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December 1891: William Butler Yeats established (in London)...

Writer or writing item

December 1891

William Butler Yeats established (in London) the Irish Literary Society ; the National Literary Society at Dublin followed the next year.
“Dictionary of Literary Biography online”. Gale Databases: Literature Resource Center-LRC.
19

10 November 1855: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow published The...

Writer or writing item

10 November 1855

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow published The Song of Hiawatha.
Drabble, Margaret, editor. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 5th ed., Oxford University Press, 1985.
Chamberlain, Jacob Chester, and Luther S. Livingston. A Bibliography of the First Editions in Book Form of the Writings of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Privately printed by De Vinne Press, 1908.
57-8

Hilary Mantel

The author of twelve novels (ranging from political thrillers through social satire, comedy of manners, and near-gothic), still at the height of her career, HM has been likened to Muriel Spark or Edna O'Brien for...

Florence Farr

FF has received less attention for her own writing than for the role she played in men's: Shaw and Yeats created dramatic roles for her; Pound wrote poetry about her; and she put into practice...
Florence Farr Black and white photo of Florence Farr standing with her left hand on her waist, looking off to the left. Her dress has a wide, long skirt, and large lacy ruffles at collar and cuffs. She seems to be standing in front of a curtain.

9 August 1721: Charles Maitland, under the patronage of...

Building and people item

9 August 1721

Charles Maitland , under the patronage of Princess Caroline , experimentally inoculated six Newgate prisoners (three of each sex) against smallpox.
Grundy, Isobel. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu: Comet of the Enlightenment. Clarendon, 1999.
213

April 1827: The Regent's Park Zoo, or Zoological Gardens,...

Building and people item

April 1827

The Regent's Park Zoo , or Zoological Gardens, opened, with restricted access and greater emphasis on science than on spectacle.
Jones, Robert W. “‘The Sight of Creatures Strange to Our Clime’: London Zoo and the Consumption of the Exotic”. Journal of Victorian Culture, No. 1, 1997, pp. 1-26.
1
Haydn, Joseph. Haydn’s Dictionary of Dates and Universal Information. Editor Vincent, Benjamin, 23rd ed., Ward, Lock, 1904.
under Zoology

11 November 1992: The General Synod of the Church of England...

Building and people item

11 November 1992

The General Synod of the Church of England voted to allow women priests; this was the culmination of a long campaign for the ordination of women.
Williams, Neville et al. Chronology of the 20th Century. Helicon, 1996.
511, 517

18 March 1889: As a result of the suit of Beresford Hope...

National or international item

18 March 1889

As a result of the suit of Beresford Hope v. Sandhurst, Margaret, Lady Sandhurst , lost her position on the London County Council .
Hollis, Patricia. Ladies Elect: Women in English Local Government, 1865-1914. Clarendon, 1987.
310-11, 320
Halevy, Elie. The Rule of Democracy 1905-1914. Translator Watkin, Edward Ingram, Second (revised) Edition, Peter Smith, 1952, 2 vols.
513

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...

25 December 1066: William of Normandy assumed the throne of...

National or international item

25 December 1066

William of Normandy assumed the throne of England after the death of Edward the Confessor , and after defeating Harold at the Battle of Hastings in Sussex.
Fryde, Edmund Boleslaw. Handbook of British Chronology. Editors Greenway, D. E. et al., 3rd ed., Offices of the Royal Historical Society, 1986.
34
Haydn, Joseph. Haydn’s Dictionary of Dates and Universal Information. Editor Vincent, Benjamin, 23rd ed., Ward, Lock, 1904.
424

1920: Bernard Newdigate (formerly of the Arden...

Writer or writing item

1920

Bernard Newdigate (formerly of the Arden Press ) joined with publisher Basil Blackwell to buy the Shakespeare Head Press after A. H. Bullen 's death in 1919.
Clair, Colin. A Chronology of Printing. Cassell, 1969.
175
Rose, Jonathan, and Patricia J. Anderson, editors. Dictionary of Literary Biography 106. Gale Research, 1991.
54-5

April 2012: The Leadership Conference of Women Religious,...

Building and people item

April 2012

The Leadership Conference of Women Religious , which represents about 80 percent of American Roman Catholic nuns, was sharply reprimanded by the Vatican 's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for serious doctrinal problems.
Pullella, Philip. “Vatican tells U. S. nuns its doctrine is supremeEdmonton Journal, 13 June 2012, p. A21.

