Women's History {Let me know what's missing from this list ~ email the webmistress } 1520 Susannah Hornebolt (later, Whorstly) was the first known female artist in England. 1536 Wife of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, beheaded for 'adultery'. 1542 Wife of Henry VIII, Catherine Howard, beheaded for 'improper conduct'. 1546 Poet Anne Askew (1521-1546) tortured in the Tower of London and burnt at the stake as a heretic. 1558 John Knox published The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women. 1566 Mother Waterhouse became the first Englishwoman hanged for the 'crime' of witchcraft. 1576 Bessie Dunlop of Lyne, Ayrshire, became the first Scottish woman to be burned as a witch. 1579 Publication of The Praise and Dispraise of Women (Anon, or poss C. Pyrrye.). 1582 St Osyth witch trials. Ursula Kempe and Elizabeth Bennet put to death.

1589 Jane Anger published Jane Anger: Her Protection for Women. 1606 Emilia Lanyer published Salve Deus Rex Iudaeorum. 1613 Lady Elizabeth Carew's play The Tragedie of Marian the faire Queen of Jewry was the first play by a woman to be published. 1616 Rachel Speght published her defence of women, as A Mouzell (i.e. muzzle) for Melastomus, The Cynicall Bayter of, and foule mouthed Barker against Evahs Sex. Or an Apologetical Answere to the Irreligious and Illiterate Pamphlet made by Joseph Swetnam. 1617 Ester Sowernam (pseud) published her defence of women, as Ester hath hang'd Haman, or An Answere to a lewd Pamphlet, entituled, The Arraignment of Women 1617 Constantia Munda (pseud) published her defence of women, as The Worming of a mad Dogge. 1631 Richard Brathwaite published English Gentlewoman, which emphasised widows' chastity.

1632 The Law's Resolutions of Women's Rights laid out the laws then in place regarding women's legal rights and duties in each of her three estates: unmarried virgin, wife, and widow. 1632 Publication of The Lawes Resolutions of Women's Rights, or the Lawes Provision for Woemen, A Methodicall Collection of such Statutes and Customes, with the Cases, Opinions, Arguments and Points of Learning in the Law as doe properly concern Women (by an anonymous man). 1633 Dorothy Leigh published The Mothers Blessing. 1637 First patent granted to a woman: Amye Everard, for her method of making tinctures from flowers 1637 William Austin published Haec Homo Wherein the Excellency of the Creation of Woman is described by way of an Essaie. 1640 Mary Tattle-well and Ioane Hit-him-home (pseuds) published The Women's Sharpe Revenge. 1641 Publication of A True Copie of the Petition of the Gentlewoman and Tradesmen's Wives in and about the City of London.

Delivered to the Honorable the Knights, Citizens and Burgesses of the House of Commons in Parliment the 4th of February 1641. 1641 Thomas Heywood published Gynaikeion: or, Nine bookes of various history. Concerning women. 1647 The maids petition. To the Honourable members of both Houses. Or the humble petition of the well-affected, within and without the lines of communication, virgins, maids, and other young women not married. 1648 Leveller women demonstrated in London, calling for equal rights for women and presenting a petition. 1649 Ten thousand Leveller women signed the second women's petition to parliament. To the supream authority of England the Commons assembled in Parliament. The humble petition of diverse wel-affected weomen. 1650 Mary Stiff published The good womens cryes against the excise of all their commodities. 1652 Pierre Le Moyne published The gallery of heroick women. 1655 Publication of The gossips braule, or the women weare the breeches.

1656 George Horton published Now or never: or, a new Parliament of women assembled and met together neer the Popes-Head in Moor-Fields, on the Back-side of Allsuch; adjoyning upon Shoreditch. 1656 George Fox published The woman learning in silence: or, The mysterie of the womans subiection to her husband. 1657 T. Heywood published The Generall History of Women, containing lives of the most Holy and Profane, the most Famous and Infamous of all ages. 1659 Anna Maria von Schurman (a German) published in London The Learned Maid; or, Whether a Maid May Be a Scholar? A logick exercise written in latine by that incomparable virgin Anna Maria a Schurman of Vtrecht. 1667 Maria Askew published Women's Speaking. 1670 The first play written by a woman was performed on the stage. Aphra Behn's The Forc'd marriage ran for six days at the Duke's Theatre, Lincoln's Inn. 1673 Mrs.

Bathsua Makin published An Essay to Revive the Ancient Education of Gentlewomen in Religion, Manners, Arts and Tongues. 1674 T. Golborne published A Friendly Apology on behalf of Women's Excellency, with Examples of more Women Worthies. 1676 George Fox published This is an encuragement to all the womens-meetings in the world. 1677 Francois Poulain de La Barre published The woman as good as the man, or, The equallity of both sexes. 1683 Publication of Haec Et Hic, or the Feminine Gender more Worthy than the Masculine (Anon), with a Dedication in MS to Mrs Eldridge. 1693 First ever women's magazine. The Ladies' Mercury was a single sheet, published by John Dunton, and consisting of a problem page. 1684 Alice Molland of Exeter became the last Englishwoman to be hanged as a witch. 1694 Mary Astell published A Serious Proposal to the Ladies for the Advancement of Their True and Greatest Interest, by a Lover of Her Sex. Dedicated to Princess Ann of Denmark.

(Anon) 1697 Mary Astell published An Essay in Defence of the Female Sex, in a Letter to a Lady, by a Lady (Anon). 1694 Publication of The Ladies' Dictionary. (Written by men, mainly about property law.) 1700 Philgynes published The freedom of the fair sex asserted: or, Woman the crown of the creation. 1700 Mary Astell published Some Reflections Upon Marriage Occasioned by the Duke and Duchess of Mazarine's Case. 1700 Publication of Baron and Feme: a Treatise of the Common Law Concerning Husbands and Wives. 1701 Lady Mary Lee Chudleigh published The Ladies Defence. 1709 First women's magazine edited by a woman - The Female Tatler - was published by Mary de la Riviere Manley. 1712 Jane Wenham, the wise woman of Walkerene, became the last woman to be tried for 'witchcraft'. 1716 Lady Mary Wortley Montagu published Answer to a Love Letter. 1727 Janet Horne or Dornoch became the last woman in Scotland to be burned as a witch.

1732 Publication of A Treatise of Feme Couverts: Or, the Lady's Law, Containing all the Laws and Statutes Relating to Women. 1734 Lady Mary Wortley Montagu published (as 'Sophia') Woman not Inferior to Man. 1735 Publication of An Essay in Praise of Women, or a Looking Glass for Ladies (Anon). 1735 Publication of The Hardships of the English Laws, In relation to Wives. With an Explanation of the Original Curse of Subjection Passed Upon the Woman. In an Humble Address to the Legislature. (by an anonymous woman). 1736 Sir Matthew Hale's Pleas of the Crown decreed that no husband can be guilty of rape for on marriage every woman gives up her right ever to refuse sex. 1736 Mary Collier published The Woman's Labour. 1743 Lady Mary Wortley Montagu published (as 'Sophia') Woman's Superior Excellence over Man. 1745 Hannah Snell enlisted in the army, disguised as a man. She became a marine, and her true sex was not discovered until 1750.

