Diaries of Note
God, living is enormous!
When she wrote the following entry in her journal and imagined fleeing college to venture into the...
a week ago
When she wrote the following entry in her journal and imagined fleeing college to venture into the unknown, Susan Sontag was a precocious sixteen-year-old studying English at the University of California, Berkeley. By the end of the year she had indeed left—not on a bus to an...
Diaries of Note
I no longer love the sun or the flowers
It was only a year after first meeting, in 1895, that Marie and Pierre Curie became husband and...
3 weeks ago
It was only a year after first meeting, in 1895, that Marie and Pierre Curie became husband and wife. Together, they made groundbreaking contributions to science, not least the discovery of two new elements, polonium and radium, and in 1903 they were jointly awarded the Nobel...
Diaries of Note
Work under any circumstances
Benjamin Robert Haydon was a 19th-century British artist and writer whose career was plagued by...
a month ago
Benjamin Robert Haydon was a 19th-century British artist and writer whose career was plagued by financial hardship and legal troubles. Born in 1786, Haydon’s passion for historical painting led him down a tumultuous path, as mounting debts and controversial public statements...
Diaries of Note
Nothing can be less beautiful than the first sight of London
Emily Shore was just nineteen when she died of tuberculosis—a short life, but one brimming with...
2 weeks ago
Emily Shore was just nineteen when she died of tuberculosis—a short life, but one brimming with intellectual curiosity. Born in Suffolk, England in 1819, her now-celebrated journal contains not just her intricate observations of the natural world, but also thoughtful reflections...
Diaries of Note
I found myself nervous and tense to the point of tears
On 21st March 1960, the South African Police opened fire on thousands of black protestors in what...
2 weeks ago
On 21st March 1960, the South African Police opened fire on thousands of black protestors in what came to be known as the Sharpeville Massacre, a shocking event which saw 69 people killed, triggered a state of emergency, and led to mass detentions—including that of Hilda...
Diaries of Note
How beautiful that leaf was, so simple in its death
Jiddu Krishnamurti was an Indian philosopher and spiritual leader who spent much of his adult life...
2 months ago
Jiddu Krishnamurti was an Indian philosopher and spiritual leader who spent much of his adult life teaching and sharing his insights on self-awareness, freedom from conditioning, and the importance of living in the present moment. He traveled the world, engaging in dialogues with...
Diaries of Note
My oldest Friend is at last going to leave me
Born in 1741 in Caernarvonshire, Wales, Hester Thrale belonged to the esteemed Salusbury family....
a month ago
Born in 1741 in Caernarvonshire, Wales, Hester Thrale belonged to the esteemed Salusbury family. Famous for her friendships with such luminaries as Samuel Johnson, Joshua Reynolds, and David Garrick, Thrale was a prominent figure of the period, and her writings, particularly the...
Diaries of Note
Color and I are one
In 1914, everything changed for Paul Klee. Whilst sampling the delights of Tunisia on a twelve-day...
a month ago
In 1914, everything changed for Paul Klee. Whilst sampling the delights of Tunisia on a twelve-day trip with fellow artists Louis Moilliet and Auguste Macke, he found himself profoundly affected by the light and colours of North Africa—an intense experience that inspired him to...
Diaries of Note
A veritable organ concert
It was May of 1967, and Che Guevara, the Argentine-born Marxist revolutionary, was in Bolivia,...
3 weeks ago
It was May of 1967, and Che Guevara, the Argentine-born Marxist revolutionary, was in Bolivia, leading a small band of guerrillas in an attempt to spread socialism across Latin America. Facing harsh environmental conditions and the pressure of the Bolivian military backed by US...
Diaries of Note
The Pole at Last!!!
Born in Pennsylvania in 1856, Robert Peary spent 23 years of his life preparing to achieve what had...
