Culture & the Arts

  • 735: Bede dies at Jarrow

    Bede died at the monastery of Wearmouth-Jarrow in 735, with 26 May commonly used as the date. The date matters because Bede had already completed work that became central to the written record of early English Christianity. He lived and worked in a Northumbrian monastery, not at a royal court or on campaign. His authority…

  • 1542: Sir Thomas Wyatt Dies in Dorset

    Sir Thomas Wyatt, the English poet and diplomat, is commonly recorded as having died on 11 October 1542 in Dorset. The exact date is uncertain. Some accounts place his death on 6 October and his burial at Sherborne Abbey on the 11th. Wyatt had been travelling on royal business to meet an envoy of Emperor…

  • 1568: Welsh cartographer Humphrey Llwyd dies

    Welsh antiquary and mapmaker Humphrey Llwyd died at Denbigh in August 1568 after suffering a severe fever. The Dictionary of Welsh Biography gives his death as 21 August, although the date is uncertain. Abraham Ortelius recorded 31 August, and that date also appears in a contemporary note attached to Llwyd’s final surviving letter. Llwyd was…

  • 1593: Christopher Marlowe is killed at Deptford

    On 30 May 1593, Christopher Marlowe was killed at Deptford. The inquest recorded a quarrel at the house of Eleanor Bull. Marlowe had spent the day there with Ingram Frizer, Robert Poley and Nicholas Skeres. The dispute was said to have been over payment. Frizer stabbed Marlowe above the eye, and Marlowe died from the…

  • 1669: Samuel Pepys writes the final entry in his diary

    On 31 May 1669, Samuel Pepys wrote the final entry in his diary. He stopped because he feared that continuing to write was damaging his eyesight. The reason was practical and personal. Pepys was not bringing a public work to a planned end. He had kept a private record, written in shorthand, for nearly ten…

  • 1709: Samuel Johnson is born in Lichfield

    Samuel Johnson was born in Lichfield, Staffordshire, on 18 September 1709, to Michael and Sarah Johnson. His father was a bookseller. Johnson suffered serious illnesses as a child, which left him with impaired sight and hearing and scars on his face and neck. He attended Pembroke College, Oxford, but his family’s financial difficulties meant he…

  • 1717: Horace Walpole Is Born in London

    Horace Walpole was born on 24 September 1717 in Arlington Street, London. The youngest son of Sir Robert Walpole, he became a writer, collector and antiquarian whose interests helped establish the Gothic fashion in eighteenth-century Britain. In 1747 Walpole bought a house at Twickenham which became known as Strawberry Hill. Over the following decades he…

  • 1737: Writer Maria Susanna Cooper is born in Norfolk

    Maria Susanna Cooper was born Maria Susanna Bransby in Shotesham, Norfolk, on 20 August 1737. She became an author of novels, children’s writing and poetry during the second half of the eighteenth century. She married the clergyman Samuel Cooper in 1761. Her earliest writing appears to have included children’s books, although these have not been…

  • 1771: Walter Scott is born in Edinburgh

    Walter Scott was born in College Wynd, Edinburgh, on 15 August 1771. He became one of the most successful Scottish writers of his period, with historical novels that found readers across Europe and America. Scott contracted polio as a young child and was sent to stay with his paternal grandparents at Sandyknowe Farm in the…

  • 1792: George Cruikshank is born in London

    George Cruikshank was born in London on 27 September 1792. He became one of the best-known British caricaturists and book illustrators of the nineteenth century. His father, Isaac Cruikshank, was an established caricaturist, and George began working as his apprentice and assistant. By the early nineteenth century, he was producing his own political and social…

  • 1796: Thomas Reid dies in Glasgow

    Scottish philosopher Thomas Reid died in Glasgow on 7 October 1796, aged 86. A leading figure in the Scottish Enlightenment, he founded the Scottish school of Common Sense philosophy. Reid began his working life in the Church of Scotland before moving into academic life at King’s College, Aberdeen. There, he helped found the Aberdeen Philosophical…