1750 Amy Hutchinson of Ely became the first documented female poisoner when she laced her husband's ale with arsenic. She was convicted of 'petit treason' and burned to death. 1751 Publication of Beauty's Triumph, or the Superiority of the Fair Sex invincibly Proved. (Anon). 1752 George Ballard (Magdalen College, Oxford) published Memoirs of Several Ladies of Great Britain who have been celebrated for their Writings or Skill in the Learned Languages. 1755 (45?) Mrs Eliza Haywood published The Female Spectator, the first magazine for women written by a woman. (Pub. as 'Anon' - only in the 7th edition was her name printed.) 1758 Lucy Hutchinson published her republican history of the Interregnum (she also wrote about her early life and the biography of Elizabeth Cary was written by one of her daughters) 1763 Catherine Macaulay published History of England (in eight volumes, final one pub. 1783). 1767 Publication of An Unfortunate Mother's Advice to her Absent Daughters, in a letter to Miss Pennington. 4th edition.

(Anon.) 1768 Angelica Kauffman and Mary Moser (Mrs Lloyd) became the first two women elected to the Royal Academy. 1770 A law was passed against women entrapping husbands by 'scents, paints, cosmetics, washes, artificial teeth, false hair, Spanish wool, iron stays, high-heeled shoes or bolstered hips'. 1773 Poor Law stipulated that fathers must pay towards support of illegitimate children. 1773 Mr Russell published Essay on the Character, Manners and Genius of Women in different ages. Enlarged from the French of M. Thomas. 1775 Mrs Hester Chapone published Miscellanies in Prose and Verse, with a Dedication to Mrs Elizabeth Carter. 1777 Publication of The Law Respecting Women as they Regard their Natural Rights, or their Connections and Conduct. 1778 Fanny Burney published Evelina. 1779 The Ladies of LLangollen - Sarah Ponsonby (1755-1831) and Lady Eleanor Butler - eloped and set up home together.

1780 Royalist Margaret Cavendish's pubished her science-fiction utopia The Blazing World. 1780 Justice Buller opined that a man may beat his wife. 1782 William Alexander M.D. published The History of Women from the Earliest Antiquity to the Present Time 3rd edition. 1787 Mary Wollstonecraft published Thoughts on the Education of Daughters, with Reflections on Female Conduct. 1788 Sisterhood of Hand-Spinners formed in Leicester, possibly the first female trades union. 1790 Catherine Macaulay published Letters on Education. 1791 Mary Wollstonecraft published A Vindication of the Rights of Women. 1795 Maria Edgeworth published Letters for Literary Ladies. 1797 Thomas Gisborne M.A. published An Enquiry into the Duties of the Female Sex. 1797 Mary Hays published An Appeal to the Men of Great Britain on Behalf of the Women (Anon.) 1798 Priscilla Wakefield published Reflections on the Present Condition of the Female Sex, with Suggestions for its Improvement 1799 Edward Moore published Fables for the Female Sex.

1799 Mary Ann Radcliffe published The Female Advocate, or an attempt to Recover the Rights of Women from Male Usurpation. 1799 Anne Frances Randall (pseud. of Mary Darby Robinson ) published Letter to the Women of England on the Injustice of Mental Subordination. 1801 Census reveals that women outnumber men by 400,000 (surplus of unmarried women). 1803 Mary Hays published Female Biography. 1803 Methodist conference bans women from preaching. 1804 First woman jockey to compete in a horse race: Alicia Meynell (age 22), riding Colonel Thornton's 20 year-old-horse horse Vingarillo against one other competitor over four miles at York. She rode side-saddle, and lost. 1809 An anonymous woman in Leominster became the last one in England to be ducked as a common scold. 1810 Lucy Aikin published Epistles on Women, exemplifying their Character and Condition at Various Ages. 1811 Female lace workers combined to raise wages at Loughborough.

1814 Elizabeth Hamilton published Letters addressed to the Daughter of a Nobleman, on the Formation of Religious and Moral Principle. 3rd edition. 1821 Harriet Martineau published Female Writers on Practical Divinity (under a male pseudonym). 1822 Miss Sarah Berry appointed by the Dean of Wells as Registrar of the Consistorial Diaconal Court of Wells. 1823 John Stuart Mill jailed for distributing pamphlets on birth control . 1824 Hannah More published Essays on Various Subjects, Principally Designed for Young Ladies. 1824 Mrs Taylor of Ongar published Maternal Solicitude for a Daughter's best Interests. 11th edition. 1825 Anna Wheeler/William Thompson published Appeal of One Half of the Human Race, Women, against the Pretentions of the Other half, Men, to retain them in political and thence in civil and domestic slavery. 1826 'S.E.' wrote an impassioned letter to the Liverpool Mercury on the Condition of Women in Society. 1826 Mrs B. published Women as Professionals. 1831 Mr Hunt MP presented Mary Smith's petition for votes for women to the House of Commons.

1832 Reform Act increased number of voters from 435,000 to 650,000 (of a total population of 14 million). Banned women from voting. Until 1832 duly qualified women landowners could vote for MPs. 1832 1500 women card-setters at Peep Green Yorkshire came out on strike for equal pay. 1833 Mrs John Sandford published Woman in her Social and Domestic Character, 3rd edition. 1834 New Poor Law assumed all women dependent on men. All illegitimate children to be the sole responsibility of the mother until they reached 16. 1834 'M.B.' writes an extraordinary (for its time) piece about women in the Ladies' Cabinet of Fashion, Music and Romance 1837 William IV died, succeeded by niece, Princess Victoria. 1837 Harriet Martineau published Society in America. 1838 Harriet Martineau published How to Observe; Morals and Manners. 1838 Sarah Ellis published The Women of England, Their Social Duties and Domestic Habits. 1838 R. Mence Esq.

published The Mutual Rights of Husband and Wife, with a Draft of a Bill to replace that of Mr Sergt. Talfourd. 1839 Child Custody Act enabled a mother to be given custody of children under seven. 1839 Sarah Lewis published Women's Mission. 1840 Harriet Martineau published Women's Rights and Duties, considered with Relation to their Influence on Society and on her Condition.(Anon.) 1840 Judge upholds a man's right to lock up his wife and beat her 'in moderation'. 1840 Sydney Owenson Morgan published Woman and her Master, 2 volumes. 1840 World Anti-Slavery Convention held in London. Accredited female delegates from the USA excluded from taking part on grounds of their sex. 1841 Governesses' Benevolent Institution founded. 1841 Mother Marian Rebecca Hughes of Oxford became the first woman to take the religious vows in the Church of England since the Reformation. 1841 Lady Rolle became the first woman governor of Bridewell and Bethlem Royal Hospitals. 1841 Mrs John Mylne published Woman and Her Social Position in the Westminster Gazette.