2 months ago
Born in Pennsylvania in 1856, Robert Peary spent 23 years of his life preparing to achieve what had eluded explorers for centuries: reaching the North Pole. Driven by ambition and unwavering determination, Peary, an American explorer and United States Navy officer, believed he...
Diaries of Note
The Difficulty with Our Time
Known to many as the “father of existentialism,” Søren Kierkegaard was a pivotal Danish philosopher,...
3 days ago
Known to many as the “father of existentialism,” Søren Kierkegaard was a pivotal Danish philosopher, theologian, and cultural critic of the 19th century. His extensive published writings grappled with complex themes including ethics, religion, and the intricate facets of...
Diaries of Note
The air crackled with a mixture of excitement and tension
On the day of her 77th birthday in 1997, proving that it’s never too late to begin, acclaimed...
3 weeks ago
On the day of her 77th birthday in 1997, proving that it’s never too late to begin, acclaimed detective novelist P. D. James wrote her first diary entry—one of many she would pen over the course of twelve months in a concerted effort to “record just one year that otherwise might...
Diaries of Note
I long for vigour and clear thought, but only meet with chaos
When she wrote the following diary entry, English author, poet, and garden designer Vita...
a month ago
When she wrote the following diary entry, English author, poet, and garden designer Vita Sackville-West was 28. Living in Long Barn, Kent, with her husband and fellow writer, Harold Nicolson, she was nearing the end of an intense, two-year romance with Violet Keppel, with whom...
Diaries of Note
You can see the magic in him
Each weekday at 9 a.m., beginning in November 1976 and continuing until just days before his death...
2 months ago
Each weekday at 9 a.m., beginning in November 1976 and continuing until just days before his death in 1987, Andy Warhol would engage in a lengthy phone call with Pat Hackett, a close friend who had initially started working for him as a typist in 1968. During his conversations...
Diaries of Note
Why have children or plant trees?
M.F.K. Fisher was an accomplished author and gastronome who brought the art of food writing into the...
a week ago
M.F.K. Fisher was an accomplished author and gastronome who brought the art of food writing into the realm of literature. From the age of nineteen she kept a journal, and this entry comes thirteen years down the line as she cared for her beloved husband, the writer and artist...
Diaries of Note
Poor wreck that I am
John L’Heureux, a renowned Massachusetts-born novelist and poet, spent seventeen years of his life...
a month ago
John L’Heureux, a renowned Massachusetts-born novelist and poet, spent seventeen years of his life as a Jesuit before embracing the literary world. On June 11th, 1966, after twelve years of rigorous study, he was ordained as a priest. During the three years leading up to this...
Diaries of Note
Some monstrous gullet suffocating with fury
Pierre Loti was a French naval officer and esteemed novelist who rose to prominence in the late 19th...
a month ago
Pierre Loti was a French naval officer and esteemed novelist who rose to prominence in the late 19th century. Born Louis Marie Julien Viaud, he pursued a naval career, earning a recall to service during World War I due to his expertise in Pacific waters. Married to poet and...
Diaries of Note
In the world, yet not in it
Born in Geneva in 1821, Henri-Frédéric Amiel was a poet and philosopher who found little in the way...
2 weeks ago
Born in Geneva in 1821, Henri-Frédéric Amiel was a poet and philosopher who found little in the way of recognition during his lifetime, perhaps due to the introspective nature that fuelled the journal for which he posthumously found fame. Always reaching for perfection and...
Diaries of Note
Adolf Hitler is said to be dead
On 1st September 1939, Friedrich Kellner, a German justice inspector and committed Social Democrat,...
a month ago
On 1st September 1939, Friedrich Kellner, a German justice inspector and committed Social Democrat, embarked upon a courageous mission that would continue until 1945. In defiance of the Nazi regime, he secretly documented the brutal realities of life under Hitler’s rule,...
Diaries of Note
My God, my God they can’t have
On 28th May, 1968, the acclaimed English novelist Beryl Bainbridge embarked on a three-week road...