  • 1797: Mary Shelley is born in London

    Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, later Mary Shelley, was born in Somers Town, London, on 30 August 1797. Her parents were two prominent radical writers: Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin. Wollstonecraft had published A Vindication of the Rights of Woman in 1792. Godwin’s An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice followed in 1793. Both had criticised conventional marriage, but…

  • 1809: Old Price Riots Begin at Covent Garden Theatre

    On 18 September 1809, the rebuilt Covent Garden Theatre opened in London with a performance of Macbeth. Before the night was over, the audience had turned the occasion into the beginning of the Old Price Riots. A fire destroyed the previous theatre in September 1808. Rebuilding was expensive, and actor-manager John Philip Kemble attempted to…

  • 1823: Charlotte Mary Yonge is born in Otterbourne

    Charlotte Mary Yonge was born in Otterbourne, Hampshire, on 11 August 1823. She remained closely connected with the village for the rest of her life while building a long and commercially successful career as a novelist and editor. Yonge was educated largely at home under her father, William Yonge. Another important influence was John Keble,…

  • 1827: William Blake dies in London

    William Blake died at his home in Fountain Court, London, on 12 August 1827, aged 69. The poet, painter, printmaker and engraver left work that would later reach an audience far larger than it had during his lifetime. Blake had spent much of his career combining words and images. He developed methods for producing illustrated…

  • 1832: Sir Walter Scott Dies at Abbotsford

    Sir Walter Scott died at his home in Abbotsford, in the Scottish Borders, on 21 September 1832. He was 61. Scott had become one of the most successful British writers of his time through his poetry and historical novels. Financial problems dominated his final years. In 1826, the failure of publishing and printing businesses with…

  • 1833: Edward Burne-Jones is born in Birmingham

    Edward Coley Burne-Jones was born in Birmingham on 28 August 1833. He became one of the leading painters and designers associated with the later Pre-Raphaelite movement. Much of his work was for buildings and decorative objects rather than picture galleries. Burne-Jones’s father was a frame-maker and gilder. His mother died within days of his birth,…

  • 1849: Anne Brontë dies at Scarborough

    Anne Brontë died at Scarborough on 28 May 1849, aged 29. She had travelled there from Haworth while seriously ill. The illness was tuberculosis, often called consumption at the time. Scarborough was not a passing detail in the story. It was where she spent her final days, away from the parsonage and the family setting…

  • 1859: Arthur Conan Doyle is born in Edinburgh

    Arthur Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh on 22 May 1859. He became one of the best-known writers of the late Victorian period, though not always for the work he valued most. His reputation rests above all on Sherlock Holmes, the fictional detective who made crime feel like a problem to be read through evidence,…

  • 1866: H. G. Wells is born in Bromley

    Herbert George Wells was born in Bromley, Kent, on 21 September 1866. He was the fourth and youngest child of Joseph Wells and Sarah Neal. His parents ran a shop selling china and sporting goods, but it provided an uncertain living. Joseph Wells also earned money as a professional cricketer. The family’s finances meant that…

  • 1872: Ranjitsinhji is born

    Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji was born on 10 September 1872 in Sarodar in western India. He became one of the leading batsmen in English cricket and the first Indian to play Test cricket. Ranjitsinhji came to England in 1888 and later studied at Trinity College, Cambridge. After playing cricket at Cambridge, he established himself with Sussex…

  • 1876: Assyriologist George Smith dies in Aleppo

    British Museum Assyriologist George Smith died in Aleppo on 19 August 1876 while returning to England from an archaeological expedition. He was 36. Smith had taken an unusual route into scholarship. Born in Chelsea in 1840, he left formal education early and, at 14, was apprenticed to the London publishing firm Bradbury & Evans to…

  • 1881: P. G. Wodehouse Is Born in Guildford

    Pelham Grenville Wodehouse was born in Guildford, Surrey, on 15 October 1881. He was the third of four sons of Henry Ernest Wodehouse and Eleanor Deane. His father was a British colonial official based in Hong Kong, and Wodehouse spent much of his childhood in England apart from his parents. He attended Dulwich College before…

