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8 May 1876: The death on this day of a Tasmanian Aborigine...

National or international item

8 May 1876

The death on this day of a Tasmanian Aborigine (or Pallawah) woman named Truganini is often erroneously cited as that of the last native Tasmanian.
McGrath, Ann, editor. Contested Ground: Australian Aborigines under the British Crown. Allen and Unwin, 1995.
306-9, 325, 329-30
“Truganini (1812-1876): Tasmanian Aboriginal”. Women Tasmania: Significant Tasmanian Women: Milestones for Tasmanian Women.

8 November 1660: Thomas Killigrew left Davenant and opened...

Building and people item

8 November 1660

Thomas Killigrew left Davenant and opened his own theatre company, the King's , at Gibbons' Tennis Court, Vere Street.
The London Stage 1660-1800. Southern Illinois University Press, 1960–1968, 5 vols.
1: 15
Sutherland, James. English Literature of the Late Seventeenth Century. Clarendon Press, 1969.
32-3

29 April 1852: Physician and polymath Peter Mark Roget published...

Writer or writing item

29 April 1852

Physician and polymath Peter Mark Roget published his Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases; it went through 25 editions in its first two decades, and remained an influential writing tool into the twenty-first century...

1934: Before she was sixteen Margot Fonteyn (later...

Building and people item

1934

Before she was sixteen Margot Fonteyn (later Dame Margot) danced the leading part with the Vic-Wells Ballet Company (later the Royal Ballet ) in Frederick Ashton 's Rio Grande.
Greenspan, Karen. The Timetables of Women’s History. Simon and Shuster, 1994.
334
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.

9 January 1862: Alexandrine P. F. Tinné, a Dutch heiress,...

Building and people item

9 January 1862

Alexandrine P. F. Tinné , a Dutch heiress, left Cairo with her mother and aunt and began an ascent of the White Nile.
Keller, Helen, editor. The Dictionary of Dates. Macmillan, 1934, 2 vols.
I: 583-4

1850: Only 10,000 people were commuting to London...

Building and people item

1850

Only 10,000 people were commuting to London by rail, while up to 244,000 people were commuting there by foot or horse-drawn omnibus.
Bruno, Leonard. On the Move: A Chronology of Advances in Transportation. Gale Research, 1993.
97

23 October 1885: The trial began in London of W. T. Stead...

National or international item

23 October 1885

The trial began in London of W. T. Stead and others for the abduction of Eliza Armstrong , purchased as a white slave.
Walkowitz, Judith R. City of Dreadful Delight. University of Chicago Press, 1992.
106-7

1 June 1980: CNN, the world's first 24-hour television...

Building and people item

1 June 1980

CNN , the world's first 24-hour television news channel, was launched in the USA. It went on to change the style of news reporting worldwide.
“Some Defining Moments of CNN’s First 25 Years”. CNN.com, 19 June 2005.

1998: The British Heritage Lottery Fund made a...

Building and people item

1998

The British Heritage Lottery Fund made a grant of 4.2 million pounds towards a much-needed new building for the Women's Library , formerly the Fawcett Library .
“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

30 March 1919: Mohandas Gandhi proclaimed a hartal (work...

National or international item

30 March 1919

Mohandas Gandhi proclaimed a hartal (work stoppage) as part of satyagraha (passive resistance) against the Rowlatt Acts, which gave the Indian Government sweeping Emergency Powers, aimed especially against sedition.
Keller, Helen, editor. The Dictionary of Dates. Macmillan, 1934, 2 vols.
I: 838-9
Langer, William L., editor. An Encyclopedia of World History: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern, Chronologically Arranged. 4th ed., Houghton Mifflin, 1968.
1101

1543: Andreas Vesalius, professor of anatomy at...

Building and people item

1543

Andreas Vesalius , professor of anatomy at Padua University, published De humani corporis fabrica, and Nicolaus Copernicus published De revolutionibus.
Laqueur, Thomas. “Even Immortality”. London Review of Books, 29 July 1999, pp. 3-9.
5
Sobel, Dava. Galileo’s Daughter. Viking, 1999.
173

25 July 1907: Robert Baden-Powell founded the Boy Scout...

Building and people item

25 July 1907

Robert Baden-Powell founded the Boy Scout movement. Its purpose was to teach outdoor survival and character building through an approach which moved its learners through successive levels of skills.
Seymour, David, and Emily Seymour, editors. A Century of News. Contender Books, 2003.

1829: The British Association for Promoting Co-operative...