2 days ago
On 28th May, 1968, the acclaimed English novelist Beryl Bainbridge embarked on a three-week road trip that would span the breadth of the United States—a 5,000-mile voyage carefully planned by her American friend, Harold, who had vowed to guide her through the nation’s most...
Diaries of Note
Only in Yorkshire
Few diarists capture the rhythms of daily life quite like Alan Bennett. Born in Leeds in 1934, it...
3 weeks ago
Few diarists capture the rhythms of daily life quite like Alan Bennett. Born in Leeds in 1934, it was in the early-1970s that this beloved playwright began to keep a diary, sporadically scribbled on loose sheets of paper that would later be bundled to form twelve months of...
Diaries of Note
The news from remote France grows more ominous every day
Siegfried Sassoon was a leading poet of the First World War, known for his vivid depictions of life...
2 months ago
Siegfried Sassoon was a leading poet of the First World War, known for his vivid depictions of life in the trenches and his criticism of the conflict. In 1918, he had already gained recognition for his poetry, with his first collection, The Old Huntsman and Other Poems, published...
Diaries of Note
Oh God, it was awful
It was in March of 1907, aged 15, that Edna St. Vincent Millay began to keep a diary—an intimate...
3 weeks ago
It was in March of 1907, aged 15, that Edna St. Vincent Millay began to keep a diary—an intimate chronicle that would continue throughout her life, with her final entry penned in 1949, a year before her death. By that time, of course, she was a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet....
Diaries of Note
Today was truly, absolutely the worst day ever in Sarajevo
In April 1992, following Bosnia’s declaration of independence from Yugoslavia, simmering tensions...
a month ago
In April 1992, following Bosnia’s declaration of independence from Yugoslavia, simmering tensions among the region’s ethnic groups escalated into the devastating Bosnian War. It wasn’t long before the city of Sarajevo found itself under siege. Amidst the chaos, a courageous young...
Diaries of Note
Not one in a hundred is sober
Born in the picturesque English village of Lamport in 1657, Sir Thomas Isham was a baronet who...
a month ago
Born in the picturesque English village of Lamport in 1657, Sir Thomas Isham was a baronet who inherited a legacy of nobility. In 1671, as instructed by his father, he began to keep a diary in Latin which he would continue for two years, filling it with the daily happenings and...
Diaries of Note
It’s the vilest thing in the world to have but one coat
George Crabbe was determined to become a successful poet. So much so that in April of 1780, aged...
2 weeks ago
George Crabbe was determined to become a successful poet. So much so that in April of 1780, aged twenty-five, he left his career in medicine and moved to London where he could focus entirely on the craft he so wanted to master. It was at this moment that he began a journal in...
Diaries of Note
How lucky were we?
Natascha McElhone was 5,000 miles from home and pregnant with their third child when the call came,...
3 weeks ago
Natascha McElhone was 5,000 miles from home and pregnant with their third child when the call came, and in that instant her world crumbled. Her husband of a decade and one day had died unexpectedly from heart failure while she was filming in Los Angeles. He was 43. As she faced...
Diaries of Note
I have been playing a new game called insomnia
In December of 1941, three days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, 26-year-old Thomas Merton entered...
a month ago
In December of 1941, three days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, 26-year-old Thomas Merton entered the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani in Kentucky, where he began life as a Trappist monk. Over the next 27 years, until his death in 1968, Merton authored more than fifty books that...
Diaries of Note
It may lack elegance, but is infallible
Jules Renard was a French author and playwright born in 1864 who is probably best-known for Poil de...
2 months ago
Jules Renard was a French author and playwright born in 1864 who is probably best-known for Poil de carotte (‘Carrot Top’), a darkly comical autobiographical novel in which he recalls his terrible upbringing as a red-headed child in a detached bourgeois family. Aside from his...
Diaries of Note
Why should we consider the soul mortal?