  • 1885: D. H. Lawrence Is Born in Nottinghamshire

    D. H. Lawrence was born in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, on 11 September 1885. The son of coal miner Arthur Lawrence and his wife Lydia, a former teacher, David Herbert Lawrence grew up in a community dominated by the mining industry. That background shaped his writing. Lawrence worked briefly as a teacher before establishing himself as a…

  • 1892: Alfred, Lord Tennyson dies at Aldworth

    Alfred, Lord Tennyson, died at Aldworth, his home near Haslemere, on 6 October 1892. He was 83 and had been Poet Laureate for more than four decades. Tennyson had succeeded William Wordsworth as Poet Laureate in 1850, the same year that In Memoriam A.H.H. was published. He became one of Victorian Britain’s best-known literary figures,…

  • 1895: Oscar Wilde is convicted of gross indecency

    Oscar Wilde was convicted at the Central Criminal Court on 25 May 1895 and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment with hard labour. The conviction followed a failed libel case against the Marquess of Queensberry, the father of Lord Alfred Douglas. Wilde had gone to court as the complainant. When the case collapsed, evidence raised there…

  • 1897: *Dracula* is published in London

    Dracula was published in London by Archibald Constable and Company in May 1897. 26 May is often given as the publication date, though it is safer to treat it as probable rather than exact. Bram Stoker’s novel reached the British market as a gothic story before Dracula became a figure of film, costume and shorthand.…

  • 1899: Alfred Hitchcock is born in Leytonstone

    Alfred Hitchcock was born in Leytonstone, east London, on 13 August 1899. Long before his name became associated with Hollywood, he had established himself as one of Britain’s leading film directors. Hitchcock entered the British film industry in the early 1920s and worked in several production roles before directing. His first film as director, The…

  • 1905: Sir Henry Irving Dies After a Performance in Bradford

    Sir Henry Irving died in Bradford on 13 October 1905, shortly after performing in Alfred Tennyson’s *Becket* at the Theatre Royal. He had returned to his hotel when he collapsed. He was 67. Irving had continued touring despite periods of ill health. His final performance came at the end of a career in which he…

  • 1907: The first Isle of Man TT race is held

    The first Isle of Man Tourist Trophy motorcycle race was held on 28 May 1907 on the St John’s Short Course. The Isle of Man is a Crown Dependency, not part of the United Kingdom. Even so, the race fits a British-linked history archive because of the island’s close relationship with Britain and the TT’s…

  • 1907: Helen MacInnes is born in Glasgow

    Scottish novelist Helen MacInnes was born in Glasgow on 7 October 1907. She later became one of the best-known writers of twentieth-century espionage fiction. MacInnes spent part of her childhood in Helensburgh, where she attended Hermitage School, before continuing her education in Glasgow. She studied at the University of Glasgow and graduated with an MA…

  • 1911: William Golding is born in Cornwall

    William Golding was born in Newquay, Cornwall, on 19 September 1911. He became one of the best-known British novelists of the post-war period. However, his first novel did not appear until his early forties. Golding wanted to become a writer from childhood. At Oxford he initially studied natural sciences before turning to English literature. He…

  • 1916: Roald Dahl is born in Llandaff

    Roald Dahl was born in Llandaff, near Cardiff, on 13 September 1916. His parents, Harald and Sofie Dahl, were Norwegian, and Norwegian culture remained part of his family life during his childhood in Wales. Dahl was educated in Britain, including at Repton School, but did not initially pursue a literary career. He joined the Shell…

  • 1919: Donald Pleasence is born in Worksop

    Donald Pleasence was born in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, on 5 October 1919. He became a familiar British character actor, working extensively in theatre, television and film. His father was a railway stationmaster, and Pleasence briefly followed him into railway work. He wanted to act and entered repertory theatre before the Second World War. Pleasence initially registered…

