Key Victorian Events

Literary and other events of the Victorian period

Timeline

Table of Events

Date	Event	Created by
1815 to 1870	Italian Risorgimento To be written	Karen Dieleman
28 Jun 1838	Queen Victoria Queen Victoria began her reign after her coronation on June 28, 1838. This was the beginning of a 63 year long reign as monarchy which is the longest reign of any British monarch to date. Her husband, Prince Albert, greatly influenced how she ruled as monarch. Victoria loved and respected him as he helped change her habits and her political sympathies as well as training in how to conduct business, maintain the ministry of home life, and in establishing a private intelligence service abroad. Queen Victoria’s reign was marked by important improvements within Britain. A few important improvements include accelerated industrial, political, and military progress. These progressions are part of the reason why an era was named after Victoria. She was a queen who desired to keep political power as a monarch and was reigning during the transformation of the sovereign’s political role into a ceremonial role. Victoria believed that the sovereign had an important and active role in in British politics. The sovereign’s role in foreign affairs and in keeping alliances held sincere importance. Queen Victoria marked the end of the Romantic period. Sources: http://www.keats-shelley-house.org/en/romanticism/timeline-1837 https://www.britannica.com/biography/Victoria-queen-of-United-Kingdom https://www.thevintagenews.com/2018/11/18/queen-victoria/	Victoria Heltzel
17 Jul 1841	Punch launched On July 17 1841, Punch, a mass-circulation periodical, was launched. Articles Lorraine Janzen Kooistra, “The Moxon Tennyson as Textual Event: 1857, Wood Engraving, and Visual Culture”	David Rettenmaier
2 May 1842	Second Chartist Petition Presentation of the Second Chartist Petition to the House of Commons on 2 May 1842. Like the first Chartist Petition, which was presented in June 1839, this was rejected without a hearing on the next day, 3 May 1842. Image: Engraving depicting a Chartist riot from 1886 book True Stories of the Reign of Queen Victoria by Cornelius Brown. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Articles Chris R. Vanden Bossche, "On Chartism" Related Articles Jo Briggs, “1848 and 1851: A Reconsideration of the Historical Narrative”	David Rettenmaier
8 Aug 1842	Manchester strike Manchester strikes began on 8 August 1842. Following the rejection of the second petition, the Chartists sought to join forces with striking workers in the industrial region around Manchester, who were protesting a reduction in wages, but once again government forces moved quickly to suppress the ensuing riots. Image: Engraving depicting a Chartist riot from 1886 book True Stories of the Reign of Queen Victoria by Cornelius Brown. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Articles Chris R. Vanden Bossche, "On Chartism" Related Articles Jo Briggs, “1848 and 1851: A Reconsideration of the Historical Narrative”	David Rettenmaier
1843	Wordsworth becomes Poet Laureate To be written	Karen Dieleman
24 May 1843	Pusey's Oxford Sermon on the Eucharist On 24 May 1843, E. B. Pusey gave a sermon at Christ Church, Oxford, on “The Holy Eucharist a Comfort to the Penitent”; the University authorities deemed the sermon heretical and punished Pusey, an act which constituted a key skirmish between the Oxford Movement and the Established Church. Articles Laura Mooneyham White, "On Pusey's Oxford Sermon on the Eucharist, 24 May 1843" Related Articles Barbara Charlesworth Gelpi, "14 July 1833: John Keble's Assize Sermon, National Apostasy"	Karen Dieleman
1844	Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation published Written by Edinburgh publisher Robert Chambers but published anonymously in October 1844, Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation provided a grand cosmic narrative of evolutionary change and became an immediate sensation. Its condemnation by leaders of both science and the church contributed to Charles Darwin’s delay in publishing his own evolutionary theory but also helped spread acceptance of what was then called “the transmutation of species” and “the development hypothesis.” Image: Robert Chambers, c. 1863. Reproduced from John van Wyhe, The History of Phrenology on the Web. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Articles Jonathan Smith, “The Huxley-Wilberforce ‘Debate’ on Evolution, 30 June 1860″ Related Articles Nancy Armstrong, “On Charles Darwin’s The Descent of Man, 24 February 1871″ Ian Duncan, “On Charles Darwin and the Voyage of the Beagle” Anna Henchman, “Charles Darwin’s Final Book on Earthworms, 1881” Martin Meisel, "On the Age of the Universe" Cannon Schmitt, “On the Publication of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, 1859″ Daniel Bivona, “On W. K. Clifford and ‘The Ethics of Belief,’ 11 April 1876″	Karen Dieleman
1844	Elizabeth Barrett publishes A Drama of Exile and Other Poems To be written	Karen Dieleman
1 Jul 1848	Trial of Chartist leaders Trial and conviction of the prominent Chartist Ernest Jones and other Chartist leaders, July 1848. Image: A daguerrotype of Ernest Charles Jones, taken in the 1850s. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. The summer of 1848 witnesses violence as Chartist leaders are arrested and secret plots against the government are infiltrated. By the end of August, after the arrest of several hundred Chartists and Irish Confederates, the movement for violent uprising in England is broken. Articles Jo Briggs, “1848 and 1851: A Reconsideration of the Historical Narrative” Chris Vanden Bossche, "On Chartism"	David Rettenmaier
Sep 1848	Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood founded In September 1848, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was founded by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. The brotherhood reacts, in part, against the use of bitumen, a transparent brown used for depicting exaggerated shadows, aiming instead to reproduce the sharp, brilliant colors found in fifteenth-century art. Image: Portrait of Dante Gabriel Rossetti: albumen print. This photograph, from 7 October 1863, was reproduced as the frontispiece of: Rossetti, William Michael, Dante Gabriel Rossetti as Designer and Writer. London: Cassell and Company, 1898. Related Articles Elizabeth Helsinger, “Lyric Poetry and the Event of Poems, 1870″ Lorraine Janzen Kooistra, “The Moxon Tennyson as Textual Event: 1857, Wood Engraving, and Visual Culture” Morna O’Neill, “On Walter Crane and the Aims of Decorative Art” Linda M. Shires, "On Color Theory, 1835: George Field’s Chromatography" Linda M. Shires, “Color Theory—Charles Lock Eastlake’s 1840 Translation of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Zur Farbenlehre (Theory of Colours)”	David Rettenmaier
1850	Alfred, Lord Tennyson becomes Poet Laureate To be written	Karen Dieleman
1850	Elizabeth Barrett Browning publishes Sonnets from the Portuguese To be written	Karen Dieleman
1850	Alfred, Lord Tennyson publishes In Memorium A.H.H. To be written	Karen Dieleman
Feb 1850	“The Blessed Damozel” In February 1850, publication of Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s “The Blessed Damozel.” Image: The Blessed Damozel, oil on canvas, Fogg Museum of Art, Harvard University. Completed c. 1871-78. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Related Articles Jill Galvan, “Tennyson’s Ghosts: The Psychical Research Case of the Cross-Correspondences, 1901-c.1936″	David Rettenmaier
Jun 1850	In Memoriam In June 1850, publication of Alfred Tennyson’s In Memoriam A.H.H. Image: Julia Margaret Cameron, Carbon print of Alfred Lord Tennyson, 1869, printed 1875/79 (The Art Institute of Chicago). This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Related Articles Jill Galvan, “Tennyson’s Ghosts: The Psychical Research Case of the Cross-Correspondences, 1901-c.1936″	David Rettenmaier
29 Sep 1850	Pope Pius IX restores England's Roman Catholic ecclesiastical hierarchy On 29 September 1850, Pius IX restored England’s ecclesiastical hierarchy; the post-seventeenth-century system of Vicars Apostolic was replaced with a hierarchy in line with the system still in place in Ireland. This change contributed to the so-called Papal Aggression over the years 1850-52, a campaign against Roman Catholocism. Articles Miriam Burstein, “The ‘Papal Aggression’ Controversy, 1850-52″ Related Articles Barbara Charlesworth Gelpi (Stanford), “14 July 1833: John Keble’s Assize Sermon, National Apostasy” Laura Mooneyham White (U Nebraska, Lincoln), “On Pusey’s Oxford Sermon on the Eucharist, 24 May 1843″	Karen Dieleman