In October 1908, 20 years before publication of her groundbreaking children’s book Millions of Cats,...
2 months ago
In October 1908, 20 years before publication of her groundbreaking children’s book Millions of Cats, American artist and author Wanda Gág embarked on a 30-year diary-keeping journey. This detailed and intimate record not only encompassed her personal experiences and reflections...
Diaries of Note
A night of terror
In September of 1939, English housewife Nella Last began keeping a diary that would span 30 years,...
a month ago
In September of 1939, English housewife Nella Last began keeping a diary that would span 30 years, ultimately producing one of the longest diaries in the English language at more than 12 million words. Born Nellie Lord in 1890, she was a voluntary participant in the Mass...
Diaries of Note
Oh Misery or the reverse!
In January of 1932, Barbara Pym was diligently studying English at St Hilda’s College, Oxford,...
a month ago
In January of 1932, Barbara Pym was diligently studying English at St Hilda’s College, Oxford, honing her craft eighteen years before publication of her debut novel, Some Tame Gazelle. It was around this time that she was thinking deeply of Henry Harvey, a fellow student two...
Diaries of Note
I do not seem to care for the “boys” very much
Annie Cooper Boyd (born Annie Burnham Cooper) was an artist and feminist who hailed from the whaling...
a month ago
Annie Cooper Boyd (born Annie Burnham Cooper) was an artist and feminist who hailed from the whaling village of Sag Harbor, New York, where her father, William H. Cooper, had for years thrived as a local boat builder. She adored her family, painting, and writing, and it’s thanks...
Diaries of Note
Today is Mother’s Day
Born in the Brazilian town of Sacramento in 1914, Carolina Maria de Jesus was unemployed and...
3 weeks ago
Born in the Brazilian town of Sacramento in 1914, Carolina Maria de Jesus was unemployed and pregnant when she moved to the favela of Canindé, São Paulo in 1947. There, living with her children in a wooden shack and working as a scrap collector, she faced seemingly insurmountable...
Diaries of Note
They have to fight an eagle on the top of the Empire State Building
Michael Palin, born in Sheffield on 5th May 1943, is best known as a member of Monty Python, the...
a month ago
Michael Palin, born in Sheffield on 5th May 1943, is best known as a member of Monty Python, the iconic comedy group who redefined the world of comedy with their surreal, subversive humour and innovative performances. However, Palin’s career extends beyond comedy thanks to...
Diaries of Note
His tiny tadpole body…
When she wrote this diary entry in April of 1890, Beatrice Potter could not have imagined that a...
a month ago
When she wrote this diary entry in April of 1890, Beatrice Potter could not have imagined that a mere two years later, this man with the “tiny tadpole body,” Sidney Webb, would become her husband. Nor could she have foreseen the powerful intellectual partnership that would...
Diaries of Note
Getting shot hurts
On 30th March 1981, as he emerged from a speaking engagement at the Washington Hilton Hotel and...
2 months ago
On 30th March 1981, as he emerged from a speaking engagement at the Washington Hilton Hotel and headed towards a waiting limousine, U.S. President Ronald Reagan was hit by a bullet from the gun of would-be assassin John Hinckley Jr. The President, initially unaware that he had...
Diaries of Note
I have drunk of the wine of life at last
In 1907, fourteen years before she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for her novel, The Age of...
2 weeks ago
In 1907, fourteen years before she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for her novel, The Age of Innocence, Edith Wharton was introduced to Morton Fullerton, a journalist with whom she would embark on a passionate affair. It was months after that first encounter, in October, that she...
Diaries of Note
The ocean is strewn with a litter of woodwork, chairs and bodies
On the fateful morning of 21st April 1912, cable engineer Frederick A. Hamilton steeled himself for...
a month ago
On the fateful morning of 21st April 1912, cable engineer Frederick A. Hamilton steeled himself for a harrowing task. Six days earlier, the RMS Titanic had met its doom, striking an iceberg and plummeting to the depths, taking with it over 1,500 passengers and crew members in one...
