Pages of the Past

Journey through the pages of time and let the true stories of literary maestros and pivotal moments in publishing enrich your understanding of the evolution of books, novels, and the written word across the ages.

See what happened today, or browse the whole month for more.

Yesterday
Patrick Brontë's birthplace 17 March 1777: Patrick Brontë is born. read more ...
Today
Laurence Sterne & The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman 18 March 1768: Laurence Sterne dies. read more ...
Tomorrow
Edgar Rice Burroughs memorial tree 19 March 1950: Edgar Rice Burroughs dies. read more ...

Browse this month, or select a different month. Simply click on the showcased years for each day in this calendar and reveal the literary tapestry of the past.

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< March 2025 >
SundayMondayTuesdayWednesdayThursdayFridaySaturday
            118561856Lewis Carroll first appeared
219091909Katherine Mansfield marries (briefly) 317561756William Godwin is born 419221922The Beautiful and Damned is published 518391839Charlotte Brontë declines a marriage proposal 618881888Louisa May Alcott dies 7 818501850Kenneth Grahame is born
918921892Vita Sackville-West is born 1019481948Zelda Fitzgerald dies 1117441744Sotheby’s holds its first auction of books 1219571957The Cat in the Hat is first published 1313951395John Barbour dies 1418361836Isabella Beeton is born 1518521852Lady Gregory is born
1618501850The Scarlet Letter is published 1717771777Patrick Brontë is born 1817681768Laurence Sterne dies 1919501950Edgar Rice Burroughs dies 2018521852Uncle Tom’s Cabin is published 2119991999First World Poetry Day 2218321832Johann Wolfgang von Goethe dies
2318391839First recorded use of “OK” 2418821882Henry Wadsworth Longfellow dies 2518111811Percy Bysshe Shelley is expelled from Oxford University 2619201920F. Scott Fitzgerald’s first book is published 2719311931Arnold Bennett dies 2817591759The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman begins serialisation 19411941Virginia Woolf dies by suicide 29
3018501850Household Words is launched 3118551855Charlotte Brontë dies          
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