1851	Charles Dickens publishes Great Expectations To be written	Karen Dieleman
Jan 1851	London Labour and the London Poor 1851 saw the publication of Henry Mayhew's London Labour and the London Poor. London Labour appeared as a series of articles in the Morning Chronicle throughout the 1840s, before being compiled into three volumes in 1851. Exact month of publication unknown; if you have information about the correct date, please email felluga@purdue.edu with this information. The articles were innovative in the way they articulated the voices of the poorer classes of London. As an ethnographic study, Mayhew’s work explores the multicultural textures of Britain’s center, drawing attention to the ethnic diversity within a nation determined to maintain a stable national and cultural identity. Image: Henry Mayhew, taken from the 1861 edition of London Labour and the London Poor. This image is in the public domain in the United States as its copyright has expired. Articles Lesa Scholl, “Irish Migration to London During the c.1845-52 Famine: Henry Mayhew’s Representation in London Labour and the London Poor“ Heidi Kaufman, “1800-1900: Inside and Outside the Nineteenth-Century East End”	David Rettenmaier
1851	Release of Religious Census of the United Kingdom The United Kingdom released its religious census. The returns revealed that four out of five worshipers in Wales attended Nonconformist places of worship rather than Anglican Churches. Image: Cover of the original census report. This image is part of the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Courtesy of Google Books. Articles Matthew Jones, “On Nineteenth-Century Welsh Literacies, and the ‘Blue Book’ Education Reports of 1847”	Karen Dieleman
1851	George Eliot publishes The Mill on the Floss To be written	Karen Dieleman
1 May 1851 to 15 Oct 1851	Great Exhibition Held from May to October of 1851, “The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations” was opened by Queen Victoria in the structure built to house it, the Crystal Palace, in Hyde Park, London. Image: Interior view of the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London during the Great Exhibition of 1851. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. The Great Exhibition of 1851 was an event in the history of: exhibitions; world’s fairs; consumerism; imperialism; architecture; collections; things; glass and material culture in general; visual culture; attention and inattention; distraction. Its ostensible purposes, as stated by the organizing commission and various promoters, most notably Prince Albert, were chiefly to celebrate the industry and ingeniousness of various world cultures, primarily the British, and to inform and educate the public about the achievement, workmanship, science and industry that produced the numerous and multifarious objects and technologies on display. Designed by Joseph Paxton, the Crystal Palace (pictured above) was a structure of iron and glass conceptually derived from greenhouses and railway stations, but also resembling the shopping arcades of Paris and London. The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations became a model for World’s Fairs, by which invited nations showcased the best in manufacturing, design, and art, well into the twentieth century. Articles Audrey Jaffe, "On the Great Exhibition" Related Articles Aviva Briefel, "On the 1886 Colonial and Indian Exhibition" Anne Helmreich, “On the Opening of the Crystal Palace at Sydenham, 1854″ Anne Clendinning, “On The British Empire Exhibition, 1924-25″ Barbara Leckie, “Prince Albert’s Exhibition Model Dwellings” Carol Senf, “‘The Fiddler of the Reels’: Hardy’s Reflection on the Past”	David Rettenmaier
18 Nov 1852	Wellington's funeral After a two-month delay, Wellington was buried at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London on 18 November 1852 after a procession watched by 1.5 million people and a funeral service attended by 10,000. At the time the funeral was almost certainly the most costly and spectacular in English history, and it was undoubtedly so for anyone not a member of the royal family. Image: Sir Thomas Lawrence, Portrait of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1814). This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Articles Sean Grass, “On the Death of the Duke of Wellington, 14 September 1852″	David Rettenmaier
1853 to 1856	Crimean War To be written	Karen Dieleman
Aug 1853 to Nov 1854	Cholera Epidemic The third major cholera epidemic in the UK began in August 1853 and extended through November 1854. It is during this epidemic that John Snow deduced the mode of transmission, by water contaminated with feces. Articles Pamela Gilbert, "On Cholera in Nineteenth-Century England"	David Rettenmaier
2 Oct 1853 to 30 Mar 1856	Crimean War The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. Britain enters the conflict on 28 March 1854. Image: Photograph of Cornet Henry John Wilkin, by Roger Fenton (1855). Wilkin survived the Charge of the Light Brigade. This image is available from the United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID cph.3g09124. The image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Articles Stefanie Markovits, "On the Crimean War and the Charge of the Light Brigade"	David Rettenmaier
1854	Roman pavement discovered On March 1854, a mosaic pavement from Roman Londinium was discovered beneath the Excise Office between Bishopgate Street and Broad Street. Image: Engraving, “Tessellated Pavement,” from Charles Roach Smith’s Illustrations of Roman London (1859). This image is in the public domain in the United States as its copyright has expired. Articles Virginia Zimmerman, "On Accidental Archaeology"	David Rettenmaier
28 Mar 1854	Britain declares war on Russia, thus entering the Crimean War On 28 March 1854, Britain declares war against Russia, thus entering the Crimean War. Image: Russo-British skirmish during Crimean War (anonymous plate). This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. In 1854, in defense of the Turks and of British access to eastern trade routes, Britain entered into war in the Crimea (click for geospatial information). The two-year campaign represented the nation’s first major military engagement since the end of the Napoleonic wars. It thus sheds light on mid-Victorian attitudes towards national identity, offering a counter-narrative to views of the 1850s dominated by responses to the Great Exhibition of 1851. As literary and visual representations of the war reveal, reactions to this conflict were both more nuanced and more ambivalent than our preconceptions about Victorian jingoism might anticipate. Articles Stefanie Markovits, "On the Crimean War and the Charge of the Light Brigade"	Karen Dieleman
10 Jun 1854	Sydenham Crystal Palace opens Opening of the Crystal Palace at Sydenham on 10 June 1854. Image: The Crystal Palace on fire (30 November 1936; author unknown). This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. The resurrection of the Crystal Palace of 1851 in its new setting at Sydenham, with an expanded architectural complex and enhanced functional brief, embodies the Victorian emphasis upon visuality as a means of acquiring and conveying knowledge. In addition, the new Crystal Palace was shaped by prevailing concepts of rational recreation and beneficial commerce that insisted that private and public interests could be simultaneously satisfied and lead to a stronger nation and even Empire. Articles Anne Helmreich, "On the Opening of the Crystal Palace at Sydenham, 10 June 1854" Related Articles Audrey Jaffe, "On the Great Exhibition" Aviva Briefel, "On the 1886 Colonial and Indian Exhibition" Anne Clendinning, “On The British Empire Exhibition, 1924-25″	David Rettenmaier