Diaries of Note
Love Will Never Do without You
In the early hours of 14th August 2013, Kevin Coughlin was stunned to notice light reflecting off a...
a month ago
In the early hours of 14th August 2013, Kevin Coughlin was stunned to notice light reflecting off a mirror in his bathroom, marking the beginning of an extraordinary recovery. Having lost his sight in 1997 due to a rare genetic disorder named Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropathy,...
Diaries of Note
A cord breaking
American playwright Tennessee Williams shared a deep bond with his beloved sister, Rose, whose life...
2 months ago
American playwright Tennessee Williams shared a deep bond with his beloved sister, Rose, whose life began in 1919, two years before his. In 1937, her increasingly erratic behaviour was seemingly explained by a diagnosis of dementia praecox—now known as schizophrenia—and six years...
Diaries of Note
Diana forgot to steer
Few people witnessed the tumultuous events of mid-20th century Britain quite like Duff Cooper, a...
a week ago
Few people witnessed the tumultuous events of mid-20th century Britain quite like Duff Cooper, a charismatic politician whose life was as colourful as it was influential. Born in 1890, he was known as a steadfast politician who famously resigned from his government post over the...
Diaries of Note
We are in the grip of Watergate
American journalist Edward Robb Ellis was sixteen when he began to keep a diary; by the time of his...
2 weeks ago
American journalist Edward Robb Ellis was sixteen when he began to keep a diary; by the time of his death 71 years later, he had written approximately 22 million words—an incredible feat which, until it was surpassed in 1994, earned him a world record for the “longest published...
Diaries of Note
We spend our lives in tense expectation
In the midst of the Russian Civil War, April 1919 saw the city of Odessa plunged further into...
a month ago
In the midst of the Russian Civil War, April 1919 saw the city of Odessa plunged further into turmoil as the Bolshevik Red Army entered, leaving the future uncertain for the once-thriving port and its inhabitants. One person who found himself caught amidst the chaos was Ivan...
Diaries of Note
When I die I shall go to May
British gardener Monty Don has been educating and inspiring the British public for decades through...
2 weeks ago
British gardener Monty Don has been educating and inspiring the British public for decades through his love of nature, beginning in 1989 with a television debut that ultimately led to him presenting BBC’s much-loved Gardener’s World. It was shortly after he became a broadcaster...
Diaries of Note
I have never been less communicative with a crew
It was in 1992, four years after his iconic movie debut as Hans Gruber in Die Hard, that Alan...
a month ago
It was in 1992, four years after his iconic movie debut as Hans Gruber in Die Hard, that Alan Rickman began to keep a daily diary—the first of 26 volumes he would go on to fill during a glittering decades-long career on stage and screen, right up until his death at the beginning...
Diaries of Note
The Boy Jones
In his journal on 25th March 1841, banker and renowned dandy Thomas Raikes wrote of someone who for...
2 months ago
In his journal on 25th March 1841, banker and renowned dandy Thomas Raikes wrote of someone who for three years had been fascinating Londoners. Known to most as ‘The Boy Jones,’ Edward Jones was a teenager who had repeatedly managed to break into Buckingham Palace, and on three...
Diaries of Note
At dusk it takes on a life of its own
Born in Keswick in 1905, Enid J. Wilson grew up surrounded by the majestic beauty of the Lake...
a month ago
Born in Keswick in 1905, Enid J. Wilson grew up surrounded by the majestic beauty of the Lake District. As the daughter of both a climber and a botanist, Enid developed a deep understanding and appreciation for the natural world. Her love for the environment, combined with her...
Diaries of Note
O God is there no redress, no peace, no justice in this land for us?
