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June 1793: Baptist pastor William Carey and his family...

National or international item

June 1793

Baptist pastor William Carey and his family set sail for India; Carey was the first English-speaking missionary in the sub-continent.
Neill, Stephen. A History of Christian Missions. 2nd ed., Penguin, 1990.
223

14 August 1893: Motorists in France were required to obtain...

Building and people item

14 August 1893

Motorists in France were required to obtain a licence to drive, after first passing a driving test. Britain was one of the last countries to require such a test.
Bruno, Leonard. On the Move: A Chronology of Advances in Transportation. Gale Research, 1993.
139

Louisa Baldwin

Over the course of her writing career (during the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth), LB published four novels, two collections of children's stories, one collection of gothic ghost stories...
Louisa Baldwin Photograph of a painting of Louisa Baldwin by Edward Poynter. The background (patterned wallpaper, a painting on the wall, ornaments) is mostly blue. She sits in a carved black chair, wearing a simple black dress with four strands of blue beads around her neck, and a paper fan clasped in her hands.

July 1935: Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant were painting...

Building and people item

July 1935

Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant were painting wall-panels for a new Cunard transatlantic liner, the Queen Mary.
Woolf, Virginia. The Letters of Virginia Woolf. Editors Nicolson, Nigel and Joanne Trautmann, Hogarth Press, 1975–1980, 6 vols.
5: 417

29 January 1884: The first fascicle of the New English Dictionary...

Writer or writing item

29 January 1884

The first fascicle of the New English Dictionary (later Oxford English Dictionary) reached print, covering the beginning of the alphabet, from A to Ant.
Winchester, Simon. The Meaning of Everything. Oxford University Press, 2003.
132-3

1858: After a terrible explosion in the ironworks...

Building and people item

1858

After a terrible explosion in the ironworks at Grove Hill, Middlesbrough, a group of women opened an emergency hospital; this was later to become the Anglican Community of the Holy Rood .
Anson, Peter F. The Call of the Cloister: Religious Communities and Kindred Bodies in the Anglican Communion. Editor Campbell, A. W., Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1964.
371-2

1804: The Chester Chronicle reported that drawers...

Building and people item

1804

The Chester Chronicle reported that drawers (knickers or underpants) were now the fashion for English ladies.
Cunnington, C. Willett et al. The History of Underclothes. Revised, Faber and Faber, 1981.
72

Queen Elizabeth I

QEI was a scholar by training and inclination (who wrote translations both as learning exercises and for recreation), as well as a writer in many genres and several languages. As monarch she wrote speeches, and...
Queen Elizabeth I Full-length portrait of Queen Elizabeth I, by the school of Nicholas Hilliard, 1590. Behind her two hovering angels prepare to crown her. She wears formal and elaborate clothes: tight blonde curls, a ruff, a stiff bodice, petticoat and over-skirt in intricate brocade patterns, deep lace cuffs, strings of pearls and several rings. A lengthy Latin inscription calls her an invincible virgin, mistress of all sciences, founder of Jesus College, Oxford, where the painting hangs.

17 July 1958: The UK sent troops to Jordan at the request...

National or international item

17 July 1958

The UK sent troops to Jordan at the request of King Hussein , after the republican revolution in Iraq.
Palmer, Alan, and Veronica Palmer. The Chronology of British History. Century, 1992.
413
Steinberg, Sigfrid Henry. Historical Tables: 58 BC-AD 1985. 11th ed., Garland Publishing, 1986.
256
Williams, Neville. Chronology of the Modern World: 1763 to the Present Time. David McKay, 1967.
662, 664

1877: Using proceeds won at horse racing, Mr James...

Building and people item

1877

Using proceeds won at horse racing, Mr James Rosebery Smith set up a Bon Marché in Brixton; this was the first English enterprise set up explicitly as a department store.
Adburgham, Alison. Shops and Shopping 1800-1914: Where, and in What Manner the Well-Dressed Englishwoman Bought Her Clothes. Allen and Unwin, 1964.
169-71

1803: The year after Mary Hays's Female Biography,...

Writer or writing item

1803

The year after Mary Hays 's Female Biography, there appeared Eccentric Biography: or, Memoirs of Remarkable Female Characters, Ancient and Modern.
Guest, Harriet. Small Change: Women, Learning, Patriotism, 1750-1810. University of Chicago Press, 2000.
171

December 1835: Feargus O'Connor toured the North of England,...

