, 1979.
160

Phyllis Bottome

PB was a prolific novelist who published over fifty works in approximately sixty years. Her two best-known works, Private Worlds and The Mortal Storm, were made into popular American films. In addition to novels,...
Phyllis Bottome Black and white photograph of Phyllis Bottome, capturing her from the chest up. She is in slight profile, looking slightly to the left, with her hair pinned up. She wears a dark ruffled dress and necklace.

1841: The Ladies' Diary, an annual almanac, ceased...

Building and people item

1841

The Ladies' Diary, an annual almanac, ceased publication in London by merging with The Gentleman's Diary.
White, Cynthia L. Women’s Magazines 1693-1968. Michael Joseph, 1970.
25

1928: Two separate researchers in Germany, Ogino...

Building and people item

1928

Two separate researchers in Germany, Ogino and Knaus , discovered the hormonal patterns of the menstrual cycle. Based on their discovery, the Vatican sanctioned abstention for avoiding conception based on calculation by their method...

Anne Carson

Anne Carson is a Canadian writer best known for her work in poetry, translation, fiction, literary criticism, and on and across the boundaries between poetry and prose and between one genre and another. She is...
Anne Carson Photo of Anne Carson holding a microphone and looking offstage as she speaks at The Shed, New York City, 6 March 2018.

1 July 1848: John Cassell established the publishing firm...

Writer or writing item

1 July 1848

John Cassell established the publishing firm of John Cassell in London with the first issue of a weekly newspaper, the Standard of Freedom.
Rose, Jonathan, and Patricia J. Anderson, editors. Dictionary of Literary Biography 106. Gale Research, 1991.
106: 72, 82

7 October 1954: The BBC aired its first television coverage...

National or international item

7 October 1954

The BBC aired its first television coverage of an annual Party Conference (that of the Conservatives, held in Blackpool).
Briggs, Asa. The BBC: The First Fifty Years. Oxford University Press, 1985.
384

1950: Gwendolyn Brooks won the Pulitzer Prize (the...

Writer or writing item

1950

Gwendolyn Brooks won the Pulitzer Prize (the first African American to do so) for her poetry volume Annie Allen. Annie lives, like the poet, on Chicago's South Side (Bronzeville).
Watkins, Mel. “Gwendolyn Brooks, 83, Passionate Poet, Dies”. New York Times, 5 Dec. 2000.