1842 Ashley's Mines and Collieries Act. Women and children were excluded from the mines, as a result within two years 1,000 Staffordshire women had lost their jobs. 1842 Louis Aime-Martin published The Education of Mothers of Families; or, The Civilisation of the Human Race by Women. 1842 The Rev. Benjamin Parsons published The Mental and Moral Dignity of Woman. 1843 Association for the Aid of Milliners and Dressmakers founded. 1843 Marion Reid published (as Mrs Hugo Reid) A Plea for Woman, being a Vindication of the Importance and Extent of her Natural Sphere of Action. 1844 Factory Act (women and children). 1844 Ann Richelieu Lamb published Can Woman Regenerate Society? 1845 Margaret Fuller published Woman in the Nineteenth Century. 1846 Anna Jameson published 'Woman's Mission' and 'Woman's Position ' On the Relative Social Position of Mothers and Governesses. 1846 Mary Ann Evans (George Eliot) published translation of Strauss's Das Leben Jesu (Life of Jesus).

1846 Eliza Lynn Linton, an anti-feminist (!) became the first salaried woman journalist in Britain, working for the Morning Chronicle. 1847 Ann Knight, an elderly Quaker, published the first leaflet that advocated votes for women . 1847 & 1850 Factory Acts (women and children restricted to 10 1/2 hour day). 1847 Chloroform first used in childbirth. 1848 First college for women founded by Rev. F.D. Maurice. Queen's College , Harley Street, London, established for governesses. 1848 Joseph Hume MP moved a resolution in parliament to give votes to women . 1849 Bedford College for Women founded. 1850 Emily Shirreff and Maria G. Grey published Thoughts on Self-Culture: Addressed to Women. 1850 S. Margaret Fuller published Woman in the Nineteenth Century. 1850 North London Collegiate School founded by Frances Buss. 1851 Mrs J.S. Mill (nee Harriet Taylor) published The Enfranchisement of Women in the Westminster Review.

1851 Women's Suffrage Petition presented to the House of Lords. 1852 Anna Jameson published Legends of the Madonna, as presented in the fine arts. 1852 Florence Nightingale wrote the book Cassandra that highlights the problems of women�s entitlement to education - she decided not to publish the book. 1852 G.H. Lewes published The Lady Novelists. 1852 Publication of Man's Duties to Woman. (Anon.) 1852 Judge rules that a man may not force his wife to live with him. 1853 Margaretta Grey published A Lady Must Not Work. 1853 Aggravated Assaults Act passed, to increase penalties for wife beating . 1853 Queen Victoria given chloroform during childbirth. 1853 J.J.S. Wharton M.A. published An Expostion of the Laws relating to the Women of England, showing their Rights, Remedies and Responsibilities in every position in life. 1854 Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon published A Brief Summary in Plain Language of the Most Important Laws Concerning Women, together with a few Observations thereon.

1855 Mrs Henry Davies Pochin published (under pseudonym Justitia) The Right of Women to the Exercise of the Elective Franchise. 1855 George Eliot published Margaret Fuller and Mary Wollstonecraft. 1855 A woman was appointed as an overseer of the poor at Undermillbeck, Westmoreland. 1855 Stephen Fullom published The History of Woman, And her Connexion with Religion, Civilization, and Domestic Manners, from the earliest period (denounced by George Eliot). 1855 Mrs Jameson published Sisters of Charity, Catholic and Protestant, Abroad and at Home. 1856 Mrs Jameson published The Communion of Labour, a Second Lecture on the Social Employments of Women. 1856 Margaret Maria Brewster published Work, Plenty to Do and How to Do It. (Edinburgh.) 1856 Bessie Rayner Parkes published Remarks on the Education of Girls. 1856 Caroline Frances Cornwallis published The Property of Married Women. 1856 Emily Shirreff published Intellectual Education, and its influence on the Character and Happiness of Women.

1856 Petition for women to retain their property upon marriage was presented. Organised by Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon and Bessie Rayner Parkes , its 26,000 signatories included Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Jane Carlyle (wife of Thomas), Harriet Martineau and Elizabeth Gaskell. 1857 Association for the Promotion of the Employment of Women established. 1857 Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon published Women and Work. 1857 Caroline Frances Cornwallis published Capabilities and Disabilities of Women. 1857 Elizabeth Strutt published The Feminine Soul, its Nature and Attributes. 1857 Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Act passed, by which divorce and separation became available to women. Previously, each divorce needed a separate Act of Parliament. 1857 Ladies' Sanitary Association founded. 1857 Matrimonial Causes Act (legally separated wife given right to keep what she earns; man may divorce wife for adultery, whereas wife must prove adultery aggravated by cruelty or desertion). 1857 Englishwoman's Journal started by Bessie Rayner Parkes and Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon . It later became the Englishwoman's Review.

1858 The first swimming bath for ladies was opened, at Marylebone. 1858 Henry Thomas Buckle published The Influence of Women on the Progress of Knowledge, a Discourse delivered to the Royal Institution, 19th March 1858. (Pub. Leipzig.) 1859 Harriet Martineau published Female Industry. 1859 Isaac Reeve published The Intellect of Woman not Naturally Inferior to that of Man. 3rd edition. 1859 The North East Lancashire Amalgamated Society was formed and accepted male and female mill workers. 1860 First admission of women students to the Royal Academy (Miss Herford). 1860 Institution for the Employment of Needlewomen founded. 1860 Law copying office for women opened. 1860 Victoria Printing Press established. 1861 My Life and What Shall I Do With It? a Question for Young Gentlewomen, by an Old Maid (Miss March Phillips.) 1861 Offences Against the Person Act reduced the penalty for abortion from execution to life imprisonment. 1861 Lectures in physiology opened to ladies at University College.

1861 Offences Against the Persons Act made abortion a statutory offence. It confirmed the age of consent as 12, and made carnal knowledge of a girl under ten a felony and of a girl ten to twelve a misdemeanour. 1862 First voyage of Miss Rye to Australia; start of her system of emigration . 1862 Ladies Negro Emancipation Society founded. 1862 New Church Order of Deaconesses founded. 1862 Social Science Congress in London; many women took part. 1863 Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon published Of those who are the property of others, and of the great power that holds others as property. 1863 Queen's Institute founded in Dublin, for the industrial training of women. 1864 First Contagious Diseases Act passed (women living in certain garrison towns liable to be declared prostitutes and forcibly examined for venereal disease). 1864 Female Medical and Obstetrical Society founded. 1864 Working Women's College founded at Queen's Square. 1864 Alexandra Magazine published for four monthly editions. 1865 Elizabeth Garrett received her medical diploma from the Apothecaries' Hall.

1865 John Ruskin spoke out against women's suffrage . 1865 John Malcolm Ludlow published Woman's Work in the Church. Historical Notes on Deaconesses and Sisterhoods. 1865 Bessie Rayner Parkes published Essays on Women's Work. Dedicated to Mrs Jameson. 1866 Suffrage societies started in Edinburgh, London and Manchester. 1866 Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon published Reasons for the Enfranchisement of Women. 1866 Emily Davies published The Higher Education of Women. 1866 Lydia Becker published Female Suffrage. (Reprinted from the Contemporary Review.) 1866 T. Chisholm Anstey Esq. published On Some Supposed Constitutional Restraints on the Parliamentary Franchise. 1866 Charlotte Carmichael Stopes published her essay Strong-Mindedness. 1866 First petition for the suffrage, signed by 1,499 eminent women, presented by John Stuart Mill. Signatories included Florence Nightingale and Mary Somerville. 1866 Isaac Baker Brown performed many clitoridectomies at his 50 bed private clinic in London.