25 Oct 1854	Charge of the Light Brigade On 25 October 1854, British forces undertook the charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaklava. Image: Tinted lithograph showing the embarkation of sick persons at the harbor in Balaklava" (William Simpson, artist; Paul & Dominic Colnaghi & Co., publishers, 24 April 24 1855). This image is available from the United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID ppmsca.05686. The image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. No other engagement of the war has stuck so vividly in the popular consciousness, aided by Tennyson's poem of the same name, by far the best-remembered cultural product of the war. On the morning of October 25th, 1854, over six hundred British men rode the wrong way down a “valley of death” (so christened first by The Times and later by Tennyson) as enemy guns attacked from all sides. Not two hundred made it out alive. The charge resulted from a series of miscommunications between Lord Raglan, the Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces, and Lord Lucan, the Commander of the Cavalry. Both Tennyson’s poem and many other contemporary responses to the charge suggest that reactions to this event were deeply conflicted, expressing real bewilderment about how to integrate it into preexisting models of patriotic feeling. Moreover, a new form of heroism grew out of the bewildering experience of the Light Brigade’s defeat—and a new sense of a national identity that was based in part on this new heroism. Articles Stefanie Markovits, "On the Crimean War and the Charge of the Light Brigade"	David Rettenmaier
17 Nov 1855	Men and Women On November 17, 1855, publication of Robert Browning’s Men and Women, a two-volume publication of Robert Browning’s major poetic works. Image: Photogravure of Robert Browning by Juliet Margaret Cameron (1865, printed c. 1893). Original is at the Art Institute of Chicago. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Robert Browning’s Men and Women was a major literary event in nineteenth-century Britain in its shift of emphasis from the private, atemporal and generally non-social genre of Romantic lyricism to the ironies and enigmas of human awareness and social relationships, to dramatic action in human speech. His men and women are presented overtly as speech acts, grounded in psychological and cultural origins, and in the ambiguities of linguistic processes. Readers often found Browning’s mode of writing obscure, but its methods and implications consistently engage with other domains of Victorian thought, in religion, biology, and psychiatry. While the status of this publication was not widely understood at the time, its value is manifest in its reception history, in the discussion and representations that constitute its ongoing existence as a historical event. Articles E. Warwick Slinn, "On Robert Browning’s Men and Women"	David Rettenmaier
30 Mar 1856	Treaty of Paris On 30 March 1856, signing of the Treaty of Paris, ending the Crimean War. Image: Treaty of Paris, the participants (Contemporary woodcut, published in Magazin Istoric, 1856). This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Articles Stefanie Markovits, "On the Crimean War and the Charge of the Light Brigade"	David Rettenmaier
15 Nov 1856	Aurora Leigh On 15 November 1856, Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Aurora Leigh was published by Chapman and Hall in Great Britain. Aurora Leigh—a verse-novel and modern epic—set off literary, social, and political reverberations in Britain, North America, and Europe up to the end of the century. Given its innovative, generically mixed form and its controversial contemporary subject matter, it figured in debates over poetry and poetics, the nature of the realist novel, class divisions and social reform, women’s rights, religion, and the politics of nations. Image: An 1871 engraving of an 1859 photograph of Elizabeth Barrett Browning (photograph by Macaire Havre, engraving by T. O. Barlow). This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Articles Marjorie Stone, “The ‘Advent’ of Aurora Leigh: Critical Myths and Periodical Debates”	David Rettenmaier
1857 to 1860	Poems by Alfred Tennyson - Ulysses Poems by Alfred Tennyson is a beautiful volume that was published in 1857 in London, England. Interestingly, three years later it was republished in 1860 by Bradbury and Evans, Printers, Whitefriars. It is known that revisions were made to some of the poems in this edition, and they were probably being made in this three-year period between the completion and the publication. This brings up many questions, one of which has to do with who wanted to make changes, Tennyson himself or his publishers?	Nicole Mitchell
May 1857	"Moxon Tennyson" published In May 1857, Edward Moxon published Poems of Alfred Tennyson (aka the “Moxon Tennyson”), with wood-engraved illustrations by Pre-Raphaelite artists and others. Image: Cover, Alfred Tennyson, Poems. Illustrated. (1857). London: Moxon, 1859. Private collection, used with permission. Articles Lorraine Janzen Kooistra, “The Moxon Tennyson as Textual Event: 1857, Wood Engraving, and Visual Culture”	David Rettenmaier
2 May 1857	Opening of Reading Room of the British Library Opening of the Reading Room at the British Library on 2 May 1857. For a week, a curious public streamed in for a special open viewing of its domed ceiling, elevated stacks of gilt-spined books, and blue leather reading tables radiating out from its central core of power and knowledge, the librarian’s desk. After this spectacle, the doors closed to all except those holding Readers Tickets, who could access, open, and read books deposited in the National Library. Image: Exterior of the Reading Room viewed from the Great Court of the British Museum. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Related Articles Lorraine Janzen Kooistra, “The Moxon Tennyson as Textual Event: 1857, Wood Engraving, and Visual Culture”	David Rettenmaier
25 May 1857 to 25 Jun 1857	Pre-Raphaelite Art Exhibit Pre-Raphaelite Art Exhibit, Russell Square, London, from 25 May to 25 June 1857. This was the first exhibition devoted solely to the work of the Pre-Raphaelites. Image: Portrait of Dante Gabriel Rossetti: albumen print. This photograph, from 7 October 1863, was reproduced as the frontispiece of: Rossetti, William Michael, Dante Gabriel Rossetti as Designer and Writer. London: Cassell and Company, 1898. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Related Articles Lorraine Janzen Kooistra, “The Moxon Tennyson as Textual Event: 1857, Wood Engraving, and Visual Culture”	David Rettenmaier
22 Jun 1857	Victoria and Albert Museum opened On 22 June 1857, Queen Victoria opened the Victoria and Albert Museum. Image: George Hayter, State portrait of Queen Victoria, 1860 (oil on canvas), from the Government Art Collection of the United Kingdom. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Related Articles Carol Senf, “‘The Fiddler of the Reels’: Hardy’s Reflection on the Past”	David Rettenmaier
28 Aug 1857	Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857 On 28 August 1857, passage of the Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857. The Act legalized divorce and protected a divorced woman’s property and future earnings. The grounds for divorce for men was adultery (in legal terms, criminal conversation), for women adultery combined with bigamy, incest, bestiality, sodomy, desertion, cruelty, or rape. Image: The Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Articles Kelly Hager, “Chipping Away at Coverture: The Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857″ Related Articles Rachel Ablow, “‘One Flesh,’ One Person, and the 1870 Married Women’s Property Act” Lorraine Janzen Kooistra, “The Moxon Tennyson as Textual Event: 1857, Wood Engraving, and Visual Culture” Jill Rappoport, “Wives and Sons: Coverture, Primogeniture, and Married Women’s Property”	David Rettenmaier
1858	English Woman’s Journal first published March 1858 saw the first issue of England’s first feminist monthly magazine, the English Woman's Journal. Aimed primarily at a middle-class audience, the magazine promoted new employment and educational opportunities for women, and featured a mix of political and social commentary, reportage of current events, poetry, book reviews, and a correspondence column. Image: Photograph of Bessie Rayner Parkes Belloc (date unknown). This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Articles Janice Schroeder, “On the English Woman’s Journal, 1858-62″	David Rettenmaier
May 1858	Augustus Egg’s Triptych exhibited In May 1858, Augustus Egg exhibited his triptych, subsequently titled Past and Present, at the Royal Academy. Image: Augustus Egg, Past and Present, no.1 (1858). Used with permission of the Tate Gallery. © Tate, London 2012. Articles Deborah Epstein Nord, “On Augustus Egg’s Triptych, May 1858″	David Rettenmaier
