Table of contents for February 2022 in History Revealed

Thrilled schoolboys (and some big kids at the back) swarm around Malcolm Campbell’s record-breaking car, the Napier-Campbell Blue Bird. Although the British racing motorist had topped 200mph the previous February, by 1929 he no longer held the land-speed record, so he took the Blue Bird onto a huge dry lake in South Africa in April 1929 for another attempt. Despite reaching a top speed of 224mph, Campbell was unable to win back the record and had to return to the drawing board. By 1935, an updated version of the Blue Bird would be the first car to go over 300mph.…

1733 John Kay invents the ‘flying shuttle’, speeding up the weaving process and making looms more automated. 1761 The Bridgewater Canal opens, connecting Manchester to coal mines in Worsley. A remarkable feat of engineering – as the first canal in Britain not built on an existing waterway – it helps spark a period known as ‘canal mania’, with intense construction across England and Wales. c1764 James Hargreaves creates the ‘spinning jenny’, a hand-powered machine capable of spinning eight threads of cotton or wool at once – a huge step in the industrialisation of the textile industry. 1769 The so-called ‘father of the factory system’, Richard Arkwright, patents his spinning frame. The water-powered machine makes it possible to mass produce cotton yarn and does not require skilled workers. 1771 Arkwright opens…

The BBC: A People’s History By David Hendy Profile Books, £25, hardback, 656 pages Nearly a century ago, on 14 November 1922, the BBC made its first broadcast. Far from the cultural behemoth it later became, the nascent institution was a ramshackle affair, harnessing scant resources and youthful optimism in an idealistic quest for a brighter world. This major new history charts those origins, and the ways in which the BBC shaped, reflected and sometimes misjudged the moods and tastes of a massively changing nation across the following decades. Kingdom of Characters: A Tale of Language, Obsession, and Genius in Modern China By Jing Tsu Allen Lane, £20, hardback, 336 pages How do you ensure that a written language as ancient and complex as Chinese continues to adapt and survive?…

This baby may be all smiles, but that is surely because they can’t understand the precarious position they are in: placed in a wire cage hanging out of a window several floors up. Portable ‘baby cages’ such as this – patented by American Emma Read – were marketed to parents with no outdoor space as a good way to give their babies some fresh air and sunlight. That was enough to convince members of the Chelsea Baby Club living in overcrowded, high-rise-filled London, many of whom were happy to be given baby cages in the 1930s. Even future First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was said to have been a fan – as a young mother, she reportedly hung a baby cage out of the window of her New York City apartment…

18 February 1847 RESCUERS LOCATE THE DONNER PARTY Deep in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, rescuers find the last surviving members of the Donner Party – a group of pioneers who had got lost while migrating to California from America’s Midwest. It transpires that some of the party have resorted to cannibalism to make it through the harsh winter. 10 February 1942 GLENN MILLER STRIKES GOLD American bandleader and trombonist Glenn Miller is presented with the first unofficial ‘gold disc’ after his latest record, ‘Chattanooga Choo Choo’, hits 1.2 million sales. Miller’s label RCA Victor gives him the accolade to celebrate the song’s astronomical success. As the music industry grows, similar awards will be presented to artists by trade bodies such as the Recording Industry Association of America.…

When it comes to the list of the Roman emperors, there are instantly recognisable names: the famous or infamous for their deeds (like Claudius’ conquest of Britain or Constantine and his conversion to Christianity) or their often deranged behaviour (think Caligula, Nero or Commodus). Their reigns have been pored over, told, retold and occasionally embellished as their place in the history of the Roman empire is weighed up. Romulus Augustus has none of this. His name is little known, his life even less so, and his brief reign seems nothing more than a footnote at the end of ancient Rome. And yet he holds a strangely significant honour as the last legitimate Western Roman emperor, whose overthrow marked a political shift in early medieval Europe. Born c461–65 AD, Romulus was…

“THE SPARRING BETWEEN THE ‘OPTIMISTS’ AND ‘PESSIMISTS’ FORMED ONE OF THE MORE LIVELY DEBATES IN THE 20TH CENTURY” Ever since the term ‘Industrial Revolution’ entered our vocabulary around the turn of the 20th century, historians have been debating what that transformative period in the 18th and 19th centuries meant for the ordinary men, women and children whose backbreaking work made it possible. Indeed, the discussion over the social consequences of industrialisation on such an unprecedented scale – laying the groundwork for the modern world – began before the name even took root. Although 19th-century commentators did not use our modern vocabulary, they certainly well understood that they lived in the midst of profound economic change and social upheaval, and poets, novelists, philosophers and a host of others sought to make…