Eventually he was expelled from the Obstetrical Society. 1867 Ninon Kingsford published The Admission of Women to the Parliamentary Franchise. 1867 Professor F.W. Newman published Old England - Women's Right of Suffrage. 1867 Lydia Becker founded the Manchester National Society for Women's Suffrage . 1867 Helen Taylor published The Claims of Englishwomen to the Suffrage Considerered. (Reprinted from the Westminster Review.) 1867 John Stuart Mill's speech in the House of Commons for votes for women . 1867 Reform Act extended the vote to most working-class male householders. 1868 General Election. Many women got on the register and voted. One woman (shop owner Lily Maxwell) voted in Manchester (for Jacob Bright). 1868 The Court of Common Pleas declared women's suffrage illegal. 1868 Publication of a list of MPs and other persons favourable to the Women's Suffrage Movement. 1868 Lydia Becker published Equality of Women, a paper read before the British Association at Norwich. 1868 Dr Pankhurst published The Right of Women to Vote Under the Reform Act of 1867.

1868 Frances Power Cobbe published Criminals, Idiots, Women and Minors: Is the Classification sound? 1868 Josephine Butler published The Education and Employment of Women. 1869 Rev. Charles Kingsley published Women and Politics (reprinted from Macmillan's Magazine). 1869 Josephine Butler (ed.) published Woman's Work and Woman's Culture: a Series of Essays. 1869 First Women's college at Cambridge founded (Girton College). 1869 Mrs C.H. Spear published A Brief Essay on the Position of Women. 1869 John Stuart Mill published On the Subjection of Women. 1869 E. Lynn Linton published Ourselves: a Series of Essays on Women. 1869 Ladies' Educational Association founded in London. (It dissolved in 1878 when University College began admitting women). 1869 Municipal Reform Act gave women the vote in local elections . 1869 Telegraph service nationalised, and its twelve female staff thus became civil servants. 1869 John D. Milne published Industrial Employment of Women, in the Middle and Lower Ranks.

1870 Josephine Butler published On the Moral Reclaimability of Prostitutes. 1870 The Women's Suffrage Journal first published. It continued monthly for 20 years. 1870 Mary Taylor published The First Duty of Women: a Series of Articles reprinted from the Victoria Magazine. 1870 Mrs Wm. Grey published Is the Exercise of Suffrage Unfeminine? 1870 Lady Amberley published her lecture The Claims of Women 1870 Ladies National Association for the repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts founded by Josephine Butler. 1870 Married Women's Property Act passed for England. 1870 National Indian Association founded by Miss Carpenter to improve the education of Indian women. 1870 Vigilance Association founded, chiefly engaged in women's issues. 1871 The Ladies' Life Assurance Company founded. Married women could, since the 1870 MWPA, insure their own lives with their own money. 1871 Home for Deserted Mothers and Infants founded at 3 Cumberland St, London. 1871 Working Women's Club changed to Berner Club. Moved to 9 Berners Street, London.

1871 A debate took place in the House of Commons on the Women's Disabilities Bill. 1871 John Walter Bourke published The Emancipation of Women (a lecture). 1871 A.H. published Words of Weight in the Woman Question (1,176 quotations arranged so as to form a consecutive argument). 1871 Ladies' National Health Association founded by Dr Elizabeth Blackwell. 1871 National Association for Promoting the Medical Education of Women founded. (Still extant 1894.) 1871 Law regarding married women's property changed in Ireland. 1871 National Union for Improving the Education of women founded by Mrs Grey. 1872 Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon published Reasons for and against the Enfranchisement of Women. 1872 Infant Life Protection Act tries to abolish baby-farming. 1872 Girls' Public Day School Company founded. 1872 Baroness Coutts became the first woman to be granted the Freedom of the City of London. 1872 Girton College founded. Staff and students of Hitchin College moved into it. 1872 Infant Life Protection Act.

1872 New Bastardy Act passed. Fathers once again responsible (equally with the mother) for support of illegitimate children. 1872 New Hospital for Women founded at Marylebone, with female doctors. 1873 Custody of Infants Act passed. Enabled a husband, upon separation, to give up custody of children to his wife. 1873 Reported that, of 50,000 children born annually out of wedlock, 30,000 died within 6 months. 1873 First School Board Election in Scotland: 20 women elected. 1873 First school of the Girls' Public Day School Company opened at Chelsea. 1873 Mrs Nassau Senior appointed Assistant Inspector of Workhouses. First ever government appointment of a lady. 1873 Protection Orders granted to wives in Scotland. 1874 Women's Peace and Arbitration Auxiliary of the London Peace Society formed. 1874 Dr Henry Maudsley published Sex and Mind in Education. 1874 Dr Elizabeth Garrett Anderson published Sex and Mind in Education: A Reply. 1875 Ernest Eiloart published The Laws Relating to Women.

1875 Emma Paterson formed the Society of Dressmakers, Milliners and Mantlemakers. 1875 Albermarle Club opened. Admits ladies and gentlemen. 1875 Amendment to the Offences Against the Person Act raised the age of consent to 13. 1875 Employment of Women Office opened in Brighton. 1875 First female clerks employed by Post Office Savings Bank. 1875 First woman elected as Poor Law Guardian (Martha Merrington, South Kensington.) 1875 First woman lawyer's office opened in London by Miss Orme. 1875 Madras Medical School opened to women. 1875 Metropolitan and National Nursing Association formed. 1875 Newnham College for Ladies opened at Cambridge. 1875 Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland opened its exams to women. 1875 Women delegates admitted to the Trades' Congress in Glasgow. 1876 British Women's Temperance Association founded. 1876 Emma Paterson formed the Society of Upholsteresses (survived till 1894). 1876 Employment for Women office opened in Glasgow.

1876 First woman pharmacist in London, Miss Isabella Clarke. 1876 King and Queen's College of Physicians, Ireland, confers medical degrees on women. 1876 Manchester New College admits women. 1876 St Andrews University instituted a Diploma for Women, the L.L.A. 1876 Plan-tracing office for women opened by Miss Crosbie. 1876 Russell-Gurney's Act enabled universities to admit women to degrees. 1876 Scholarships for women established at Bristol University College. 1877 Manchester and Salford College for women founded. 1877 Royal Free Hospital admits women as medical students. 1877 School Board elections return many women candidates. 1877 Teachers Training and Registration Society formed. 1877 The first five women passed their medical degree examinations at King and Queen's College of Physicians, Ireland. 1877 Trinity College, London, opens musical exams to women. 1877 University of St Andrews admits women to its Literate in Arts degree.

1877 Annie Besant and Charles Bradlaugh prosecuted under the Obscene Publications Act 1857 for publishing Charles Knowlton's Fruits of Philosophy, a work on birth control . They were convicted but acquitted on appeal, the subsequent publicity resulting in a decline in the birth rate. Mrs Besant later published The Law of Population. 1877 Women's deputation to the Chancellor of the Exchequer in support of the Women's Disabilities Removal Bill (that would give women the vote). 1878 Miss Eleanor Ormerod became the first woman elected to membership of the Meteorological Society. 1878 Surgical registrar Miss Louisa Aldrich Blake became the first woman to be awarded the degree of diploma of M.S. Lond. 1878 Married Women's Property Law amended in Scotland. 1878 W. Gregory Walker published The Married Women's Property Acts, their relation to the Doctrine of Separate Uses. 1878 Frances Power Cobbe published Wife Torture in England, a tract about domestic violence . 1878 Matrimonial Causes Amendment Act helped battered wives by allowing a judicial separation, maintenance payments and children to remain with the mother.