Aug 1858	First attempt at transatlantic cable In August, 1858, to riotous celebrations in the United States, in which fireworks destroyed the cupola of New York’s City Hall, the first cable was successfully completed between Valentia, Ireland and Trinity Bay, Newfoundland, only to cease functioning within a month. Articles John M. Picker, “Threads across the Ocean: The Transatlantic Telegraph Cable, July 1858, August 1866″	David Rettenmaier
1859	Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" Hailed as the foundation of evolutionary biology, Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species explained the theory of natural selection and popularized Herbert Spencer's phrase "survival of the fittest." Written for the scientific community and the general public, the book appealed to a wide audience and generated scientific, philosophical, and religious discussion.	Rose O'Gara
1 Feb 1859	Adam Bede In February 1859, publication of George Eliot’s Adam Bede. Image: Alexandre-Louis-François d'Albert-Durade, Portrait of George Eliot. Source: University of Adelaide. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Related Articles Jonathan Farina, “On David Masson’s British Novelists and their Styles (1859) and the Establishment of Novels as an Object of Academic Study”	David Rettenmaier
1 Mar 1859	“Modern Manufacture and Design” On 1 Mar 1859, John Ruskin delivered his third lecture on “Modern Manufacture and Design” in Bradford. Image: Portrait of John Ruskin. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Related Articles Morna O’Neill, “On Walter Crane and the Aims of Decorative Art” Nicholas Frankel, “On the Whistler-Ruskin Trial, 1878″	David Rettenmaier
30 Apr 1859	All the Year Round founded First issue of All the Year Round appears on 30 April 1859. All the Year Round was the first magazine with Dickens as proprietor-editor, and home to first important sensation novel, Woman in White. Articles Linda K. Hughes, "On New Monthly Magazines, 1859-60"	David Rettenmaier
1 Jun 1859	British Novelists and their Styles In June 1859, publication of David Masson’s British Novelists and their Styles, which establishes novels as objects of academic study. Image: Engraved Portrait of David Masson by W. B. Hole (Edinburgh University). This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Articles Jonathan Farina, “On David Masson’s British Novelists and their Styles (1859) and the Establishment of Novels as an Object of Academic Study”	David Rettenmaier
Jul 1859	"Guinevere" In July 1859, publication of Alfred Tennyson’s “Guinevere” from his epic The Idylls of the King. The twelve books of the Idylls were published, out of narrative sequence, over the period 1857-1888. Image: Julia Margaret Cameron, Carbon print of Alfred Lord Tennyson, 1869, printed 1875/79 (The Art Institute of Chicago). This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Related Articles Jill Galvan, “Tennyson’s Ghosts: The Psychical Research Case of the Cross-Correspondences, 1901-c.1936″	David Rettenmaier
24 Nov 1859	On the Origin of Species On 24 November 1859, Charles Darwin publishes his On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. Image: Henry Maull and John Fox, Photograph of Charles Darwin (c. 1854). This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Articles Nancy Armstrong, “On Charles Darwin’s The Descent of Man, 24 February 1871″ Ian Duncan, “On Charles Darwin and the Voyage of the Beagle” Anna Henchman, “Charles Darwin’s Final Book on Earthworms, 1881” Martin Meisel, "On the Age of the Universe" Cannon Schmitt, “On the Publication of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, 1859″ Related Articles Daniel Bivona, “On W. K. Clifford and ‘The Ethics of Belief,’ 11 April 1876″	David Rettenmaier
1860	Essays and Reviews The publication in March 1860 of the seven articles by liberal Anglicans comprising Essays and Reviews set off a firestorm of controversy within the Church of England and across British society. The “seven against Christ,” as they were called by their critics, embraced a Christianity in step with the new historical scholarship of the Bible and with modern science. Articles Jonathan Smith, “The Huxley-Wilberforce ‘Debate’ on Evolution, 30 June 1860″ Related Articles Ian Duncan, “On Charles Darwin and the Voyage of the Beagle” Anna Henchman, “Charles Darwin’s Final Book on Earthworms, 1881” Martin Meisel, "On the Age of the Universe" Cannon Schmitt, “On the Publication of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, 1859″ Daniel Bivona, “On W. K. Clifford and ‘The Ethics of Belief,’ 11 April 1876″	David Rettenmaier
12 Mar 1860	Poems before Congress On 12 March 1860, publication of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Poems before Congress. Image: An 1871 engraving of an 1859 photograph of Elizabeth Barrett Browning (photograph by Macaire Havre, engraving by T. O. Barlow). This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Articles Alison Chapman, "On Il Risorgimento" Related Articles Marjorie Stone, “On the Post Office Espionage Scandal, 1844″	David Rettenmaier
30 Jun 1860	Huxley-Wilberforce “Debate” on Evolution At the annual meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in Oxford on 30 June 1860, Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection was informally debated by a number of speakers, most memorably in an exchange between Darwin’s friend and supporter T. H. Huxley and Samuel Wilberforce, the Bishop of Oxford. Image: Thomas Henry Huxley as photographed by Ernest Edwards for Photographs of Eminent Medical Men, ed. William Tindal Robertson, vol. 2 (London: Churchill, 1868), between 4 and 5. Images from the History of Medicine, National Library of Medicine. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Articles Jonathan Smith, “The Huxley-Wilberforce ‘Debate’ on Evolution, 30 June 1860″ Related Articles Nancy Armstrong, “On Charles Darwin’s The Descent of Man, 24 February 1871″ Ian Duncan, “On Charles Darwin and the Voyage of the Beagle” Anna Henchman, “Charles Darwin’s Final Book on Earthworms, 1881” Martin Meisel, "On the Age of the Universe" Cannon Schmitt, “On the Publication of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, 1859″ Daniel Bivona, “On W. K. Clifford and ‘The Ethics of Belief,’ 11 April 1876″	David Rettenmaier
9 Jul 1860	Nightingale Home and Training School for Nurses opened On 9 July 1860, the Nightingale Home and Training School for Nurses opened its doors. Image: Photograph of Florence Nightingale (1858). This image is in the public domain in the United States as its copyright has expired. Articles Lara Kriegel, “On the Death—and Life—of Florence Nightingale, August 1910″ Related Articles Arlene Young, “The Rise of the Victorian Working Lady: The New-Style Nurse and the Typewriter, 1840-1900″	David Rettenmaier
1861	George Eliot publishes Middlemarch To be written	Karen Dieleman
Feb 1861	Italy is united following the Risorgimento To be written	Karen Dieleman
1 Oct 1861	Book of Household Management On 1 October 1861, Isabella Beeton’s Book of Household Management was published in one-volume form. The book has been called “the most famous English cookery book ever published.” Image: Title Page of Beeton's Book of Household Management. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Articles Susan Zlotnick, “On the Publication of Isabella Beeton’s Book of Household Management, 1861″	David Rettenmaier
1862	Christina Rossetti publishes Goblin Market To be written	Karen Dieleman
1 Mar 1862	"On the Age of the Sun's Heat” In March 1862, William Thomson publishes his essay, “On the Age of the Sun’s Heat,” followed on April 28 by his paper, “On the Secular Cooling of the Earth.” These constitute a two-pronged attack on the temporal assumptions undergirding The Origin of Species. Image: Photograph of William Thomson, Lord Kelvin. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Articles Martin Meisel, "On the Age of the Universe"	David Rettenmaier
May 1864	“Abt Vogler” In May 1864, publication of Robert Browning’s “Abt Vogler.” Image: Photogravure of Robert Browning by Juliet Margaret Cameron (1865, printed c. 1893). Original is at the Art Institute of Chicago. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Related Articles Jill Galvan, “Tennyson’s Ghosts: The Psychical Research Case of the Cross-Correspondences, 1901-c.1936″	David Rettenmaier
