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A Day in the Past

Art, books & music

277 stories through the year, in calendar order. Tap one to visit its day.

January

1 Jan 1818 Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein is publishedThe Gothic novel Frankenstein was published in London, without the author's name on it. It tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist …
Photo: Mary Shelley, Public domain
2 Jan 1921 R.U.R., the play that introduced the word 'robot', is first performedThe science fiction play R.U.R. by the Czech writer Karel Čapek had its first performance, in a theatre in Hradec Králové. The letters stand for 'Ros…
Photo: Unknown author, Public domain
3 Jan 1892 Born: J. R. R. TolkienJ. R. R. Tolkien was an English writer and a professor at the University of Oxford who studied the history of languages. He wrote the fantasy adventu…
Photo: Unknown photo studio commissioned by Tolkien's students 1925/6 (private communication from Catherine McIlwaine, Tolkien, Public domain
4 Jan 1785 Born: Jacob GrimmJacob Grimm was a German author and an expert on languages and folk tales. With his younger brother, Wilhelm, he formed the famous writing pair known…
4 Jan 1973 Last of the Summer Wine, the world's longest-running sitcom, beginsThe first episode of Last of the Summer Wine was shown on BBC television, as part of a series called Comedy Playhouse. The sitcom, a comedy with the …
5 Jan 1875 The Palais Garnier opera house opens in ParisThe Palais Garnier, one of the most famous opera houses in the world, opened in Paris. It was built between 1861 and 1875 for the Paris Opera, on the…
Photo: Peter Rivera, CC BY 2.0
5 Jan 1941 Born: Hayao MiyazakiHayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, film-maker and manga artist who co-founded Studio Ghibli in 1985. His animated films include My Neighbour Toto…
7 Jan 1894 Thomas Edison films someone sneezingThomas Edison made a short kinetoscope film of someone sneezing. On the same day, his employee William Kennedy Dickson received a patent for motion p…
8 Jan 1735 Handel's opera Ariodante is first performed in LondonAriodante, an opera by George Frideric Handel, was performed for the first time at the Covent Garden Theatre in London. Its story was based on part o…
Photo: Attributed to Balthasar Denner, Public domain
9 Jan 1839 The daguerreotype photography process is announced in ParisThe French Academy of Sciences announced the daguerreotype, an early way of taking photographs. It was the second photographic process ever made avai…
10 Jan 1903 Born: Barbara HepworthBarbara Hepworth was an English sculptor whose work is a leading example of modern sculpture. She was born in Wakefield, Yorkshire, and studied at Le…
10 Jan 1929 Tintin's very first adventure begins in a newspaperTintin in the Land of the Soviets, the first Tintin story by the Belgian cartoonist Hergé, began appearing in a newspaper's children's section. It wa…
11 Jan 1927 Louis B. Mayer announces the academy behind the OscarsFilm studio boss Louis B. Mayer invited 36 people from the film industry to a banquet at a hotel in Los Angeles. There he announced a new organisatio…
12 Jan 1628 Born: Charles PerraultCharles Perrault was a French writer who helped to create a new kind of story: the fairy tale. He based his tales on older folk stories and published…
Photo: Charles Le Brun, Public domain
12 Jan 1876 Born: Jack LondonJack London was an American writer and journalist. He was one of the first American authors to become famous worldwide and earn a fortune from writin…
13 Jan 1926 Born: Michael BondMichael Bond was an English author who created Paddington Bear. Paddington, a bear from Peru, first appeared in the book A Bear Called Paddington in …
13 Jan 1969 Led Zeppelin release their first album in the United StatesEnglish rock band Led Zeppelin released their first album, also called Led Zeppelin, in the United States. It had been recorded in just 36 hours at a…
Photo: Atlantic Records, Public domain
14 Jan 1886 Born: Hugh LoftingHugh Lofting was an English writer who created Doctor Dolittle, a doctor who can talk to animals in their own languages. Lofting first invented the c…
Photo: Los Angeles Times, CC BY 4.0
14 Jan 1973 Elvis Presley's Hawaii concert is broadcast by satelliteElvis Presley, known as the 'King of Rock and Roll', performed a concert in Honolulu, Hawaii, called Aloha from Hawaii. It was beamed live by satelli…
15 Jan 1759 The British Museum opens to the publicThe British Museum in London opened its doors to the public for the first time, in a grand mansion called Montagu House. It was the world's first pub…
Photo: Ham, CC BY-SA 3.0
15 Jan 1962 The Derveni papyrus, Europe's oldest manuscript, is foundArchaeologists discovered the Derveni papyrus at Derveni, near Thessaloniki in northern Greece. It is a roll of papyrus, an early writing material, d…
16 Jan 1605 Cervantes's Don Quixote is published in MadridThe first part of Don Quixote, by Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes, was published in Madrid. It tells the story of a man who reads so many tales of…
Photo: Juan de la Cuesta, Public domain