1878 London University became the first to grant degrees and full membership to women. 1879 Lady Margaret Hall and Somerville opened in Oxford. 1879 London School Board elects nine women. 1879 Pharmaceutical Society admits women as members. 1880 Bill giving greater protection to little girls under 13 1880 Burials Bill gives women the right to conduct funeral services. 1880 Charter of Royal University of Ireland admits women as members. 1880 First suffrage demonstration, in Manchester. Followed by demos in other towns. 1880 First three women to graduate in Britain were Elizabeth Creak, Marianne Andrews and Elizabeth Hills. 1880 Mason College founded in Birmingham. 1880 Mrs James Brander appointed Inspector of Schools in Madras. 1881 Cambridge University admits women to Tripos Examinations. 1881 Civil Service appoints female clerks by open competition. 1881 Durham University votes to admit women. 1881 Isle of Man gives the vote to 700 women property owners 1881 Married Women's Property Act for Scotland.

1881 Poor Law Guardians Association for Promoting the Return of ladies founded; seven ladies elected in London. 1882 Married Women's Property Act passed. No difference between femme sole and femme couverte. A married woman having separate property was liable for the support of her parents, husband, children and grandchildren becoming chargeable to any union or parish. 1882 Municipal Franchise Act for Scotland allows women to vote in local elections . 1882 Florence Pomeroy, Viscountess Harberton, president of the Rational Dress movement, introduced her invention of the divided skirt to the Natioanl Health Society. 1883 Conference of Liberal Associations in Leeds votes for women's suffrage. 1883 First government appointment of a medical woman when Miss E. Shove appointed physician to the female staff of the Post Office. 1883 First women elected as Poor Law Managers in Scotland (by now 26 in England). 1883 Memorial to Gladstone for women's suffrage signed by 100 liberal MPs. 1883 Mr Stansfeld's resolution against the CD Acts passed in the House of Commons. 1883 University of Wales resolved to admit women.

1883 Suspension of the CD Acts . 1883 J.H. published The wonders of the female world, or a general history of women. 1883 Hugh Mason proposed a motion for women's suffrage and was defeated (114 for; 130 against). 1883 The Women�s Co-operative Guild is established. Supports women's suffrage, advocates Maternity Insurance Benefit, organises education classes for women. 1884 The Northern Counties Amalgamated Association of Weavers was established for male and female workers. 1884 Widow Sophie Bryant became the first woman to receive a Doctora of Science degree, receiving hers in Mathematical and Natural Sciences at London University.. 1884 Custody of Infants' Bill passed its second reading by 134 1884 First woman to gain a M.A. degree: Mary Clara Dawes, A Girton student. 1884 Mrs Bryant first woman to be awarded BSc degree, at London University. 1884 Reform Act extended the vote to most adult men. 1884 Royal Irish University confers B.A. degrees on nine women students.

1885 Criminal Law Amendment Act raised the age of consent to 16, deemed sexual assault on girls under 13 as felonies and aged 13 to 16 as misdemeanours. 1885 Hospital for Women opened in Edinburgh, all doctors women. 1885 Miss Mason appointed Poor Law Inspector of Boarding Out. 1885 Primrose League, Ladies Executive Committee founded. 1885 Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland, admits women to diplomas. 1885 Three women appointed to the Metropolitan Asylums Board. 1885 Married Women's Maintenance Act. A woman entitled to maintenance after her husband's desertion. 1886 First woman dental surgeon to practice in England was an American, Dr Olgavon Oertzen. 1886 Three deaconesses ordained by the Bishop of London. 1886 Women's Disabilities Bill passed second reading. 1887 Leith Hospital in Scotland opened to women students. 1887 Miss Agnata Ramsay awarded a First in Classics at Cambridge, causing huge publicity nation-wide.

(She married the master of Trinity, Montague Butler.) 1887 Mrs Power Lalor appointed Inspector of Lace in Ireland. 1887 Municipal Franchise for women in Belfast passed. 1887 National Dental Hospital opened to women students. 1887 University Club for Women founded. 1887 Frances Power Cobbe published The Duties of Women (a course of lectures). 8th American edition. 1888 Emily Pfeiffer published Women and Work. 1888 Publication of The Law in Relation to Women by A Lawyer (i.e. Anon.). 1888 65 female Poor Law Guardians elected. 1888 Local Government Electors Act gave women the vote for county councils. 1888 Women's Liberal Unionist Association formed. 1888 Strike of 700 women matchmakers, led by Annie Besant. 1888 The Trades Unions' Congress resolves equal pay for equal work. 1888 Mrs Edward Butler became the first female motorcyclist. 1888 Correspondence on the theme Is Marriage a Failure? drew 27,000 letters to the Daily Telegraph.

1889 Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children founded. 1889 Suffrage rally in London on 21st June attended by 300,000 people. 1889 Women's Enfranchisement Bill failed. 1889 Chrystal Macmillan became the first woman to address the House of Lords when she pleaded in person Scottish women graduiates' claim to the parliamentary vote. (Sixteen years later she was called to the Bar.). 1889 'A lady' was appointed rate collector at Pirbright. 1890 The first woman stockbroker: Miss Bell, of Bucklesbury, City of London. 1890 Over 685,000 women are eligible to vote in local elections in England and Wales. 1890 Phillipa Fawcett, a Newnham student, was placed above Senior Wrangler in the Cambridge mathematics tripos, yet the university withheld degrees from women. 1890 Clementina Black wrote the pamphlet On Marriage, which explained why some women were unwilling to get married.

1891 Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence wrote My Part in a Changing World, which is about her experiences as a social worker in a working class area of London. 1891 Regina v. Jackson, aka the Clitheroe Case. A man may no longer imprison his wife to enforce his conjugal rights. 1891 First edition of The Women's Penny Paper, the first weekly feminist newspaper. Edited by Lady Henry Somerset and published by Anne E. Holdsworth. Survives 3 years. They also later publish The Woman's Signal and The Woman's Herald. 1892 Universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, St Andrews and Aberdeen admit women to membership and degrees. 1892 Ethel Mary Charles became the first woman professionally qualified architect and first female member of RIBA. 1892 Joseph Bridges Matthews published A Manual of the Law Relating to Married Women. 1892 The British Medical Association accepted female members. 1892 Emily Massingberd founded the Pioneer Club for women of advanced views. By 1894 its membership had grown to 500 1892 Women's Suffrage Bill failed.

1893 Baroness Coutts published Womans' Mission, a Series of Congress Papers on the Philanthropic Work of Women. 1893 M. Ostrogorski published The Rights of Women: a Comparative Study in History and Legislation. (Translated from French.) 1893 First woman factory inspector appointed. 1893 School leaving age raised from ten to 14 1893 Maria Ogilvie gained a D.Sc at London University, becoming the first woman doctor of science. 1894 Edward Carpenter published Woman and her Place in a Free Society: Sex, Love, and its Place in a Free Society, Marriage in a Free Society (three short essays). 1894 Blanche Alethea Crackanthorpe published The Revolt of the Daughters (an article). 1894 Sarah Grand published The New Aspect of the Woman Question (an article). 1894 Local Government Act abolished the 5 property qualification for Poor Law guardians, making hundreds more women eligible to stand for election. 1894 Emmeline Pankhurst elected as a Poor Law Guardian in Manchester and Charlotte Despard elected in London.