Ida B. Wells was a trailblazing African American journalist, civil rights activist, and suffragist...
a month ago
Ida B. Wells was a trailblazing African American journalist, civil rights activist, and suffragist who courageously fought against racial injustice and gender inequality throughout her life. Born into slavery in 1862, she grew up to become a vocal advocate for the rights of Black...
Diaries of Note
His first remark was, taking up a book: “Human skin”
Arnold Bennett was one of the most successful British novelists of the Victorian era, a prolific...
2 months ago
Arnold Bennett was one of the most successful British novelists of the Victorian era, a prolific wordsmith whose output spanned 34 novels, seven collections of short stories, a dozen plays, and hundreds of articles—and amidst it all, he somehow found time to keep a daily diary...
Diaries of Note
How can men be so cruel, as many of them are
In 1872, just two years after the death of her mother, five-year-old Martha Van Orsdol embarked on a...
a month ago
In 1872, just two years after the death of her mother, five-year-old Martha Van Orsdol embarked on a journey with her family to the Kansas frontier. When she was fourteen, Martha began to keep a diary, and over the span of four decades diligently filled 4,000 pages with her...
Diaries of Note
I care not what becomes of me
On the evening of 14th April 1865, as he sat in Ford’s Theatre with his wife Mary, U.S. President...
a month ago
On the evening of 14th April 1865, as he sat in Ford’s Theatre with his wife Mary, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by Confederate sympathiser John Wilkes Booth, who fired a .44 caliber Derringer pistol at the back of Lincoln’s head and then fled the scene. A...
Diaries of Note
We spend our lives in tense expectation
In the midst of the Russian Civil War, April 1919 saw the city of Odessa plunged further into...
a month ago
In the midst of the Russian Civil War, April 1919 saw the city of Odessa plunged further into turmoil as the Bolshevik Red Army entered, leaving the future uncertain for the once-thriving port and its inhabitants. One person who found himself caught amidst the chaos was Ivan...
Diaries of Note
This tedious battle against the mountain is almost over
At 3:15 pm on 22nd May 1963, Luther ‘Lute’ Jerstad and his teammate Barry Bishop became the second...
4 weeks ago
At 3:15 pm on 22nd May 1963, Luther ‘Lute’ Jerstad and his teammate Barry Bishop became the second and third Americans ever to reach the summit of Mount Everest, following an arduous journey that began alongside a formidable team of 17 other Americans, 32 Sherpas, and 909 porters...
Diaries of Note
A disgusting day!
In April of 1891, Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky made the long journey to New York where...
a week ago
In April of 1891, Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky made the long journey to New York where he was to play a pivotal role in the inauguration of the city’s new music hall, later known as Carnegie Hall—a momentous occasion and the first time he had set foot in the United...
Diaries of Note
I fell on the flagstones
It was in the final decade of her life that Frida Kahlo kept a diary—ten turbulent years marked by...
4 weeks ago
It was in the final decade of her life that Frida Kahlo kept a diary—ten turbulent years marked by emotional distress, declining health, and unwavering artistic spirit. Kahlo endured multiple surgeries and spent long periods in hospital during this period, and in 1953, already...
Diaries of Note
Almost flying apart at the seams
In the spring of 1965, American author Gail Godwin found herself at a crossroads. For five years,...
a month ago
In the spring of 1965, American author Gail Godwin found herself at a crossroads. For five years, she had been living in London, and it was there, while working for the U.S. embassy, that she endured the disappointment of her novel, Gull Key, being rejected by multiple...
Diaries of Note
CORONACION DAY
On 23rd April 1661, a decade after fleeing the country following defeat by Oliver Cromwell, Charles...
a month ago
On 23rd April 1661, a decade after fleeing the country following defeat by Oliver Cromwell, Charles II was crowned king, heralding the restoration of the monarchy and the end of political turmoil. The Abbey was resplendently adorned in reds that day, and the finest of garments...
Diaries of Note
Morbidness—is it?
English author George Gissing was known for writing tales of Victorian life that often centred...