National or international item

1829

The British Association for Promoting Co-operative Knowledge was founded.
Goodway, David. London Chartism, 1838-1848. Cambridge University Press, 1982.
21

7 May 1937: The first successful pressurized aeroplane...

National or international item

7 May 1937

The first successful pressurized aeroplane cabin was created, allowing planes to fly higher than before.
Bruno, Leonard. On the Move: A Chronology of Advances in Transportation. Gale Research, 1993.
231

1821: John Power published Essays on the Female...

Building and people item

1821

John Power published Essays on the Female Economy.
Moscucci, Ornella. The Science of Woman: Gynaecology and Gender in England, 1800-1929. Cambridge University Press, 1990.
24-5

1652: The Græcian Coffee-House, probably the first...

Building and people item

1652

The Græcian Coffee-House, probably the first coffee-house in London though not in England, opened in the Strand near the Temple Bar.
Steele, Sir Richard, and Joseph Addison. Selections from the Tatler and Spectator. Editor Ross, Angus, Penguin, 1982.
505n3

4 June 1910: Schéhérazade (with music by Nicolas Rimsky-Korsakov)...

Building and people item

4 June 1910

Schéhérazade (with music by Nicolas Rimsky-Korsakov ) was first performed in Paris by Diaghilev 's Ballets Russes or Russian Ballet .
Laver, James, and Christina Probert. Costume and Fashion: A Concise History. Thames and Hudson, 1982.
224
Yarwood, Doreen. Five Hundred Years of Technology in the Home. B. T. Batsford, 1983.
256
Angeloglou, Maggie. A History of Make-up. Studio Vista, 1970.
115-16

1975: Anne Sayre, in her biography Rosalind Franklin...

Building and people item

1975

Anne Sayre , in her biography Rosalind Franklin and DNA, set the record straight about Franklin's part in the Nobel-prize-winning research previously credited exclusively to James D. Watson , Francis Crick , and Maurice Wilkins .
Rose, Hilary. “In the Shadow of the Men”. The Guardian, 15 June 2002, p. 7.
7

13 May 1904: The Anglo-Chinese labour convention incorporated...

National or international item

13 May 1904

The Anglo-Chinese labour convention incorporated regulations for the import and control of Chinese labourers in the Transvaal.
Keller, Helen, editor. The Dictionary of Dates. Macmillan, 1934, 2 vols.
I: 794, 751

15 February 1751: Thomas Gray published his Elegy Written in...

Writer or writing item

15 February 1751

Thomas Gray published his Elegy Written in a Country Church-yard, to forestall unauthorized publication.
Gray, Thomas, and William, poet Collins. Thomas Gray and William Collins: Poetical Works. Editor Lonsdale, Roger, Oxford University Press, 1977.
34

1 November 1907: The British Museum's reading room reopened...

Building and people item

1 November 1907

The British Museum 's reading room reopened after being cleaned and redecorated; the dome was embellished with the names of canonical male writers, beginning with Chaucer and ending with Browning .
Harris, Philip Rowland. A History of the British Museum Library 1753-1973. The British Library Board, 1998.
432-3
Woolf, Virginia, and Hermione Lee. A Room of One’s Own; and, Three Guineas. Chatto and Windus; Hogarth Press, 1984.
25
Woolf, Virginia. Jacob’s Room; and, The Waves. Harcourt, Brace, and World, 1959.
106

August 1958: As part of China's collectivization programme...

National or international item

August 1958

As part of China's collectivization programme for agriculture, Mao Zedong decreed that peasants should build large collective dining halls, shower halls, nurseries, and old people's homes to take over the functions of the obsolete family.
Scott, James C. “Tyranny of the Ladle”. London Review of Books, Vol.
34
, No. 23, 6 Dec. 2012, pp. 21-8.
27

2 June 2002: Caroline Hamilton and Ann Daniels completed...

Building and people item

2 June 2002

Caroline Hamilton and Ann Daniels completed their trek to the North Pole, two years after successfully reaching the South Pole.
“Women’s History Timeline”. BBC: Radio 4: Woman’s Hour.

28 September 1593: Christopher Marlowe's poem Hero and Leander...

Writer or writing item

28 September 1593

Christopher Marlowe 's poem Hero and Leander was posthumously entered in the Stationers' Register .
Arber, Edward, editor. A Transcript of the Registers of the Company of Stationers of London 1554-1660, A. D. Privately Printed, 1875–1894, 5 vols.

19 January 1976: Inside Linda Lovelace, the purported autobiography...

Building and people item

19 January 1976

Inside Linda Lovelace, the purported autobiography of Lovelace (real name Linda Boreman ), who starred in the hardcore pornographic film Deep Throat, published in London in 1974, was brought to trial for obscenity...