1895 Three women served on the Royal Commission on Secondary Education. 1895 The Summary Jurisdiction (Married Women) Act (about separation orders). 1895 Edith Lanchester forced into a lunatic asylum for intending to live with her boyfriend. 1895 First woman in Britain to qualify as a dental surgeon: Dr Lilian Murray (later, Lindsay). Qualified LDS at Edinburgh. 1895 Alice Gordon reported that of 1,486 women who had a university education only 208 had married and 680 were teachers. 1896 Georgiana Hill published Women in English Life, from Medieval to Modern Times. 1896 Lina Eckenstein published Woman under Monasticism. Chapters on Saint Lore and Convent Life between A.D.500 and A.D.1500. 1896 Women's suffrage petition of 257,000 signatures presented to parliament. 1896 Union of Practical Suffragists formed within the Women's Liberal Federation. 1897 National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) was founded. Motto: Faith, perseverance, patience.

1897 Over 729,000 women now eligible to vote in local elections in England and Wales. 1897 Ferdinand Faithfull Begg MP introduced a Woman Suffrage Bill supported by a petition of 257,796 signatures. It reached a second reading then was defeated by 230 to 159 votes. 1897 First woman car driver and car owner: actress Minnie Palmer. 1898 Correspondence on the theme Should Wives Work? drew 2,000 letters to the Daily Telegraph. 1898 Rational Dress League and its journal, Rational Dress Gazette founded. Lady Harberton a leading light. 1898 Hautboy Hotel in Ockham refused to serve Lady Harberton owing to her wearing her cycling outfit - knickerbockers. 1898 Nora Philips et al published A Dictionary of Employments Open to Women. 1899 International Congress of Women held in London. 1899 Regina vs Clarence: a husband cannot be found guilty of rape even if he is suffering from VD. 1900 Petition of 29,000 female Lancashire factory workers demanded the vote.

1901 Census reveals there were 212 female doctors in the UK. 1901 Census reveals there were a million more women than men in England and Wales. 1901 Birth rate dropped to 28.6 per 1,000, from 36 per 1,000 in 1876 1902 Hertha Ayrton was refused election to the Royal Society because she was a married woman. 1903 Emmeline Pankhurst formed Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) with daughters Christabel and Sylvia. Motto: Deeds not Words. 1904 First female minister of religion appointed in England: German-born Gertude von Petzold M.A. was appointed to Narborough Rd Church at Leicester. 1905 Publication of Frances Power Cobbe's The Duties of Women (a series of lectures she gave in 1881). 1905 First militant acts in support of women's suffrage. 1906 January Liberals win general election by an overwhelming majority. WSPU demands votes for women, promising to harass Liberals until this is achieved.

March Daily Mail coins term 'suffragette' for militant suffragists. June Teresa Billington and Annie Kenney become 1906 Baroness Coutts became the first woman to be buried at Westminster Abbey. 1906 Gertrude Ederle, an American, became the first woman to swim the English Channel. 1906 A deputation of 300 women (led by Emily Davies) representing 50,000 textile workers, 22,000 women member of the Co-op Societies and 1,530 university graduates met the prime minister to demand votes for women. He urged patience. 1907 February 3,000 people march in heavy rain from Hyde Park to Strand in a protest dubbed 'The Mud March'. March Women's Suffrage Bill, introduced by W.H. Dickinson, is talked out at a second reading. Another 'raid' on the 1907 Women's Freedom League founded by Charlotte Despard and Teresa Billington-Grieg. 1907 The First Women�s Parliament attempted to force their way into Parliament to present a petition to the Prime Minister, who refused to see them.

1907 Henry Nevinson and Henry Brailsford founded the Men�s League for Women�s Suffrage. 1908 First woman mayor: Elizabeth Garrett Anderson elected at Aldeburgh. 1908 February Second reading of Stanger Bill, identical to Dickinson's Bill of 1907 - 271 votes for, 92 against. June WSPU organises seven processions from different parts of London to converge on Hyde Park for a rally. An estimated 1908 Women's National Anti Suffrage League founded. 1908 Petition against women having the vote drew 337,018 signatures. 1909 the Duchess of Montrose founded the Scottish Women's National Anti-Suffrage League. 1909 Church League for Women�s Suffrage founded. 1909 Women's National Anti Suffrage League had 10,000 members in 235 branches. 1909 Suffrage organisations use increasingly violent and drastic measures to further the cause. 1909 Marion Wallace Dunlop, a Scottish WSPU member, became the first suffragette to go on hunger strike. She refused to eat unless placed in the first division.

After 91 hours she was released. 1909 September First case of hunger strikes andforce-feeding (Winson Green prison, Birmingham). 1910 Men�s Federation for Women�s Enfranchisement founded. 1910 Ellen Pitfield died of injuries received on Black Friday. 1910 First female pilot and parachute jumper: Edith Maud Cook flew Bleriot monoplanes. She was killed later that year making a descent in a balloon. 1910 Spring-summer All-party 'Conciliation Committee' drafts limited Women's suffrage bill, giving the vote only to householders. WSPU and Women's Freedom League suspend militancy. November The Conciliation Bill is abandoned. 1910 November 'Black Friday' - suffragettes march to Parliament Square and are brutally treated by police. 1910 Mrs Mary Clarke (Mrs Pankhurst's sister) and Cecila Wolseley Haig died from injuries received on Black Friday. 1911 Miss Clemence Housman became the first woman to be imprisoned for refusing to pay taxes. She withheld her income tax and inhabited house duty as a protest against women's being denied the vote.

1911 Hilda Beatrice Hewlett (b1864) became the first woman to gain a pilot's licence. She qualified on a Henry Farman biplane at Brooklands Race Track for Certificate No 122 on 29th August. 1911 NUWSS boasts 411 branches. 1911 May Second Conciliation Bill debated, with large majority -167 in favour. Asquith pledges that time for a suffrage bill would be found during the life of the parliament. November Asquith announces that the government will introduce an adult 1911 Mrs Pankhurst tried for conspiracy. 1911 Olive Schreiner published Woman and Labour. 1912 Harold Owen published Women Adrfit: The Menace of Suffragism. 1912 March Emily Green is arrested for smashing six windows in Glasgow's Sauchiehall Street. July Suffragettes throw hatchet into Asquith's open carriage in Dublin. November Scottish Suffragettes pour corrosive and flammable fluid into letterboxes in Kirkcaldy, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and 1913 E. Belfont Bax published The Fraud of Feminism.

