Hello and welcome to the Focused on Story blog. Today is a day of marking milestones! The World Wide Web turns 30 years old today and England marked the 100-year milestone of women gaining the right to vote in February 1918.
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According to an article in The Verge, 30 years ago today Tim Berners-Lee submitted a proposal to his boss simply titled "Information Management". The proposal offered a solution for scientists to manage their increasingly large projects.
This management system, in just a couple of years, transformed into the "World Wide Web: a connected system for sharing information that would revolutionize how the entire planet communicated."
Through these 30 years, his plan has affected our lives in the way we learn, access news and information, shop, and how we spend our free time. One great example of change for readers and writers is how books are now delivered into the hands of readers. eBooks are just a click away from you no matter where you live--in the cities, small towns, rural areas, mountains, and oceanside.
I remember sitting in our home office in the early days of the web, experimenting with a computer and accessing the "slow as molasses" internet. Frustrating, to say the least, and boring. No pretty colors, photos, or animation as we expect nowadays. Just plain text on the screen. But when I could connect to all the information available in this wondrous space, I was amazed. (You can understand my exhilaration when you know that I used to read the World Book Encyclopedia for fun on Sunday afternoons when I was a girl.)
What are your first recollections of the early days of using the World Wide Web? Please share in a comment below.
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NEW RELEASE: Struggle and Suffrage in Halifax (England): Women's Lives and the Fight for Equality by Helena Fairfax
Helena Fairfax tells us the stories of the lives of the women in Halifax, England in the county of Yorkshire and how they gained the right to vote in her new release. She writes in her blog "6th February 2018 marks 100 years since the Representation of the People Act when all women over the age of 30 who met certain property restrictions were granted the vote for the first time. The Act also gave the right to vote to all men over the age of 21. It’s often forgotten that before 1918, around 40% of men in Britain were also denied a vote because of property restrictions.
The vote was finally extended to all women over 21 in 1928." Click here to read Helena's article.
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| STRUGGLE AND SUFFRAGE IN HALIFAX: WOMEN'S LIVES AND THE FIGHT FOR EQUALITY BY HELENA FAIRFAX
BACK OF THE BOOK: Between 1800 and 1950 the town of Halifax grew beyond recognition. The booming mills and factories were built on the labour of women and their children, and yet their voices are almost completely missing from the history books. For the first time, this is the story of Halifax from the point of view of the women who helped shape the town. This was a period of extraordinary change, but the battle for equality was long. In 1800, many women were illiterate. By 1900, there was a thriving girls' high school in Halifax, and yet one of its most brilliant students was denied a full degree because she was a woman. In 1939, the Vicar of Halifax called women's economic independence "an evil".Families were large and women regularly died in childbirth. Many faced the stigma of single parenthood or else the terror of an illegal abortion. In the 1930s, the first Family Planning Clinic was set up by women in the town. In the 1840s, women in Halifax fought for their menfolk's right to vote. In 1911, when Emmeline Pankhurst gave a stirring speech at the Mechanics' Institute, women had yet to be granted a vote of their own, leading many women to boycott that year's census and at least two to declare their occupation as "slave".From girls in the factories to the first women stepping into public office, this book provides a fascinating and moving account of the lives of Halifax's women through the key events in the town's history.
Order your copy at amazon amazon US amazon CA amazon UK Thank you for stopping in today to help us celebrate these milestones. Don't miss out on the next blog post. Follow Focused on Story blog by filling in your email address in the box at the top of the sidebar. I promise, NO Spam. |
7 comments:
Thanks for the great post, JQ. What a milestone to share! It's amazing that the World Wide Web has only been going for 30 years. It's revolutionised our lives in every way. I just drove back from somewhere guided by the voice of Google maps on my phone. Who would have thought this ever possible? I hope the citizens of the world treat the web in the way Berners Lee intended it, as a way to share, learn, co-operate and to spread the truth. Thanks again for posting, and for sharing the post with my new release!
Huzzah for both celebrations. Arguably, the www has freed women as much as the other. I can't believe it's only 30 years!
Celebrating! I do remember early WWW days -- first using it in my reporting job and being quite amazed at what I could find using some of those early search engines e.g. Lycos, AltaVista, Ask Jeeves, and others whose names I can't recall. It all seems so primitive now.
You're welcome, Helena. Such a worthwhile book to write and share with readers. Every day I am in awe of the "extras" we have be having the WWW available in our lives. Wishing you success with your new release.
Rght, Jacqui. Somehow the WWW has become a necessity and seems like we've always had it, but not true. And to think how much it has evolved into such an everyday tool we take for granted.
Right, Nan. I remember those old names. Remember when My Space was the in place to be?
Congrats on the new release, Helena.
'Lo, Cousin:)
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