National or international item

December 1835

Feargus O'Connor toured the North of England, lecturing and founding local Chartist associations.
Royle, Edward. Chartism. Longman, 1980.
20, 131
Taylor, Miles. “Knife and Fork Question”. London Review of Books, 29 Nov. 2001, pp. 28-9.
28

4 August 1914: George Allen and Unwin Limited formally registered...

Writer or writing item

4 August 1914

George Allen and Unwin Limited formally registered as a publisher in London.
Rose, Jonathan, and Patricia J. Anderson, editors. Dictionary of Literary Biography 112. Gale Research, 1991.
5
Myers, Robin. The British Book Trade, from Caxton to the Present Day. Andre Deutsch in association with the National Book League, 1973.
333

1732: John Cowper argued against the practice of...

Building and people item

1732

John Cowper argued against the practice of enclosure in An Essay Proving that Inclosuring of Commons . . . is Contrary to the Interest of the Nation.
Neeson, J. M. Commoners: Common Right, Enclosure and Social Change in England, 1700-1820. Cambridge University Press, 1993.
20, n18

26-27 July 1852: The first Congress of Co-Operative Trades...

National or international item

26-27 July 1852

The first Congress of Co-Operative Trades Unions met in London.
Steinberg, Sigfrid Henry. Historical Tables: 58 BC-AD 1985. 11th ed., Garland Publishing, 1986.
201

16 October 1987: In the early hours of the morning a violent...

National or international item

16 October 1987

In the early hours of the morning a violent storm battered the south of England, with winds reaching a hundred kilometres an hour in some places.
OCLC WorldCat. 1992–1998, http://www.oclc.org/firstsearch/content/worldcat/. Accessed 1999.
Tew, Philip. Zadie Smith. Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.
30

September 1964: Liverpool city council provided a grant for...

Building and people item

September 1964

Liverpool city council provided a grant for the founding of the Everyman Theatre , which became a centre for popular culture and radical play-writing.
Hickling, Alfred. “’You could be watching an exciting new musical while sitting on a bag of cement’”. The Guardian, 8 Sept. 2004, pp. G16 - G17.
G16

By 6 July 1957: The Tory government repealed Labour's Rent...

Building and people item

By 6 July 1957

The Tory government repealed Labour's Rent Control Act, 1954, and passed a new Act which decontrolled the rents of 600,000 houses in London alone.
“The Times Digital Archive 1785-2007”. Thompson Gale: The Times Digital Archive.
(6 July 1957): 7; (28 October 1957): 14; (10 December 1957): 11

10 August 1911: The Parliament Act passed the House of Lords,...

National or international item

10 August 1911

The Parliament Act passed the House of Lords , bringing about some curtailment in that body's powers.
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.
under Asquith

From 30 August 1976: Three nights of race riots took place at...

National or international item

From 30 August 1976

Three nights of race riots took place at the end of the annual Notting Hill Carnival, following on provocation from racist groups. Notting Hill had been the scene of race riots in 1958, instigated by...

23 November 1552: Christ's Hospital was founded in London to...

Building and people item

23 November 1552

Christ's Hospital was founded in London to supply meat, drink, clothes, lodging, learning, and attendants for children of the poor, both boys and girls.
Pedersen, Joyce Senders. The Reform of Girls’ Secondary and Higher Education in Victorian England: A Study of Elites and Educational Change. Garland, 1987.
38
Borer, Mary Cathcart. Willingly to School: A History of Women’s Education. Lutterworth Press, 1976.
58, 56-64, 133-4

9 November 1671: The Duke's Company (now managed by Lady Davenant)...

Building and people item

9 November 1671

The Duke's Company (now managed by Lady Davenant ) opened a splendid new theatre in Dorset Garden, London.
The London Stage 1660-1800. Southern Illinois University Press, 1960–1968, 5 vols.
1: 185

July 1990: A British judge sentenced a man to three...

Building and people item

July 1990

A British judge sentenced a man to three years in prison for raping his estranged wife; this potentially extended the law on marital rape (which was still illegal only if a wife had already obtained...

10 February 1793: The president of the Dijon women's club published...

Building and people item

10 February 1793

The president of the Dijon women's club published a reasoned argument for the freedom and equality of women.
Godineau, Dominique. The Women of Paris and Their French Revolution. Translator Streip, Katherine, University of California Press, 1998.
289, 370

October 1901: George G. Harrap and Company was founded...

Writer or writing item

October 1901

George G. Harrap and Company was founded at 15 York Street, Covent Garden, London.
Rose, Jonathan, and Patricia J. Anderson, editors. Dictionary of Literary Biography 112. Gale Research, 1991.
112: 142
Mumby, Frank Arthur, and Ian Norrie. Mumby’s Publishing and Bookselling in the Twentieth Century. 6th ed., Bell and Hyman, 1982.
58