1913 Cora Sutton Castle published A Statistical Study of Eminent Women. 1913 Emily Davison threw herself in front of King George V's horse. She died some days later in Epsom Cottage Hospital. 1913 The Cat and Mouse Act was passed. The Act permitted the release of hunger striking suffragettes from prison when they were on the point of death and their re-arrest when they were partially recovered. 1913 The first female magistrate: Miss Emily Duncan JP sworn in at West Ham, London. 1913 Sir Almroth Wright published The Unexpurgated Case Against Woman Suffrage. 1913 January Franchise and Registration Bill is debated in Commons, with four Women's suffrage amendments. April Arabella Scott, Agnes and Elizabeth Thomson, and Edith Hudson are arrested for attempting to set fire to Kelso racecourse stand. April 'Cat and 1914 United Suffragists formed. 1914 February Rhoda Robinson is arrested for burning down Allt-an-Fhionn mansion in Perthshire May King's portrait slashed at Royal Academy. Maude Edwards is arrested.

June Suffragettes attempt to force their way into Buckingham Palace to petition the king. July 1914 August War is declared. WSPU suspends militancy and suffrage work; all imprisoned suffragettes are released. 1914 First World War begins and WSPU and NUWSS cease campaigning. 1914 Emmeline Pankhurst published My Own Story. 1914 First woman professional pilot: Mrs Buller, of the Cauldron Co, Hendon. 1917 Bill giving votes to certain women over 30 passes the Commons. 1918 The Representation of the People Act gave the vote to women over 30 who occupied premises of a yearly value of not less than �5. 1918 Bill to enable women to stand for parliament is rushed through both Houses. 1918 Eleven women stood for parliament. The only one elected was Constance Markievicz, who would not take her seat because she was a Sinn Feinner. 1918 Christabel Pankhurst stood at Smethwick as the Women's Party candidate. She was narrowly beaten.

1918 First woman elected MP is Constance Markievicz, but as a Sinn Feiner she refused to swear the oath and was not allowed to take her seat. 1919 American-born Nancy, Lady Astor is the first female MP to sit in the House of Commons. She won a by-election in Plymouth, where her husband had been MP until raised to the Lords. 1919 First sportswoman to wear shorts: Elaine Burton, at the English Northern Counties' Athletics Championships. 1919 A woman was appointed vicar's warden at St Mary's Vincent Square, Westminster. 1920 The first six women jurors were sworn in at Bristol Quarter Sessions. 1920 Oxford University admits women to membership and degrees, but the statute limited the numbers of women to 1 for every 6 men. 1921 First two women barristers called to the Irish Bar: Fay Kyle and Miss A.K.S. Deverell. 1922 First woman called to the English Bar: Dr Ivy Williams. 1922 First female member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, and the first female vet, was Aileen Cust (b1868).

1922 Viscountess Rhondda was refused a seat in the House of Lords for being a woman. 1922 Criminal Law Amendment Act protected both sexes from seduction up to the age of 16 1922 Irene Barclay became the first female chartered surveyor. She ran her own business for 51 years. 1923 First woman government minister: Margaret Bondfield became Minister of Labour. 1925 Guardianship of Infants Act. Mothers given equality in custody of children. Mr Justice Lawrence called this 'an insult to God'. 1925 First woman stockbroker: Miss C.V. Baird, Oonagh Keogh, aged 22, Dublin Stock Exchange. 1925 First woman to win an open horse race: Eileen Joel won the Newmarket Town Plate wearing a cloche hat. 1926 Mrs Foster Welsh became the first female King's Officer (Sheriff) when elected at Southampton. 1928 Representation of the People Act is amended and allows everyone over the age of 21 to vote. 1928 Ray Strachey published The Cause.

1929 Age of marriage raised from 12 to 16 for girls and from 14 to 16 for boys. 1929 Virginia Woolf published A Room of One's Own. 1930 Amy Johnson became the first woman to fly solo to Australia. 1931 Sylvia Pankhurst published The Suffragette Movement. 1931 Birth rate dropped to 15.8 per 1,000.00 Was 28.6 per 1,000 in 1901 and from 36 per 1,000 in 1876 1931 Amy Johnson flew from London to Australia. 1932 Dr Nancy Nichols and her husband (of Folkestone) crossed Africa by motor-car, a journey of 10,000 miles. She was the first woman to drive the 1,157 over the Wadai Desert and Dar-Fur mountains. 1933 London County Council removed its marriage bar. 1933 Women first wore trousers suits in public. 1934 Winifred Holtby published Woman and a Changing Civilisation.

1934 Mrs Elizabeth Richardson of Shepherd's Bush became the first woman to win the Gold Medal of the International Exhibition of Inventions for her 'wireless station finder'. 1936 First female professor at Cambridge University (Dr Dorothy Garrod, Professor of Archaeology). 1939 Miss S.C. Jennings became the first woman to qualify as a gas engineer. 1944 Education Act enshrined that women teachers were not to be dismissed upon marriage. 1945 First female professor at Oxford University (Dr Ida Mann, Professor of Ophthalmology). 1946 Marriage bar removed from female civil servants; they also became eligible for the foreign service for the first time. 1946 Agnes Arber became the first female botanist to be elected to the Royal Society. 1947 Cambridge University admits women to membership and degrees, but the statute limited the numbers of women to 1 for every 10 men. 1947 All medical schools became co-educational. 1948 First woman KC was Margaret Kidd of the Scottish Bar 1949 First women KCs were appointed: Rose Heildron and Helena Normanton.

1950 First woman elected as president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (Dame Hilda Lloyd). 1951 Appointment of the first female coroner (Miss Lilian M. Hollowell, in Norfolk). 1958 Mary Wilson became the first woman sentenced to death for murdering two husbands. She gave them both phosphorus. 1960 Wendy Lewis (19) became the first woman to walk the 891 miles from John O'Groats to Land's End. She did it in 17 days and 7 hours. 1963 Peeresses admitted to the House of Lords. 1970 Equal Pay Act - men and women get the same wage for same job. 1972 First Ladies Race under Jockey Club rules. One mile at Kempton Park. Won by Meriel Tufnell of Bishop's Waltham, Hants on her mother's horse, at 50 to 1 1973 Ten women admitted to the London Stock Exchange. 1974 Contraception now free on the NHS. 1975 Margaret Thatcher became the first woman to lead a political party (Conservative).

1975 Sex Discrimination Act became law. 1975 Employment Protection Act made it illegal to dismiss someone on the grounds of pregnancy and established maternity leave. 1976 Domestic Violence Protection Act. Gave police more powers to arrest and increased courts' protection of battered wives. 1979 1877 - Historical Events - On This Day On This Day Jan 1 England's Queen Victoria proclaimed empress of India Queen of the United Kingdom Victoria Battle of Interest Jan 8 Crazy Horse and his warriors fight their last battle with the United States Cavalry at Wolf Mountain (Montana Territory). Native American War Leader Jan 15 US Assay Office in Helena, Montana opens Jan 16 Color organ (for light shows) patented, by Bainbridge Bishop Jan 22 Arthur Tooth, an Anglican clergyman is taken into custody after being prosecuted for using ritualist practices. Election of Interest Jan 25 Congress determines presidential election between Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel J.