17 Jan 1820 Born: Anne BrontëAnne Brontë was an English novelist and poet, the youngest of the famous Brontë sisters. She grew up in Haworth, Yorkshire, with her sisters Charlott…
17 Jan 1904 Chekhov's play The Cherry Orchard opens in MoscowThe Cherry Orchard, the last play by Russian writer Anton Chekhov, was performed for the first time at the Moscow Art Theatre. It was directed by Kon…
Photo: V. Chekhovskii, Moscow, Public domain
18 Jan 1882 Born: A. A. MilneA. A. Milne was an English writer, born in Kilburn, London, who is best known for his stories about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh. The character Chr…
18 Jan 1934 Born: Raymond BriggsRaymond Briggs was an English author and illustrator, loved by children and adults alike. He is best known for The Snowman, a picture book with no wo…
Photo: Rob Croes for Anefo, CC0
20 Jan 1726 Bach leads the first performance of a new cantataGerman composer Johann Sebastian Bach led the first performance of his church cantata Meine Seufzer, meine Tränen, which means 'My sighs, my tears'. …
Photo: Elias Gottlob Haussmann, Public domain
21 Jan 1922 Born: Paul ScofieldPaul Scofield was an English actor whose career lasted six decades. He is celebrated as one of the greatest performers of Shakespeare's plays. He won…
24 Jan AD 771 A Maya king dedicates the biggest stone the Maya ever quarriedK'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat ruled the ancient Maya city of Quiriguá, in what is now Guatemala. There he dedicated a giant carved stone monument called a …
24 Jan 1664 Born: John VanbrughJohn Vanbrugh was an English architect and playwright. He is best known for designing two famous stately homes, Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. He…
Photo: Godfrey Kneller, Public domain
24 Jan 1928 Born: Desmond MorrisDesmond Morris was an English zoologist who studied animal behaviour, a science called ethology. He presented television programmes such as Zoo Time.…
25 Jan Every year Burns NightOn Burns Night, people in Scotland and around the world celebrate the life and poetry of Robert Burns on his birthday. Many hold a Burns supper, wher…
25 Jan 1759 Born: Robert BurnsRobert Burns, often called Rabbie Burns, was born in Alloway, Ayrshire. He is regarded as Scotland's national poet and is the best-known poet to have…
25 Jan 1858 Mendelssohn's Wedding March is played at a royal weddingFelix Mendelssohn's Wedding March was played at the wedding of Queen Victoria's daughter, also called Victoria, to Prince Friedrich of Prussia. After…
25 Jan 1961 Disney's One Hundred and One Dalmatians is releasedWalt Disney Productions released its animated film One Hundred and One Dalmatians. It was based on The Hundred and One Dalmatians, a 1956 children's …
26 Jan 1934 The Apollo Theater opens in Harlem, New YorkA theatre in the Harlem area of New York City reopened as the Apollo Theater. It became one of America's leading venues for African American performe…
26 Jan 1935 Born: Paula RegoPaula Rego was a Portuguese-born British artist, widely considered the leading woman artist of her time. She was especially known for paintings and p…
26 Jan 1945 Born: Jacqueline du PréJacqueline du Pré was a British cellist, born in Oxford, who is regarded as one of the greatest cellists of the 20th century. She studied at the Guil…
27 Jan 1832 Born: Lewis CarrollLewis Carroll was the pen name of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, an English author, poet, mathematician and photographer. He wrote Alice's Adventures in W…
Photo: Lewis Carroll, Public domain
28 Jan 1754 Horace Walpole invents the word 'serendipity'The English writer Horace Walpole invented the word 'serendipity' in a letter to a friend. It means making a happy, lucky discovery by chance. He too…
Photo: Joshua Reynolds, Public domain
28 Jan 1813 Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is publishedJane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice was first published. She wrote it when she was 20 or 21, and it was the second of her novels to be printed. T…
Photo: Cassandra Austen, Public domain
29 Jan 1845 Edgar Allan Poe's poem 'The Raven' appears in printAmerican writer Edgar Allan Poe's poem 'The Raven' appeared in a newspaper called The Evening Mirror. In the poem, a mysterious raven visits a man wh…
Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author; Restored by Yann Forget and Adam Cuerden, Public domain
30 Jan 1858 The Hallé orchestra gives its first concert in ManchesterThe Hallé gave its first concert as a full-time professional orchestra in Manchester. It was set up by the pianist and conductor Charles Hallé. He ha…
30 Jan 1969 The Beatles play their famous rooftop concert in LondonThe Beatles gave their last public performance, playing on the roof of their Apple Corps offices at 3 Savile Row in central London. The surprise lunc…
Photo: Misterweiss at English Wikipedia, Public domain
31 Jan 1979 Born: Daniel TammetDaniel Tammet is an English writer, born in Barking, London. His memoir Born on a Blue Day describes his early life with Asperger syndrome and savant…

February

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October

November

December