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By 5 October 1984: Martin Amis published a virtuoso, highly...

Writer or writing item

By 5 October 1984

Martin Amis published a virtuoso, highly self-referential novel entitled Money: A Suicide Note.
Korn, Eric. “Frazzled yob-gene lag-jag”. Times Literary Supplement, No. 4253, 5 Oct. 1984, p. 1119.
1119

Spring 1843: The Glasgow Abstinence Society organized...

Building and people item

Spring 1843

The Glasgow Abstinence Society organized the first People's Concert in Britain; these soon became a vehicle for attempts to reform and educate the working classes.
Russell, Dave. Popular Music in England, 1840-1914: A Social History. Manchester University Press, 1987.
26-7

17 July 1890: Cecil John Rhodes, founder of the British...

National or international item

17 July 1890

Cecil John Rhodes , founder of the British South Africa Company , became the prime minister of Cape Colony.
Haydn, Joseph. Haydn’s Dictionary of Dates and Universal Information. Editor Vincent, Benjamin, 23rd ed., Ward, Lock, 1904.
228
Cook, Chris, and John, 1946 - Stevenson. The Longman Handbook of Modern British History, 1714-1980. Longman, 1983.
247

17 April 1774: The inaugural service was held at the first...

Building and people item

17 April 1774

The inaugural service was held at the first Unitarian chapel, in Essex Street, London.
Jebb, John. “Memoirs”. The Works, Theological, Medical, Political, and Miscellaneous, of John Jebb, M.D. F.R.S., edited by John Disney, T. Cadell, J. Johnson, and J. Stockdale; J. and J. Merrill, 1787, pp. 1: 1 - 227.
83
Webb, Robert Kiefer. “Miracles in English Unitarian Thought”. Enlightenment, Passion, Modernity: Historical Essays in European Thought and Culture, edited by Mark S. Micale and Robert L. Dietle, Stanford University Press, 2000, pp. 113-30.
113

1766: A pornographic work masquerading as a novel...

Building and people item

1766

A pornographic work masquerading as a novel was published: Genuine Memoirs of the Celebrated Miss Maria Brown.
London, April. “Avoiding the Subject: The Presence and Absence of Venereal Disease in the Eighteenth-Century English Novel”. The Secret Malady: Venereal Disease in Eighteenth-Century Britain and France, edited by Linda E. Merians, University Press of Kentucky, 1996, pp. 213-27.
223-5
Cox, Michael, editor. The Oxford Chronology of English Literature. Oxford University Press, 2002, 2 vols.

1 June 1912: Women suffragists, nationalists and trades...

National or international item

1 June 1912

Women suffragists, nationalists and trades unionists held a mass meeting in Dublin to insist that female suffrage be included in the Home Rule Bill; their demands were ignored by the Irish Parliamentary Party .
Owens, Rosemary Cullen. Smashing Times: A History of the Irish Women’s Suffrage Movement 1889-1922. Attic, 1984.
51-3
Ward, Margaret. “’Suffrage First--Above All Else!’ An Account of the Irish Suffrage Movement”. Feminist Review, Vol.
10
, 1982, pp. 21-36.
27

2 November 1925: The first train passed through the Khyber...

National or international item

2 November 1925

The first train passed through the Khyber Pass, running from Afghanistan to India.
Keller, Helen, editor. The Dictionary of Dates. Macmillan, 1934, 2 vols.
I: 842

26 September 1901: Ashanti was formally annexed by the UK and...

National or international item

26 September 1901

Ashanti was formally annexed by the UK and placed under the administration of the Gold Coast.
Keller, Helen, editor. The Dictionary of Dates. Macmillan, 1934, 2 vols.
I: 591, 605
Langer, William L., editor. An Encyclopedia of World History: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern, Chronologically Arranged. 4th ed., Houghton Mifflin, 1968.
877

1840s: Advertisers packed London streets with large...

Building and people item

1840s

Advertisers packed London streets with large models of various products; fantastic items such as seven-foot-tall top hats and sides of bacon were frequently seen as they were pulled through the roadways mounted on carts.
Fenstermaker, John J. “Thomas Carlyle, Popular Advertising, and the Commerical Spirit in Victorian England”. Studies in Popular Culture, Vol.
15
, No. 1, 1992, pp. 25-36.
25

1686: John Bunyan's A Book for Boys and Girls;...

Building and people item

1686

John Bunyan 's A Book for Boys and Girls; or, Country Rhimes for Children was published.
Bunyan, John. A Book for Boys and Girls; or, Country Rhimes for Children. Printed for N. P., 1686.
Demers, Patricia, and Robert Gordon Moyles, editors. From Instruction to Delight: An Anthology of Children’s Literature to 1850. Oxford University Press, 1982.
42-4

1938: Routledge and Sons decided not to publish...