2 Oct 1865	George William Gordon executed Gordon, a Jamaican former slave and elected member of the Jamaica House of Assembly, is executed by hanging after a court martial condemns him to death for his alleged role in encouraging the Morant Bay rebellion. Articles Sarah Winter, “On the Morant Bay Rebellion in Jamaica and the Governor Eyre-George William Gordon Controversy, 1865-70″	David Rettenmaier
Nov 1865 to Nov 1866	Cholera Epidemic The last cholera epidemic is conventionally termed “of 1866” as that was the period of the highest mortality. The epidemic arrived in Britain in September 1865 and ended in November 1866. Articles Pamela Gilbert, "On Cholera in Nineteenth-Century England"	David Rettenmaier
Dec 1865	“Jamaica Committee” The Jamaica Committee, a coalition of politicians, writers, and scientists, is organized to seek governmental and legal accountability for the actions undertaken by Governor Edward John Eyre and his subordinates during thirty days of martial law in the aftermath of the Morant Bay rebellion in Jamaica. Image: Photograph of Governor Edward John Eyre, circa 1870, by Henry Hering. The Caribbean Photo Archive. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Articles Sarah Winter, “On the Morant Bay Rebellion in Jamaica and the Governor Eyre-George William Gordon Controversy, 1865-70″	David Rettenmaier
1866 to 187	Livingstone expedition to East Africa 1866-73 are the inclusive dates for David Livingstone's expedition into the East African lakes region. The famed missionary explorer David Livingstone entered the Nile sweepstakes to restore his reputation, which had been sullied by the futility of his previous Zambezi expedition. He was determined to prove that the Nile originated from the string of lakes further south. His death on the shores of Lake Bangweulu left his theory unconfirmed. Image: Photograph of Stanley Livingstone by Thomas Annan. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Note that the exact month of the beginning and end of this expedition is difficult to determine. Articles Matthew Rubery, "On Henry Morton Stanley’s Search for Dr. Livingstone, 1871-72" Dane Kennedy, "The Search for the Nile"	David Rettenmaier
The end of the month Spring 1866	The Death of John Keble On the 29^th of March, 1866, the notable churchman and poet John Keble dies, followed soon by his wife Charlotte on the 11^th of May. This sparks an almost immediate reaction of reflection on his legacy as a writer and church leader across England. Numerous publications consider his life and work in the following years, many focusing on his most influential text: the collection of poems liturgically organized in The Christian Year. In the five years that followed Keble’s death, his name is celebrated with a major biography and a college at Oxford (pictured here) which would be dedicated to the teachings of the Church of England. He and his wife are burred at the All Saints Churchyard in Hursley. To read a related blog post, click here: https://blogs.baylor.edu/19crs/2020/01/15/keble-in-conversation-reception-and-use-of-kebles-language-in-the-letters-of-edward-and-elizabeth-dickinson-dowden/	Stewart Riley
11 May 1866	Black Friday The Collapse of the City of London's oldest bill-brokerage firm and discount company, Overend, Gurney, and Company initiates the financial panic of 1866, marking a change in perception of the banking industry and stimulating new economic theories during the 1860s. Articles Joshua Gooch, "On 'Black Friday,' 11 May 1866"	David Rettenmaier
2 Jul 1866	Hyde Park demonstration Hyde Park Demonstration of the Major Reform League on 23 July 1866. After the British government banned a meeting organized to press for voting rights, 200,000 people entered the Park and clashed with police and soldiers. Related Articles Peter Melville Logan, “On Culture: Matthew Arnold’s Culture and Anarchy, 1869″ Sarah Winter, “On the Morant Bay Rebellion in Jamaica and the Governor Eyre-George William Gordon Controversy, 1865-70″	David Rettenmaier
15 Aug 1867	Second Reform Act On 15 August 1867, the Representation of the People Act, 1867 (also known as the Second Reform Act), received the royal assent. This act increased the electorate of England and Wales to approximately one man in three, theoretically including substantial numbers of working-class men. Image: The Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Articles Janice Carlisle, "On the Second Reform Act, 1867" Related Articles Carolyn Vellenga Berman, “On the Reform Act of 1832″ Elaine Hadley, “On Opinion Politics and the Ballot Act of 1872″ Herbert F. Tucker, "On Event" Sarah Winter, “On the Morant Bay Rebellion in Jamaica and the Governor Eyre-George William Gordon Controversy, 1865-70″	David Rettenmaier
Published toward the end of the year.	Moxon Publishes Illustrated Idylls In 1868 Edward Moxon and Co. published an ambitious and ornate illustrated edition of Alfred, Lord Tennyson's Idylls of the King. The engravings were provided by Gustave Doré, who had recently illustrated John Milton's Paradise Lost and the Bible. Although the volume was assumed to be successful, its publication was characterized by tensions between Tennyson and James Bertrand Payne, the manager of Moxon and editor of the edition. To read a related blog post, click here: http://blogs.baylor.edu/19crs/2020/01/15/layers-of-interp…-king-in-context/	Andrew Hicks
27 Feb 1868	"On Geological Time." On 27 February 1868, William Thomson speaks to the Geological Society of Glasgow “On Geological Time.” The address is a full-bore challenge to the soundness of contemporary geological science, with respect to process and its blithe disregard of the discoveries of physics, calling for fundamental reform. Image: Photograph of William Thomson, Lord Kelvin. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Articles Martin Meisel, "On the Age of the Universe"	David Rettenmaier
25 Jan 1869	Culture and Anarchy On 25 January 1869, publication of Matthew Arnold's Culture and Anarchy. Arnold spells out the theory of culture underlying the study of the humanities in the academy as a form of culture that combines intellectual pursuit with social reform. Image: Photograph of Matthew Arnold (Project Gutenberg eText 16745). This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Articles Peter Melville Logan, “On Culture: Matthew Arnold’s Culture and Anarchy, 1869″	David Rettenmaier
Nov 1869	Suez Canal opens The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 established a far shorter and more efficient route for trade and traffic between Europe and Asia. It also gave new strategic importance to Egypt and East Africa, making knowledge and control of the interior a matter of greater urgency for various states. Image: NASA image of the Suez Canal, taken by MISR satellite on January 30, 2001. This image is in the public domain because it was created by NASA. NASA copyright policy states that "NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted." Related Articles Dane Kennedy, "The Search for the Nile"	David Rettenmaier
Dec 1869	“The Coming of Arthur” In December 1869, publication of Alfred Tennyson’s “The Coming of Arthur” and "The Passing of Arthur" from his epic The Idylls of the King. The twelve books of the Idylls were published, out of narrative sequence, over the period 1857-1888. Image: Julia Margaret Cameron, Carbon print of Alfred Lord Tennyson, 1869, printed 1875/79 (The Art Institute of Chicago). This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Related Articles Jill Galvan, “Tennyson’s Ghosts: The Psychical Research Case of the Cross-Correspondences, 1901-c.1936″	David Rettenmaier
Feb 1870	Elementary Education Act In February 1870, passage of the Elementary Education Act Parliament provides for universal, nonsectarian education of British children at public expense and with public oversight. Image: The Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Related Articles Herbert F. Tucker, "On Event"	David Rettenmaier