Tilden 19th US President Jan 30 Storm flood ravages Dutch coastal provinces Feb 7 1st Guernsey Cattle Club organizes (NYC) Feb 12 1st news dispatch by telephone, between Boston & Salem, Mass Feb 12 US railroad builders strike against wage reduction Feb 20 1st cantilever bridge in US completed, Harrodsburg, Kentucky Feb 20 International Association (minor baseball league) organizes Feb 27 US Electoral College declares Rutherford B. Hayes winner of the presidential election Mar 2 Rutherford B. Hayes (R) declared president despite Samuel J. Tilden (D) winning the popular vote, but is 1 electoral vote shy of victory Mar 3 Rutherford B. Hayes is sworn in as the 19th US president Mar 4 Tchaikovski's incomplete ballet "Zwanenmeer" premieres in Moscow Mar 5 Rutherford B. Hayes inaugurated as 19th US president Mar 12 Great Britain annexes Walvis Bay at Cape colony, Southern Africa.

Mar 15 Commencement of 1st Test Cricket, Australia v England at MCG Mar 16 Charles Bannerman completes 1st Test cricket century, 165 v Eng Mar 17 Bill Midwinter completes Test Cricket's 1st 5-wkt haul, 5-78 v Eng Event of Interest Mar 31 The family with samurai antecedents who responded to the Saigo army in Ōita Nakatsu rebels.

Apr 2 1st Easter egg roll held on White House lawn Apr 6 17th British Golf Open: Jamie Anderson shoots a 160 at Musselburgh Links Apr 10 1st human cannonball act performed in London Apr 10 Federal troops withdrawn from Columbia, SC Apr 12 British annex Transvaal, in South Africa Apr 12 Catcher's mask 1st used in a baseball game Apr 15 1st telephone installed: Boston-Somerville in Massachusetts Apr 19 Opera "Les Cloches de Cornerville" is produced (Paris) Apr 24 Last federal occupying troops withdraw from the South (New Orleans) Apr 24 Russo-Turkish War, 1877-78: Russia declares war on the Ottoman Empire. Apr 27 Opera "Le Roi de Lahore" is produced (Paris) Apr 27 Rutherford B. Hayes removes Federal troops from LA, Reconstruction ends Event of Interest May 5 Indian Wars: Sitting Bull leads his band of Lakota into Canada to avoid harassment by the United States Army under Colonel Nelson Miles.

Lakota Sioux Chief May 7 Cincinnati Enquirer first uses term "Bullpen" to indicate foul territory May 8 1st Westminster Dog Show held May 9 Mihail Kogălniceanu reads, in the Chamber of Deputies, the Declaration of Independence of Romania. This day became the Independence Day of Romania. May 12 Ottawa Rough Riders 1st outside competition vs Britannia May 13 Caesar Franck's "Lesson Eolides" premieres May 16 May 16, 1877 political crisis in France.

May 17 Edwin T Holmes installs 1st telephone switchboard burglar alarm May 22 3rd Kentucky Derby: Billy Walker aboard Baden-Baden wins in 2:38 May 24 5th Preakness: C Holloway aboard Cloverbrook wins in 2:45.5 Jun 1 Society of American Artists forms Jun 1 US troops authorized to pursue bandits into Mexico Jun 9 11th Belmont: C Holloway aboard Cloverbrook wins in 2:46 Event of Interest Henry Ossian Flipper Jun 17 Indian Wars: Battle of White Bird Canyon - the Nez Perce defeat the US Cavalry at White Bird Canyon in the Idaho Territory. Jun 21 The Molly Maguires, ten Irish immigrants, are hanged at the Schuylkill County and Carbon County, Pennsylvania prisons. Jul 1 1st edition of "Amsterdammer" published Jul 9 First ever Wimbledon tennis championship begins - first offical lawn tennis tournament - men's singles only Jul 10 The then villa of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, formally receives its city charter from the Royal Crown of Spain.

Jul 11 Kate Edger becomes New Zealand’s first woman graduate and the first woman in the British Empire to earn a Bachelor of Arts Jul 14 General strike brings US railroad to a stand still Jul 19 1st Wimbledon Men's Tennis: Spencer W Gore beats Marshall (61 62 64) Jul 20 Military shoots on stopped railroad workers in Balt, kills 9 Jul 21 -27] US army breaks railroad strike Jul 23 1st US municipal railroad, Cincinnati Southern, begins operations Jul 23 1st telephone & telegraph line in Hawaii completed Jul 24 1st time federal troops are used to combat strikers Jul 31 Second Russian assault on Plevna, Turkey fails, during Russo-Turkish War, 7,300 Russian casualties Aug 2 SF Public Library opens with 5,000 volumes Event of Interest Aug 9 Henry Morton Stanley 's party reaches Boma, Congo, after 999 days, losing half of the 228 members.

Journalist and Explorer Aug 10 Big Hole River: Col John Gibbon murders Nez-Perce indians Aug 11 Asaph Hall discovers Mars's moon Deimos Event of Interest Aug 17 Asaph Hall discovers Mars' moon Phobos Aug 22 Nez Perce (Niimíipu) indians flee into Yellowstone National Park Sep 5 Southern blacks led by Pap Singleton settle in Kansas Sep 11 Rijkslandbouwhoge school opens in Wageningen Sep 20 Chase National Bank opens in NYC (later merges into Chase Manhattan) Event of Interest Sep 22 Rudolf Virchow delivers an anti-Darwinian speech to the Congress of German Naturalist and Physicians, Munich where he spoke against the teaching of the theory of evolution in schools Anthropologist/Pathologist Sep 23 Hurricane strikes Curacao & Bonaire kills 200 Sep 24 Battle of Shiroyama, decisive victory of the Imperial Japanese Army over the Satsuma Rebellion Sep 27 John Mercer Langston named minister of Haiti Sep 30 1st US amateur swim meet (NY Athletic Club) Oct 5 Chief Joseph surrenders, ending Nez Perce War Oct 

9 American Humane Association organizes (Cleveland) Oct 17 Henry Morton Stanley reaches Boma during trip cross Africa Music Premiere Oct 22 The Blantyre mining disaster in Scotland kills 207 miners.

Those widows and orphans who were unable to support themselves were evicted by the mine owners and likely sent to the Poor House.

Nov 1 Dutch government of Heemskerk-Van Lynden resigns Nov 9 American Chemical Society chartered in NY Nov 17 Gilbert and Sullivan's operette "Sorcerer" premieres in London Nov 17 Russia launches a surprise night attack that overruns Turkish forces at Kars, Armenia Nov 21 Tom Edison announces his "talking machine" invention (phonograph) - first machine to play and record sound Nov 29 US inventor Thomas Edison demonstrates his hand-cranked phonograph for the first time Dec 2 Camille Saint-Saëns' opera "Samson et Dalila" premieres in Weimar Dec 6 First recording made of the human voice - Thomas Edison reciting "Mary had a little lamb" Dec 6 Washington Post publishes 1st edition Dec 7 Thomas Edison demonstrates his phonograph (gramophone) to the editors of "Scientific American" Dec 16 Anton Bruckner's 3rd Symphony in D, premieres Dec 22 "American Bicycling Journal" begins publishing (Boston, Mass) Dec 26 Socialist Labor Party of North America holds 1st national convention Dec 28 John Stevens, applies for a patent for his flour

 rolling mill Dec 30 Johnannes Brahms' 2nd Symphony in D, premieres in Vienna

Question: What began in 1877 but banned women until 1884?
Answer: Wimbledon Tennis