Writer or writing item

1938

Routledge and Sons decided not to publish former prostitute Sheila Cousin 's autobiography To Beg I am Ashamed after the publisher received much bad press and threats of prosecution from the police.
Craig, Alec. The Banned Books of England and Other Countries. George Allen and Unwin, 1962.
97
Thomas, Donald. A Long Time Burning: The History of Literary Censorship in England. Frederick A. Praeger, 1969.
305

1937: Passenger ferry service began between Dover...

National or international item

1937

Passenger ferry service began between Dover in England, and Dunkirk in France.
Bruno, Leonard. On the Move: A Chronology of Advances in Transportation. Gale Research, 1993.
229

January 1971: The Open University began teaching its first...

Building and people item

January 1971

The Open University began teaching its first courses.
Bell, Robert, b. 1930, and Malcolm Tight. Open Universities: A British Tradition? Open University Press, 1993.
134

1935: Lilian Barker (later Dame Lilian) was appointed...

Building and people item

1935

Lilian Barker (later Dame Lilian) was appointed the first woman Assistant Commissioner of Prisons, in charge of all female prisoners.
“Women’s History Timeline”. BBC: Radio 4: Woman’s Hour.
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.

1752: Francis Coventry anonymously published The...

Writer or writing item

1752

Francis Coventry anonymously published The History of Pompey the Little; or, the life and adventures of a lap-dog, a novel à clef which satirizes Pompey's successive owners.
English Short Title Catalogue. http://estc.bl.uk/.

January 1965: The Labour government decided on urging,...

Building and people item

January 1965

The Labour government decided on urging, but not compelling, Local Education Authorities to introduce comprehensive secondary schools, ending selection at eleven-plus.
Simon, Brian. The State and Educational Change: Essays in the History of Education and Pedagogy. Lawrence and Wishart, 1994.
169-70

24 December 1922: The first play written for radio, Phyllis...

Building and people item

24 December 1922

The first play written for radio, Phyllis Twigg 's The Truth About Father Christmas, was broadcast in the UK by the BBC .
Harris, Melvin. ITN Book of Firsts. Michael O’Mara Books, 1994.
119
Briggs, Asa. The BBC: The First Fifty Years. Oxford University Press, 1985.
364
Collini, Stefan. “Hierophants”. London Review of Books, 6 Sept. 2007, pp. 25-7.
27

1837-1838: The Select Committee on Transportation, known...

National or international item

1837-1838

The Select Committee on Transportation , known also as the Molesworth Commission, heard reports on the appalling treatment of convicts in Australia; transportation continued for another twenty years, virtually unreformed.
Briggs, John et al. Crime and Punishment in England: An Introductory History. St Martin’s, 1996.
167
Emsley, Clive. Crime and Society in England 1750-1900. 2nd ed., Longman, 1996.
272

24 March 1882: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, poet, died....

Writer or writing item

24 March 1882

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow , poet, died.
“Dictionary of Literary Biography online”. Gale Databases: Literature Resource Center-LRC.
59

1 January 1904: The Motor Car Act (Great Britain) came into...

National or international item

1 January 1904

The Motor Car Act (Great Britain) came into effect: it required drivers to license and register their cars, and raised the speed limit to twenty miles an hour.
Bruno, Leonard. On the Move: A Chronology of Advances in Transportation. Gale Research, 1993.
156, 159
Palmer, Alan, and Veronica Palmer. The Chronology of British History. Century, 1992.
335

By 12 May 1845: Benjamin Disraeli published his condition-of-England...

Writer or writing item

By 12 May 1845

Benjamin Disraeli published his condition-of-England novel Sybil, or The Two Nations.
Drabble, Margaret, editor. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 5th ed., Oxford University Press, 1985.
Stephen, Sir Leslie, and Sidney Lee, editors. The Dictionary of National Biography. Smith, Elder, 1908–2026, 22 vols. plus supplements.
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.
Braun, Thom. Disraeli the Novelist. George Allen and Unwin, 1981.
Athenæum. J. Lection.
916 (1845): 477

1837: The Government School of Design was established...

Building and people item

1837

The Government School of Design was established in London.
Callen, Anthea. Women in the Arts and Crafts Movement 1870-1914. Astragal Books, 1980.
27

6 May 1937: The air dirigible Hindenburg (filled with...

National or international item

6 May 1937

The air dirigible Hindenburg (filled with hydrogen, the largest aircraft ever built) exploded in flame at Lakehurst, New Jersey, as it was coming in to land after a transatlantic flight.
Bruno, Leonard. On the Move: A Chronology of Advances in Transportation. Gale Research, 1993.
230

November 1616: Ben Jonson published his Works, including...

Writer or writing item

November 1616

Ben Jonson published his Works, including (unconventionally) nine plays, as well as masques and two poetry collections.
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.

Marie de France

It is making an assumption to argue that a single individual composed the body of work traditionally attributed to someone whom modern readers have called Marie de France . But one or possibly more women...
Marie de France Marie de France, from an illuminated manuscript by Richard of Verdun. She sits writing (apparently with both hands at once) in an architectural setting, wearing a white hood and mantle over blue sleeves. Bibliothèque Nationale.