9 Aug 1870	1870 Married Women's Property Act On 9 August 1870, the Married Women’s Property Act was passed. Image: The Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. This Act established limited protections for some separate property for married women, including the right to retain up to £200 of any earning or inheritance. Before this all of a woman's property owned before her marriage, as well as all acquired after the marriage, automatically became her husband's alone. Only women whose families negotiated different terms in a marriage contract were able to retain control of some portion of their property. Articles Rachel Ablow, "On the Married Woman's Property Act, 1870" Related Articles Kelly Hager, “Chipping Away at Coverture: The Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857″ Jill Rappoport, “Wives and Sons: Coverture, Primogeniture, and Married Women’s Property” Anne Wallace, “On the Deceased Wife’s Sister Controversy, 1835-1907″	David Rettenmaier
24 Feb 1871	Descent of Man On 24 February 1871, Charles Darwin published his argument for the gradualist evolution of the human species from animal species in two volumes: The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. Image: Charles Darwin, photographed by Julia Margaret Cameron (1868). Reprinted in Charles Darwin: His Life Told in an Autobiographical Chapter, and in a Selected Series of His Published Letters, edited by Francis Darwin. London: John Murray, Albemarle Street. 1892. This image is in the public domain in the United States as its copyright has expired. Articles Nancy Armstrong, “On Charles Darwin’s The Descent of Man, 24 February 1871″ Related Articles Ian Duncan, “On Charles Darwin and the Voyage of the Beagle” Anna Henchman, “Charles Darwin’s Final Book on Earthworms, 1881” Cannon Schmitt, “On the Publication of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, 1859″	David Rettenmaier
1872	Aurora Leigh, Tauchnitz edition published in Germany To be written	Karen Dieleman
2 Jul 1872	Stanley finds Livingstone On 2 July 1872, Henry Morton Stanley finds Dr. David Livingstone in Africa. Image: Thomas Annan, Photograph of Stanley Livingstone. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. On 2 July 1872, the New York Herald reported news of the meeting between Henry Morton Stanley and Dr. David Livingstone in Africa. The Scottish missionary had been out of contact for nearly three years when Stanley traveled to Africa in search of him. The meeting took place at Ujiji in either October or November 1871 (the precise date is unknown). The meeting was one of the most sensational news stories of the nineteenth century. Stanley’s greeting “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?” is still a well known phrase. The meeting turned public attention to the African slave trade and was a pivotal moment in the relationship among the United States, Europe, and Africa. Articles Matthew Rubery, "On Henry Morton Stanley's Search for Dr. Livingstone, 1871-72" Related Articles Dane Kennedy, "The Search for the Nile"	David Rettenmaier
6 Nov 1872 to 22 Dec 1872	Around the World in Eighty Days ‪From 6 November to 22 December 1872, Jules Verne's ‬Around the World in Eighty Days‪ is serialized in ‬Le Temps‪. The review's circulation booms, and shipping lines and railroads vie to be mentioned in the text, a phenomenon sometimes regarded as the first example of product placement. In an example of the intersection of commerce and literature, the novel contains a host of references to contemporary businesses and products.‬ Image: Restored photograph of Jules Verne by Félix Nadar circa 1878. This image is in the public domain in the United States as its copyright has expired. Related Articles Claudia Nelson, “Mass Media Meets Children’s Literature, 1899: E. Nesbit’s The Story of the Treasure Seekers”	David Rettenmaier
Feb 1873	Walter Pater publishes Studies in the History of the Renaissance To be written	Karen Dieleman
1874 to 1877	Stanley expedition to Africa 1874-77 are the inclusive dates of Henry Morton Stanley's transcontinental expedition. This remarkable expedition resolved the major questions surrounding the source of the Nile. Stanley circumnavigated Lake Victoria, confirming John Hanning Speke’s claim that the Nile exited from its northern shore. He then circumnavigated Lake Tanganyika, disproving speculation that it provided an alternative tributary to the Nile. Finally, he followed the course of the Lualaba river, demonstrating that it flowed into the Congo, which he took to its outlet in the Atlantic. Image: Photograph of Sir Henry Morton Stanley from The Autobiography of Sir Henry Morton Stanley (1890). This image is in the public domain in the United States as its copyright has expired. Note that the exact month of the beginning and end of this expedition is difficult to determine. Articles Dane Kennedy, "The Search for the Nile"	David Rettenmaier
Aug 1874	Public Worship Regulation Act To be written	Karen Dieleman
Aug 1874	Public Worship Regulation Act To be written	Karen Dieleman
1875	Morris & Co. founded In Mar 1875, Morris, Marshall, Faulkner and Company was dissolved and re-established as Morris and Company. Image: Photograph of William Morris, aged 53. First published 1899 (photo by Frederick Hollyer c. 1887). From Google Books edition of J. W. Mackail The Life of William Morris in two volumes, London, New York and Bombay: Longmans, Green and Co., 1899. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Related Articles Ayla Lepine, “On the Founding of Watts & Co., 1874″	David Rettenmaier
Mar 1875	Morris & Co. founded To be written	Karen Dieleman
8 Feb 1876	Victoria opens parliament On 8 February 1876, Victoria opened Parliament for the first time since Albert's death (1861) and announced that the Royal Titles Bill will be introduced into Parliament. Image: George Hayter, State portrait of Queen Victoria, 1860 (oil on canvas), from the Government Art Collection of the United Kingdom. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Related Articles Julie Codell, “On the Delhi Coronation Durbars, 1877, 1903, 1911″	David Rettenmaier
15 Aug 1876	Cruelty to Animals Act On 15 August 1876, the Cruelty to Animals Act received Royal Assent. The Cruelty to Animals Act (15 August 1876) was the world’s first legislation to regulate the use and treatment of live animals in scientific research. Image: The Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Articles Susan Hamilton, “On the Cruelty to Animals Act, 15 August 1876″ Related Articles Philip Howell, “June 1859/December 1860: The Dog Show and the Dogs’ Home” Ivan Kreilkamp, “The Ass Got a Verdict: Martin’s Act and the Founding of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 1822″ Mario Ortiz-Robles, “Animal Acts: 1822, 1835, 1849, 1850, 1854, 1876, 1900″	David Rettenmaier
1878	Patent issued for the tinfoil phonograph To be written	Karen Dieleman
Nov 1878	Britain invades Afghanistan To be written	Karen Dieleman
25 Nov 1878	Whistler-Ruskin trial opens Law suit for libel opened on 25 November 1878 at London’s Courts of Justice, with Whistler as litigant, claiming damages of £1000 from Ruskin. The verdict was awarded to Whistler after a trial lasting eight hours (the jury deliberated for another two), but as importantly, Whistler was awarded only one farthing in damages and no costs. Image: Self-Portrait of James McNeill Whistler, Arrangement in Gray: Portrait of the Painter, c. 1872 (Detroit, Michigan, Detroit Institute of Arts). This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Articles Julie Codell, "“On the Grosvener Gallery, 1877-90″ Nicholas Frankel, “On the Whistler-Ruskin Trial, 1878″	David Rettenmaier
Sep 1879	Kabul uprising On 3 September 1879, the British envoy in Kabul, Sir Louis Cavagnari, and his guards were killed in an uprising by Afghan soldiers and local residents. Image: Battle of Kandahar, 1880, by W. Skeoch Cumming. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Articles Zarena Aslami, “The Second Anglo-Afghan War, or The Return of the Uninvited” Related Articles Antoinette Burton, “On the First Anglo-Afghan War, 1839-42: Spectacle of Disaster”	David Rettenmaier
1880	Emily Pfeiffer publishes Songs & Sonnets To be written	Karen Dieleman
19 Apr 1882	Death of Charles Darwin Death of Charles Darwin on 19 April 1882. Darwin’s friends and supporters arrange for his burial in Westminster Abbey as a mark of the importance and respectability of his life and ideas. Image: Henry Maull and John Fox, Photograph of Charles Darwin (c. 1854). This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Related Articles Nancy Armstrong, “On Charles Darwin’s The Descent of Man, 24 February 1871″ Ian Duncan, “On Charles Darwin and the Voyage of the Beagle” Anna Henchman, “Charles Darwin’s Final Book on Earthworms, 1881” Martin Meisel, "On the Age of the Universe" Cannon Schmitt, “On the Publication of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, 1859″ Jonathan Smith, “The Huxley-Wilberforce ‘Debate’ on Evolution, 30 June 1860″ Daniel Bivona, “On W. K. Clifford and ‘The Ethics of Belief,’ 11 April 1876″	David Rettenmaier