  • 1930: Ted Hughes is born in Yorkshire

    Ted Hughes was born in Mytholmroyd in the West Riding of Yorkshire on 17 August 1930. His full name was Edward James Hughes. He spent his early childhood in the Calder Valley, where animals and the surrounding countryside became important interests. His family later moved to Mexborough in South Yorkshire. After National Service in the…

  • 1930: Sean Connery is born in Edinburgh

    Sean Connery was born in Fountainbridge, Edinburgh, on 25 August 1930. More than three decades before he first appeared as James Bond, he was growing up in a working-class district of the city with no obvious route into acting. His father worked as a factory worker and lorry driver, while his mother cleaned. Connery left…

  • 1930: William Archibald Spooner dies in Oxford

    William Archibald Spooner died in Oxford on 29 August 1930. He had spent more than 60 years at New College, eventually becoming its Warden; however, his surname survived for a different reason. Spooner entered New College as an undergraduate in 1862. After taking a First in Classics, he became a Fellow and went on to…

  • 1930: Harold Pinter Is Born in London

    Harold Pinter was born on 10 October 1930 in Hackney, East London. His father was a tailor, and Pinter grew up in a Jewish family. He was nine when the Second World War began and was evacuated from London. After returning, he attended Hackney Downs Grammar School, where school productions encouraged his interest in acting.…

  • 1934: Diana Wynne Jones is born in London

    Fantasy writer Diana Wynne Jones was born in London on 16 August 1934. She wrote more than 40 books, including Howl’s Moving Castle and the Chrestomanci series, but books were scarce during her childhood. Jones was five when the Second World War began. Her family moved several times before settling in Thaxted, Essex. She later…

  • 1937: Bobby Charlton Is Born in Ashington

    Robert ‘Bobby’ Charlton was born on 11 October 1937 in Ashington, Northumberland. His father was a coal miner, and his older brother Jack also became an England international. Charlton was spotted playing for East Northumberland Schools and joined Manchester United as a schoolboy in 1953. He turned professional in 1954 and made his first-team debut…

  • 1939: Arthur Rackham Dies in Surrey

    Arthur Rackham, one of the best-known English book illustrators of the early twentieth century, died at Limpsfield, Surrey, on 6 September 1939. He was 71. Born in London in 1867, Rackham worked as an illustrator before becoming closely associated with the illustrated gift books of the period, sometimes called the Golden Age of British book…

  • 1940: John Lennon Was Born in Liverpool

    John Winston Lennon was born on 9 October 1940 at Liverpool Maternity Hospital in Oxford Street. His parents were Julia and Alfred Lennon, a merchant seaman. Britain was at war with Germany. After his parents separated, Lennon moved in with his aunt Mimi and uncle George Smith at Mendips in Woolton, Liverpool. His mother remained…

  • 1944: Tom Leonard is born in Glasgow

    Tom Leonard was born in Glasgow on 22 August 1944. He became one of the Scottish writers most closely associated with putting the sound of Glasgow speech directly onto the printed page. His father was a train driver from Dublin, and his mother was of Irish descent and came from Saltcoats. Leonard grew up in…

  • 1945: *Animal Farm* is published in Britain

    George Orwell’s Animal Farm was published in Britain by Secker & Warburg on 17 August 1945. The first printing consisted of 4,500 copies. Getting that far had taken Orwell through a series of rejections in which politics mattered as much as publishing judgement. Orwell wrote most of Animal Farm during 1943 and 1944. He called…

  • 1946: Barry Gibb is born

    Barry Gibb was born in Douglas, Isle of Man, on 1 September 1946. He became the eldest of the three brothers who formed the Bee Gees, as well as a successful songwriter and performer. The Gibb family later lived in Manchester before emigrating to Australia. Barry and his younger twin brothers, Robin and Maurice, performed…

  • 1947: Willy Russell is born in Whiston

    Willy Russell was born at Whiston, Lancashire, on 23 August 1947. He grew up in the Liverpool area and left school at 15, long before he wrote Educating Rita, Shirley Valentine and Blood Brothers. Russell trained as a women’s hairdresser and eventually ran his own salon. He also wrote songs and performed on the local…