ANNE CARTER Anne Carter (née Garrad) was destined for the ATS. In 1938 her mother, Marjory, became W/1 – the first woman to sign up to the new service. In 1943, as soon as she turned 18, Anne volunteered for the ATS, with the press making much of W/1’s daughter following in her mother’s footsteps. After an early promotion to lance corporal, she spent time training ATS conscripts, before a clerical posting in Inverness. In 1944, Anne then went to Italy for overseas service, and was selected for an officer training course in Palestine. After the war, she briefly ran transit centres in Italy and Austria, before coming back to England in 1946, where she gained a degree, became a probation officer, and started a family with her husband. Anne…

Colour: A Human History bit.ly/ColourPod104 Join art historian and broadcaster James Fox on a journey over the rainbow in this exploration of the diverse ways in which humans have understood colour, first published in November 2021. He’s an engaging guide to the meanings attached to a whole range of shades, from revolutionary red and natural green to royal purple. Assume Nothing: Breakup bbc.in/33y5fS4 This podcast series reassessing episodes from history and current affairs here focuses on the division of Ireland in the 1920s. The process of imposing a border was fraught, with multiple crises along the way – and the eventual decision was to have repercussions for the communities on both sides, many of which continue to reverberate to this day. You’re Dead to Me: Zheng Yi Sao bbc.in/3pRFFPq…

I wake early, my eyes snapping open. In those first blurred seconds I wonder why my blood seems so wildly alight in my veins. Then I recall the previous evening – the success of my most ambitious dinner yet. Colonel and Mrs Martin ate everything, mopping up the veal gravy with slabs of bread and requesting second helpings of batter pudding. The Colonel smacked his lips with satisfaction and declared my Madeira sauce ‘the best wine sauce I have ever tasted with a sweet pudding’. I know this because Mother hovered anxiously at the dining room door, eavesdropping. I stretch and smile to myself. I didn’t tell Mother the sauce recipe was almost entirely mine: the orange zest, the extra egg yolk, the little touches that made it so distinctive,…

Anticipation, and some trepidation, spreads through a group of observers as they look down at a once-in-a-lifetime archaeological discovery: the entrance to Tutankhamun’s tomb. Beneath them, British Egyptologist Howard Carter talks to Lady Evelyn Herbert, daughter of his financial backer Lord Carnarvon, who is seen heading down the steps into the long-lost tomb. For years, Carter had searched for the young pharaoh’s final resting place in the Valley of the Kings to no avail, but in early November 1922, he had finally unearthed the entrance. By the end of the month, the tomb had been opened and found to be miraculously undisturbed by three millennia of grave robbers.…

WHAT IS THE BLUE PLAQUE SCHEME AND HOW DID IT START? The English Heritage blue plaques scheme – which runs in London – marks the links between famous people and the buildings in which they lived or worked. On occasions, plaques are also used to denote other interesting historical associations that wouldn’t otherwise be obvious, such as the house where the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood of artists was founded in 1848. The plaque scheme that English Heritage runs dates back to 1866; it was William Ewart MP, otherwise known as a pioneer of public libraries, who first aired the idea of inscribing “on those houses in London which have been inhabited by celebrated persons, the names of such persons”. HOW DID YOU BECOME INVOLVED WITH THE BLUE PLAQUE SCHEME? I saw a…

“I always feel nervous going up these stairs,” says Bil Bungay. Bil is tall, with a ponytail and slightly bohemian scarf. He’s a successful businessman and the owner of 30 East Drive. It’s a modest, semi-detached house that just happens to be the site of one of the most violent and terrifying alleged poltergeist hauntings in British history – ‘The Black Monk of Pontefract’. The town of Pontefract in West Yorkshire is where King Richard II was murdered, so you’d expect roaming spirits to stalk its medieval centre, but we’re in the less obviously atmospheric location of the Chequerfield housing estate. In 1968, the Pritchard family, who lived in 30 East Drive, spent 10 months bombarded by bizarre, violent events, including objects such as paintbrushes, eggs and a crucifix flying…

In the space of a century, Britain went from being a predominantly agricultural nation to an industrial powerhouse. Mills and factories came to dominate the skylines of major cities, while advances in science and technology enabled the economy to flourish in ways that had never been seen before. Traditional cottage industries, carried out by hand inside family homes, were soon made redundant by mass production and mechanisation, and village dwellers abandoned their rural communities for opportunities in the new metropolises. But it wasn’t all good news: with rapid industrialisation also came poverty, disease and labour exploitation. In this month’s Essential Guide, we’ll be telling the story of Britain’s Industrial Revolution, looking beyond the whirring cogs and smoke to examine its impact on the lives of ordinary people. Guided along the…