1883	Aurora Leigh translated into Dutch, as a prose narrative Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s 1857 verse-novel Aurora Leigh entered the cultural and social-political life of the Netherlands in the 1870s and 1880s through the work of three Dutch people: a literary critic, a social reformer, and a novelist. Conrad Busken Huet, the country’s leading literary and cultural critic, first brought the poem to Dutch attention in 1873 by showcasing it as a model of great art with high social and moral purpose, from which Dutch contemporary poetry could learn. Hélène Mercier, one of the leading social reformers of the country, then translated the poem into Dutch in 1883 to inspire the country’s social reform efforts. Its prophetic voice, Mercier declared, spoke as directly to the social conditions of the Netherlands in the 1880s as it had to those of England in the 1850s. Arguing that it was not necessary to retain Aurora Leigh’s poetic form for this voice to have effect, she translated the poem as prose. But Dutch novelist Martina van Walcheren did not agree. She produced a poetic translation in 1885 that her publisher supported at least in part because he opposed the emerging art-for-art’s sake movement. All these literary, social reformist, and aesthetic developments or debates were also fueled or complicated by national and international book economies and copyright questions. ARTICLE Karen Dieleman, "Aurora Leigh in the Netherlands, 1870-1900"	Karen Dieleman
1 Jan 1883	1882 Married Women's Property Act 1882 Married Women's Property Act passed on 1 Jan 1883. Referred to as the 1882 MWPA, the Act came into effect at the beginning of 1883. Although still identifying some married women's property as "separate," this Act significantly increased the scope and protections for married women's acquisition and retention of property separate from their husbands. Image: The Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Articles Jill Rappoport, “Wives and Sons: Coverture, Primogeniture, and Married Women’s Property” Anne Wallace, “On the Deceased Wife’s Sister Controversy, 1835-1907″ Related Articles Rachel Ablow, “‘One Flesh,’ One Person, and the 1870 Married Women’s Property Act”	David Rettenmaier
22 Aug 1883	Krakatoa volcanic eruption To be written	Karen Dieleman
Jan 1884	Hopkins on Krakatoa On 3 January 1884, publication in Nature of Gerard Manley Hopkins’s letter describing the Krakatoa afterglows. Image: Photograph of Gerard Manley Hopkins. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Hopkins’s letter analyzes the difference between normal sunsets and the recent sunsets affected by particulates from Krakatoa in the upper atmosphere, and he vividly describes the sky’s changing coloration the evening of December 16, 1883. Articles Monique R. Morgan, “The Eruption of Krakatoa (also known as Krakatau) in 1883″	David Rettenmaier
Jan 1884	Flatland In 1884, a modest theologian-cum-schoolteacher, Edwin A. Abbott, anonymously published Flatland, a work inspired by non-Euclidean geometries. Exact date of publication is unknown; if you have information about the correct date, please email felluga@purdue.edu with this information. Image: Cover of Flatland. This is a media file that Houghton Library believes to be in the public domain of the United States. This applies to a work published before January 1, 1923, or the unpublished work of an author who died more than 70 years ago. Articles Deanna Kreisel, “The Discovery of Hyperspace in Victorian Literature”	David Rettenmaier
1885	Aurora Leigh translated into Dutch, as a poem Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s 1857 verse-novel Aurora Leigh entered the cultural and social-political life of the Netherlands in the 1870s and 1880s through the work of three Dutch people: a literary critic, a social reformer, and a novelist. Conrad Busken Huet, the country’s leading literary and cultural critic, first brought the poem to Dutch attention in 1873 by showcasing it as a model of great art with high social and moral purpose, from which Dutch contemporary poetry could learn. Hélène Mercier, one of the leading social reformers of the country, then translated the poem into Dutch in 1883 to inspire the country’s social reform efforts. Its prophetic voice, Mercier declared, spoke as directly to the social conditions of the Netherlands in the 1880s as it had to those of England in the 1850s. Arguing that it was not necessary to retain Aurora Leigh’s poetic form for this voice to have effect, she translated the poem as prose. But Dutch novelist Martina van Walcheren did not agree. She produced a poetic translation in 1885 that her publisher supported at least in part because he opposed the emerging art-for-art’s sake movement. All these literary, social reformist, and aesthetic developments or debates were also fueled or complicated by national and international book economies and copyright questions. ARTICLE Karen Dieleman, "Aurora Leigh in the Netherlands, 1870-1900"	Karen Dieleman
1886	Thomas Hardy publishes The Mayor of Casterbridge To be written	Karen Dieleman
4 May 1886 to 14 Oct 1886	Colonial and Indian Exhibition The Colonial and Indian Exhibition opened in South Kensington on 4 May 4 1886, lasted over six months, and accommodated 5.5 million visitors. Image: “Woodcarvers (Courtyard of Indian Palace).” “Colonial Indian Exhibition: The Indian Empire.” Illustrated London News 17 July 1886: 84. Courtesy of the Bowdoin College Library, Brunswick, Maine. Featuring extravagant displays from British colonial holdings, the exhibit was organized by the Prince of Wales as an “imperial object lesson” in England’s power and grandeur. Articles Aviva Briefel, "On the 1886 Colonial and Indian Exhibition" Related Articles Audrey Jaffe, "On the Great Exhibition" Anne Helmreich, "On the Opening of the Crystal Palace at Sydenham, 10 June 1854" Anne Clendinning, “On The British Empire Exhibition, 1924-25″ Erika Rappaport, “Object Lessons and Colonial Histories: Inventing the Jubilee of Indian Tea”	David Rettenmaier
1 Jan 1887	Year of Jubilee The 1887 Year of Jubilee was a celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the reign of Queen Victoria. Image: George Hayter, State portrait of Queen Victoria, 1860 (oil on canvas), from the Government Art Collection of the United Kingdom. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Related Articles Erika Rappaport, “Object Lessons and Colonial Histories: Inventing the Jubilee of Indian Tea”	David Rettenmaier
1 Jan 1888	Report on the eruption of Krakatoa In January 1888, publication of the Royal Society’s report, The Eruption of Krakatoa, and Subsequent Phenomena. Image: 1888 lithograph of the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. The report compiles and analyzes data from around the world, gathered from scientific instruments, the periodical press, and the public, relating to the eruption, falling pumice and dust, tsunamis, air waves, sounds of the explosions, unusual sunsets, blue and green appearances to the sun and moon, and a hazy ring around the sun. Articles Monique R. Morgan, “The Eruption of Krakatoa (also known as Krakatau) in 1883″ Related Articles Gillen D'Arcy Wood, "1816, The Year without a Summer"	David Rettenmaier
1888	The perfected phonograph To be written	Karen Dieleman
1888	First Arts & Crafts Exhibition To be written	Karen Dieleman
Aug 1888 to Sep 1889	Jack the Ripper murders From August 1888 to September 1889, the serial killer known as the Whitechapel Murderer or Jack the Ripper stalked women living in the East End of London. Related Articles Heidi Kaufman, “1800-1900: Inside and Outside the Nineteenth-Century East End” Marlene Tromp, “A Priori: Harriet Buswell and Unsolved Murder Before Jack the Ripper, 24-25 December 1872″	David Rettenmaier