20 October 1822: Thomas Hughes, novelist, was born at Uffington...

Writer or writing item

20 October 1822

Thomas Hughes , novelist, was born at Uffington near Faringdon, Berkshire.
“Dictionary of Literary Biography online”. Gale Databases: Literature Resource Center-LRC.
163

12 April 1799: Frances Abington, a popular actress who had...

Building and people item

12 April 1799

Frances Abington , a popular actress who had been before the public for forty-four years (with a short-lived retirement in 1797-8), made her last appearance at Covent Garden Theatre .
The London Stage 1660-1800. Southern Illinois University Press, 1960–1968, 5 vols.
5: 1992, 2098, 2160-1

May 2008: News broke of a grant of four million pounds...

Building and people item

May 2008

News broke of a grant of four million pounds from the Heritage Lottery Fund for a museum of Black British history, to be established in Raleigh Hall in Brixton, South London.
Kennedy, Maev, and Elizabeth Manzi. “After 30 years, black archive gets a permanent home”. The Guardian, 9 May 2008, p. 17.
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28 October 2008: Nina Sankovitch, an American woman with a...

Writer or writing item

28 October 2008

Nina Sankovitch , an American woman with a law degree, a job, and a family, embarked on her forty-sixth birthday on a year of reading a book a day and posting an online review of...

End of May 1942: Beryl Markham, horsewoman and aviator, published...

Women writers item

End of May 1942

Beryl Markham , horsewoman and aviator, published her memoir of her life in Africa, West with the Night, a work often compared with Out of Africa by Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen) .
Lovell, Mary S. Straight On Till Morning. Hutchinson, 1987.
3, 234-6, 241

25 April 1974: Nearly four years after the death of Portuguese...

National or international item

25 April 1974

Nearly four years after the death of Portuguese dictator Antonio de Oliveira Salazar , an army coup toppled Marcello Caetano and the authoritarian regime which Salazar had established in 1933.
“The Times Digital Archive 1785-2007”. Thompson Gale: The Times Digital Archive.
59074 (26 April 1974): 1

Menella Bute Smedley

MBS published or co-published around fifteen titles in various genres: stories, novels, poetry, and books for children, besides her contribution to parliamentary reports about pauper schools. Her poetry makes accomplished and at times innovative use...

1834: Great Britain began to grow tea in India...

National or international item

1834

Great Britain began to grow tea in India for the home market; the trade was highly profitable.
Toussaint-Samat, Maguelonne. A History of Food. Translator Bell, Anthea, Blackwell, 1992.
598

11 November 1929: Ernest Hemingway's war novel A Farewell to...

Writer or writing item

11 November 1929

Ernest Hemingway 's war novel A Farewell to Arms, about an American soldier on the Italian front, was advertised by Jonathan Cape as due to be published in London on Remembrance Day, six weeks...

1890: The London Booksellers' Society was foun...

Writer or writing item

1890

The London Booksellers' Society was founded.
Kingsford, Reginald John Lethbridge. The Publisher’s Association, 1896-1946. Cambridge University Press, 1970.
3
Mumby, Frank Arthur, and Ian Norrie. Mumby’s Publishing and Bookselling in the Twentieth Century. 6th ed., Bell and Hyman, 1982.
16
Feltes, Norman N. Modes of Production of Victorian Novels. University of Chicago Press, 1986.
79

November 1907: Charlotte Despard and Teresa Billington Greig...

National or international item

November 1907

Charlotte Despard and Teresa Billington Greig left the Women's Social and Political Union to form the Women's Freedom League .
Holton, Sandra Stanley. “Women and the Vote”. Women’s History: Britain, 1850-1945, edited by June Purvis and June Purvis, University College London, 1995, pp. 277-05.
291
Garner, Les. Stepping Stones to Women’s Liberty: Feminist Ideas in the Women’s Suffrage Movement, 1900-1918. Heinemann Educational, 1984.
29

1823: The sixth edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica...

Writer or writing item

1823

The sixth edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica dropped the typographical long s which had been used up to the fifth edition, in 1817.
Rosen, Michael. Alphabetical: How Every Letter Tells a Story. John Murray, 2013.
292

1891: William Morris published his collection Poems...

Writer or writing item

1891

William Morris published his collection Poems by the Way at his own Kelmscott Press .
“Dictionary of Literary Biography online”. Gale Databases: Literature Resource Center-LRC.
35