4 days ago
English author George Gissing was known for writing tales of Victorian life that often centred around class struggles and social issues—a literary prowess that led George Orwell to acclaim him as “perhaps the best novelist England has produced.” When he penned this poignant diary...
Diaries of Note
To Nobody, then, will I write my Journal!
Born in Norfolk in 1752, Frances Burney was fifteen when she began to keep a journal, and this...
2 months ago
Born in Norfolk in 1752, Frances Burney was fifteen when she began to keep a journal, and this entry, in which she identifies her audience, was the first she ever wrote. For 72 years she continued, by which time she was a famous novelist—most notably as the author of Evelina, or...
Diaries of Note
Dear diary, I don’t want to die
Éva Heyman spent much of her brief life in the company of her grandparents following the divorce of...
a week ago
Éva Heyman spent much of her brief life in the company of her grandparents following the divorce of her parents when she was a young child. On her thirteenth birthday, in February of 1944, as her home country of Hungary was taken over by the Nazis, she began a diary that would...
Diaries of Note
A movie has come to life and engulfed us
On the evening of 23rd March 2020, in a televised address to a shellshocked nation, British Prime...
2 months ago
On the evening of 23rd March 2020, in a televised address to a shellshocked nation, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a legally-enforced, pandemic-induced lockdown across the UK that would immediately force millions to stay at home for months on end and countless...
Diaries of Note
The power of language can make people crazy
Born in New York in 1933, the distinguished novelist Leonard Michaels was celebrated for his sharp,...
a week ago
Born in New York in 1933, the distinguished novelist Leonard Michaels was celebrated for his sharp, compelling prose and deep insight into the complexities of human relationships. Although he first became a published writer in 1969, his private diary entries, which he began...
Diaries of Note
We gather the world into the compass of our speculation
Scottish poet William Soutar was 45 when he died. For two decades he had battled with a form of...
a month ago
Scottish poet William Soutar was 45 when he died. For two decades he had battled with a form of arthritis named ankylosing spondylitis, and the last thirteen of those years had seen him bedridden after an unsuccessful operation to counteract the muscular contraction that was...
Diaries of Note
The bird has learned the bark of the dog
Reverend John Wesley was an influential Anglican cleric and theologian of the 18th century who,...
2 months ago
Reverend John Wesley was an influential Anglican cleric and theologian of the 18th century who, along with his brother Charles, founded the Methodist movement. Much of his life was spent on horseback as he travelled the country, covering thousands of miles each year on his quest...
Diaries of Note
The century of Voltaire
Eugène Delacroix, born in 1798, was a profoundly influential French Romantic artist who came to be...
a week ago
Eugène Delacroix, born in 1798, was a profoundly influential French Romantic artist who came to be renowned for his dramatic, emotive works, his use of bold colour and brushwork setting him apart. But his influence extended beyond the canvas, as at the age of twenty-three he...
Diaries of Note
Wonder, astonishment, and devotion
In December of 1831, HMS Beagle embarked on a historic voyage that would shape the course of...
a month ago
In December of 1831, HMS Beagle embarked on a historic voyage that would shape the course of scientific thought for generations to come. Aboard that ship, with a mere 22 years under his belt, was Charles Darwin, whose role would lead to remarkable discoveries about the natural...
Diaries of Note
The film had killed me
On the morning of 27th August 1945, shooting commenced on La Belle et la Bête, a French-language...
6 days ago
On the morning of 27th August 1945, shooting commenced on La Belle et la Bête, a French-language adaptation of the 1757 fairy tale Beauty and the Beast. Directing this grand endeavour in his 57th year was poet and artist Jean Cocteau, a multi-talented creative force known for his...
Diaries of Note
The newspapers are having a field day
Few broadcasters have left as indelible a mark on the hearts and minds of the British public as Sir...