BOOKS Liberty’s Dawn: A People’s History of the Industrial Revolution By Emma Griffin (Yale University Press, 2014) For more on the personal experiences of the workers in the Industrial Revolution, and its aftermath, look no further than this exploration of hundreds of accounts written between 1760 and 1900. With a colourful cast of characters, Griffin highlights how alongside the misery there was also progress. The Industrial Revolution: A Very Short Introduction By Robert C Allen (Oxford University Press, 2017) The Industrial Revolution brought about such monumental changes in every aspect of life that approaching the topic can sometimes feel overwhelming. This addition to the highly popular Very Short Introduction series is an accessible and informative starting point. Empire of Guns: The Violent Making of the Industrial Revolution By Priya Satia…

The Ambassadors  by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1533 It is 1533 and England is in turmoil: Pope Clement has refused to annul Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon and the English king is furious. Ignoring papal threats of excommunication, Henry marries the already pregnant Anne Boleyn and breaks with the Catholic Church in Rome. The English Reformation has begun in earnest. It is against this backdrop of religious upheaval and uncertainty that Hans Holbein the Younger, a German artist employed at the English court, created one of his most impressive works. Painted during his second trip to England, it depicts Jean de Dinteville (far left), courtier and ambassador to the French king Francis I, and his close friend, Georges de Selve, bishop of Lavaur. Between them are a range…

ANCIENT ACCESS Recent research has suggested that the ancient Greeks built their temples, especially those used for healing rituals, with mobility access so everyone could attend. The Sanctuary of Asclepius at Epidaurus had 11 stone ramps. CUPS AND MEDALS The Great Depression meant many nations could not afford to attend the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles. The Brazilian team only managed to secure the required funds by travelling on a ship full of coffee beans, which they sold along the way. A CIGARETTE A DAY... The 16th-century Spanish physician and botanist Nicolas Monardes believed one plant had essentially cure-all benefits: tobacco. He claimed it could treat dozens of ailments, from colds to cancer. GOOD DAY, SIR At the battle of the Golden Spurs in 1302, a Flemish militia made up…

EXHIBITION The World of Stonehenge PAID ENTRY British Museum, London, 17 February – 17 July, britishmuseum.org A major new exhibition focusing on the history of Stonehenge is set to open at the British Museum in February. Featuring more than 430 artefacts, the display explores the story behind the world-famous Wiltshire landmark, shedding light on its elusive origins, the people who built it, and the big questions that still puzzle archaeologists and historians to this day. As well as examining the legacy of the 4,500-year-old monument, the exhibition will also look at life in Neolithic Europe more broadly, with many items on display in the UK for the first time. Among the highlights is the Nebra Sky Disc, a metallic map of the stars discovered in Germany, as well as a…

The Language of Food By Annabel Abbs Simon & Schuster, £14.99, hardback, 416 pages In 1835, poet Eliza Acton is forced to write a cookery book after her latest manuscript is rejected and she’s told that “poetry is not the business of a lady”. Despite having no culinary experience, Eliza hires a young assistant – 17-year-old Ann Kirby – and together they embark on a journey that will end up changing the course of cookery writing forever. Based on real-life events, The Language of Food shines a light on the woman who invented the recipe as we know it today, and whose fascinating story has long been overlooked.…

Annabel Abbs is a British writer of biographical historical novels. Her 2016 debut, The Joyce Girl, won the Impress Prize, while her second novel, Frieda: The Original Lady Chatterley was named as a Times Book of the Year in 2018. Annabel lives in London with her family. What drew you to the story of Eliza Acton? I ‘found’ Eliza Acton (1799–1859) in an antiquarian collection of cookbooks acquired from my mother-in-law and was immediately drawn to her superb prose, which was quite unlike the writing style of any other cookbooks I had seen. But a good novel needs pace, tension and a story. Luckily, my research threw up a wonderful story – recipe theft, family secrets, unusual relationships and a woman who had never previously boiled an egg! Before becoming…

A KING AND A PRINCESS 1946 King George VI poses with his eldest daughter, Princess Elizabeth, who would ascend the throne of the United Kingdom upon his death six years later. February 2022 marks the platinum jubilee of Elizabeth II, who remains the longest-reigning monarch in Britain’s history and the world’s longest-serving head of state. Her reign has seen Britain face many challenges and changes, including the Troubles in Northern Ireland, the decolonisation of Africa, and the transformation of the British empire into the Commonwealth of Nations. For the majority of her reign the Queen had at her side her husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who died in 2021 and was the longest-serving royal consort in history.…