Aug 1888	Bloomsbury Socialist Society formed On 20 May 1888, the parliamentary group of the Socialist League lost a vote on their proposal to contest elections. The group led by Edward Aveling, Eleanor Marx, A. K. Donald and others seceded from the Socialist League August 1888 to form the Bloomsbury Socialist Society. Image: Cover of the Manifesto of the Socialist League, 1885. Published prior to 1923, public domain. Digital image from the Tim Davenport collection, no copyright claimed. Articles Florence Boos, “The Socialist League, founded 30 December 1884″	David Rettenmaier
1 Oct 1888	First Arts & Crafts exhibition On 1 Oct 1888, the First Arts and Crafts exhibition opened. The Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society provided a venue for the public display of decorative arts in central London. Image: Photograph of Walter Crane, first president of the Arts & Crafts Exhibition Society. Detail of photo by Frederick Hollyer, from the album Portraits of Many Persons of Note, 1886. This image is in the public domain in the United States as its copyright has expired. Articles Imogen Hart, “On the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society” Morna O’Neill, “On Walter Crane and the Aims of Decorative Art”	David Rettenmaier
13 Jul 1889	Robert Browning Responds to Edward Fitzgerald's Disgraceful Assault on Elizabeth Barrett Browning During 1887 and into 1888, Robert Browning works on revising his collected works. He completes the first 10 of the planned 19 volumes. Among the first 10 volumes is his master work, The Ring and the Book. It is widely believed to be devoted to his wife, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, in the closing lines of the first and twelfth book, where he calls upon "lyric love." Early in July 1889, Browning sees the postumously collected letters and works of Edward Fitzgerald lying on a table while he is visiting a friend. He reads through them and finds Fitzgerald's letter to William Hepworth Thompson of Trinity College and the cruel remarks concerning Elizabeth Barrett Browning's recent death. In response, 28 years after Fitzgerald composed the letter and six years after his death, Browning angrily pens and has published the sonnet "To Edward Fitzgerald" in The Athenaeum no. 3220 on 13 July 1889. To read a related blog post, click here: http://blogs.baylor.edu/19crs/2020/01/15/robert-brownings…barrett-browning/	Ray Stockstad
1890	William Morris publishes News from Nowhere To be written	Karen Dieleman
Oct 1890	In Darkest England and the Way Out In October 1890, General William Booth, a British Methodist preacher who founded The Salvation Army and became its first General, published In Darkest England and the Way Out, which criticized the conditions of the poor in Great Britain. Related Articles Heidi Kaufman, “1800-1900: Inside and Outside the Nineteenth-Century East End”	David Rettenmaier
13 Mar 1891	Opening of the Independent Theatre Society To be written	Karen Dieleman
8 May 1891	Kelmscott publishes first book On May 8, 1891, the first Kelmscott Press book is published, William Morris’s The Story of the Glittering Plain. Image: Kelmscott Press logotype. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired.	David Rettenmaier
1 Jan 1892	"St. Telemachus" In 1892, publication of Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s “St. Telemachus.” Image: Julia Margaret Cameron, Carbon print of Alfred Lord Tennyson, 1869, printed 1875/79 (The Art Institute of Chicago). This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Particles from Krakatoa traveling through the upper atmosphere produced lurid sunsets, which inspired the opening lines of this poem. Tennyson’s imagery and figurative language resonate with several features of the eruption. Articles Monique R. Morgan, “The Eruption of Krakatoa (also known as Krakatau) in 1883″	David Rettenmaier
1892	Publication of Christina Rossetti's "The Face of the Deep: A Devotional Commentary on the Apocalypse" Rossetti's devotional commentary includes bits of poetry interspersed among a primarily prose text. The title page of Rossetti's Verses, published in 1893, includes the following note, "Reprinted from 'Called to be Saints,' 'Time Flies,' and 'The Face of the Deep.'" Most of the poems in the opening sonnet sequence of Verses, "Out of the Deep Have I Called Unto Thee," are from The Face of the Deep. Examining poems from Verses, such as “A Vain Shadow," in their original contexts in The Face of the Deep can open up new ways of reading them. The attached picture shows "A Vain Shadow" in its context in Rossetti's commentary. To read a related blog post, click here: http://blogs.baylor.edu/19crs/2020/01/15/creation-in-cont…face-of-the-deep/	Ryan Sinni
6 Oct 1892	Death of Tennyson On 6 October 1892, the Poet Laureate, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, died, beginning a heated debate about who should succeed him as Poet Laureate. Image: Julia Margaret Cameron, Carbon print of Alfred Lord Tennyson, 1869, printed 1875/79 (The Art Institute of Chicago). This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Articles Linda Peterson, “On the Appointment of the ‘Poet Laureate to Her Majesty,’ 1892-1896”	David Rettenmaier
1893	Christina Rossetti publishes Verses To be written	Karen Dieleman
1894	"New Aspect of the Woman Question" In March 1894, Sarah Grand's “The New Aspect of the Woman Question” was published. The essay in North American Review, vol.158, no.448, March 1894, pp.270–6 has been credited with identifying the "New Woman." Articles Meaghan Clarke, “1894: The Year of the New Woman Art Critic”	David Rettenmaier
27 Jun 1894	End of the 3-Volume Novel On 27 June 1894, Mudie’s Select Library and W. H. Smith’s, the largest of the private circulating libraries that provided many Victorians with their reading material, issued simultaneous announcements specifying the new terms on which they would buy novels from publishers, beginning in the next calendar year. This change spelled the effective end of the 3-volume system; whereas 112 three-volume works were published in 1894, only two were published in 1897. Image: "Going to Mudie's," London Society v.16, no. 95, Nov. 1869. This image is in the public domain in the United States as its copyright has expired. Articles Richard Menke, “The End of the Three-Volume Novel System, 27 June 1894″	David Rettenmaier
Apr 1895 to May 1895	Trials of Oscar Wilde The trials of Oscar Wilde, which occurred in April and May of 1895, have become legendary as a turning-point in the history of public awareness of homosexuality. By their close, Wilde had gone from being a triumphantly successful playwright to a ruined man, condemned to two years of hard labor for gross indecency. They garnered extensive coverage first in the London press and then in newspapers around the world; the story of the trials continues to be retold in ways that have persistent relevance for contemporary queer culture. Image: Photograph of Oscar Wilde, by Napoleon Sarony. This image is in the public domain in the United States because its copyright has expired. Articles Andrew Elfenbein, “On the Trials of Oscar Wilde: Myths and Realities”	David Rettenmaier
1 Jan 1896	Alfred Austin chosen as Poet Laureate On 1 January 1896, Alfred Austin was chosen as “Poet Laureate to Her Majesty,” closing a heated debate about who should succeed Alfred, Lord Tennyson as Poet Laureate. Image: “Mr. Alfred Austin, the New Poet Laureate,’ English Illustrated Magazine, March 1896. Courtesy of the Yale University Library. Articles Linda Peterson, “On the Appointment of the ‘Poet Laureate to Her Majesty,’ 1892-1896”	David Rettenmaier
1896	Alfred Austin becomes Poet Laureate To be written	Karen Dieleman
1896	Kelmscott Press publishes its Chaucer edition To be written	Karen Dieleman
1896	Thomas Hardy declares the 'End of Prose' To be written	Karen Dieleman
1918	Publication of 'The Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins' In 1918, Poet Laureate Robert Bridges published the first extended collection of Gerard Manley Hopkins’s poetry—The Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins. This edition is known for Bridges's somewhat harsh prefatory material, where he criticizes Hopkins’s strange poetic style and calls it superfluous. However, it is precisely through Hopkins’s superfluous or unnecessary style—represented by features like additional accents and intentional obscurity—that Hopkins disrupts the expectations of his readers and teaches them how to behold and appreciate the natural world around them. To read a related blog post, click here: http://blogs.baylor.edu/19crs/2020/01/15/injured-by-a-nat…nge-poetic-style/	Christina Lambert