2 months ago
Few broadcasters have left as indelible a mark on the hearts and minds of the British public as Sir Terry Wogan. A consummate professional, Wogan’s wit, warmth, and engaging personality endeared him to audiences throughout his long and successful career in radio and television....
Diaries of Note
The British people are like children
Few people were as close to Adolf Hitler as Joseph Goebbels. As the Reich Minister of Propaganda in...
a month ago
Few people were as close to Adolf Hitler as Joseph Goebbels. As the Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany, he played a crucial role in shaping the image and message of the Third Reich, manipulating public opinion and orchestrating a vast machinery of lies and deception....
Diaries of Note
THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS
Woody Guthrie was a folk pioneer, social activist, and restless wanderer who journeyed across the...
2 months ago
Woody Guthrie was a folk pioneer, social activist, and restless wanderer who journeyed across the country, connecting with the struggles and aspirations of the American people during the trying times of the Great Depression. He filled innumerable notebooks with lyrics, prose,...
Diaries of Note
I never saw daffodils so beautiful
Born in the English county of Cumberland on Christmas Day, 1771, Dorothy Wordsworth was an author,...
a month ago
Born in the English county of Cumberland on Christmas Day, 1771, Dorothy Wordsworth was an author, poet, and diarist arguably best known as the sister to Romantic poet William Wordsworth. Close throughout their lives, it was on 15th April, 1802, shortly after taking a walk with...
Diaries of Note
A very wonderfull scene
In 1768, British botanist Joseph Banks was one of nearly a hundred crew members to join Captain...
a week ago
In 1768, British botanist Joseph Banks was one of nearly a hundred crew members to join Captain James Cook on the first of three historic voyages of exploration. For three years they journeyed, visiting South America, Tahiti, New Zealand, Australia and Java as they...
Diaries of Note
Chaos ashore
On 6th June 1944, approximately 150,000 Allied soldiers stormed the beaches of Normandy in an effort...
an hour ago
On 6th June 1944, approximately 150,000 Allied soldiers stormed the beaches of Normandy in an effort to reclaim France from Nazi control. One of those brave souls, attached to the Sherwood Rangers tank regiment, was Reverend Leslie Skinner, a remarkable, compassionate man who was...
Diaries of Note
Our worst fears are realized
On 2nd June 1854, following a failed rescue attempt at the courthouse, huge numbers of angry...
5 days ago
On 2nd June 1854, following a failed rescue attempt at the courthouse, huge numbers of angry protesters lined the streets of Boston as hundreds of federal soldiers led twenty-year-old Anthony Burns to the harbour where he was to be shipped to Virginia, back to the life of slavery...
Diaries of Note
Cowslips capriciously colouring meadows in creamy drifts
Although not widely acclaimed during his lifetime, Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889) is now...
a month ago
Although not widely acclaimed during his lifetime, Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889) is now recognised as one of the most brilliant poets of the Victorian era, celebrated for the masterful use of language, rhythm, and evocative imagery in his poetry. A committed Jesuit priest,...
Diaries of Note
I try to make tea out of dust
Born in 1942 in Schenectady, New York, Lyn Lifshin was an award-winning American poet and feminist...
2 months ago
Born in 1942 in Schenectady, New York, Lyn Lifshin was an award-winning American poet and feminist known for her unique voice and prolific output: over her lifetime, she authored more than 120 books and chapbooks of poetry, edited four anthologies of women’s writing, and...
Diaries of Note
It instantaneously stopped the bleeding
Born in Somerset, England in 1740, James Woodforde was an English clergyman posthumously celebrated...
2 months ago
Born in Somerset, England in 1740, James Woodforde was an English clergyman posthumously celebrated for the insightful and witty diaries—68 handwritten volumes in total–that he kept meticulously from the age of 19 through to 1803, ten weeks before his death. Peppered amongst the...
Full Width 
Shortcuts 
Sign Up 
Articles 
Blogs & Substacks 
Reading List 