  • 1958: Ralph Vaughan Williams dies in London

    Ralph Vaughan Williams died at his home in Hanover Terrace, London, on 26 August 1958. He was 85 and remained an active composer almost to the end of his life. Only four months earlier, on 2 April, his Ninth Symphony had received its first performance. Malcolm Sargent conducted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The work did…

  • 1962: Coventry Cathedral is consecrated

    The new Coventry Cathedral was consecrated on 25 May 1962, more than twenty years after the old cathedral had been destroyed in the bombing of November 1940. The old building was not simply cleared away. Its ruins were left beside the new cathedral, keeping the evidence of war in view. That choice gave Coventry a…

  • 1967: Beatles manager Brian Epstein dies in London

    Brian Epstein was found dead at his home in Chapel Street, London, on 27 August 1967. He was 32 and had managed the Beatles throughout their rise from a Liverpool club group to one of the world’s most successful musical acts. His death was accidental. An inquest found that Epstein had died after taking an…

  • 1973: J. R. R. Tolkien dies in Bournemouth

    J. R. R. Tolkien died on 2 September 1973 while visiting friends in Bournemouth. He was 81 and had returned to Oxford the previous year after the death of his wife Edith. Tolkien was internationally known as the author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. However, fiction occupied only part of his…

  • 1973: W. H. Auden Dies in Vienna

    W. H. Auden died in Vienna on 29 September 1973, aged 66. He read his poetry in the city shortly before his death and stayed overnight before returning to Oxford. Born Wystan Hugh Auden in York in 1907, he studied at Christ Church, Oxford. His 1930 collection Poemsestablished him as one of the leading English…

  • 1978: Robert Shaw dies in County Mayo

    Robert Shaw died in County Mayo, Ireland, on 28 August 1978, aged 51. He suffered a heart attack while travelling from Castlebar towards his home at Tourmakeady. Shaw became ill during the journey and stopped the car. After getting out, he collapsed beside the road. He was taken to Castlebar General Hospital, where he was…

  • 1978: Keith Moon dies in London

    Keith Moon, drummer with The Who, died in London on 7 September 1978 after an accidental overdose of Heminevrin. He was 32. The prescription drug had been given to Moon to help combat his alcoholism. His drinking had become an increasingly serious problem during the 1970s, affecting his health and his work with the band.…

  • 1983: Amy Winehouse is born in London

    Amy Jade Winehouse was born in London on 14 September 1983. Raised in north London, she developed an interest in music at a young age and began performing professionally as a teenager. She released her first album, Frank, in 2003. It established Winehouse as a distinctive British singer-songwriter and was nominated for the Mercury Prize.…

  • 2006: Malcolm Arnold Dies in Norwich

    Sir Malcolm Arnold died in Norwich on 23 September 2006, aged 84. His career had taken him from the trumpet section of the London Philharmonic Orchestra to orchestral, concert and film composition. Born in Northampton in 1921, Arnold studied at the Royal College of Music before joining the London Philharmonic Orchestra as a trumpeter in…

  • 2010: Football Coach Malcolm Allison Dies

    Manchester City announced the death of former coach and manager Malcolm Allison on 15 October 2010. He was 83. Contemporary obituaries recorded 15 October as the date of death, although Crystal Palace later gave 14 October. Allison was born in Dartford on 5 September 1927. He played as a defender for Charlton Athletic before making…

  • 2016: Sir Neville Marriner dies aged 92

    Sir Neville Marriner died on 2 October 2016, aged 92. The English violinist and conductor had founded the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. He remained associated with the orchestra for more than half a century. Born in Lincoln in 1924, Marriner studied at the Royal College of Music and the Paris Conservatoire. He…

  • 2022: Hilary Mantel Dies Aged 70

    Hilary Mantel died on 22 September 2022 at age 70. She published novels for nearly four decades but became best known for her trilogy about the Tudor politician Thomas Cromwell. Born Hilary Mary Thompson in Glossop, Derbyshire, in 1952, Mantel published her first novel, Every Day Is Mother’s Day, in 1985. Her earlier work included…