1930 | The famous Lyons Cafe waitresses are nicknamed "nippies" after 1200 of them serve at a Freemasons' banquet. |
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1930 | The Women's League of Health and Beauty is founded by Mary Bagot Stack (1883-1934). |
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1930 | On 5 May Amy Johnson(1903-1941) takes off on her solo flight from England to Australia, the first by a woman. |
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1930 | The modern dance pioneer Marie Rambert (1888-1982) sets up her Ballet Club. |
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1930 | The birth control pioneer, Helena Wright (1887-1982) is one of the founders of the National Birth Control Council, later the Family Planning Association (FPA). |
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1931 | The theatre manager Lilian Baylis(1874-1937) re-opens Sadler's Wells Theatre as a place to showcase new ballet and opera. As part of this, Ninette de Valois(1898-2001), founds the Vic-Wells Ballet. |
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1932 | On 20 May Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly the Atlantic Ocean solo in a 15 hour flight. |
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1932 | Lilian Wyles is appointed the first woman Chief Inspector in the police force. She joined London's Metropolitan police in 1919 and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in 1922. |
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1932 | In line with the teaching profession and the civil service, the BBC introduces a marriage bar, and no longer employs married women, except under exceptional circumstances. |
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1933 | Sheila Borrett becomes the first woman radio announcer. |
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1933 | Billie Holiday (1915-1959) makes her first recording with Benny Goodman. |
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1935 | The British Federation of Business and Professional Women is founded with Lady Astoras its first president. |
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1935 | Dame Lilian Barker (1874-1955) is appointed Assistant Commissioner of Prisons with responsibility for all female inmates. |
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1936 | Elizabeth Cowell becomes the first woman television announcer. |
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1936 | The artist, Dame Laura Knight (1877-1970) becomes a full member of the Royal Academy of Arts. But she has to wait until 1967 for an invitation to the annual dinner, the first time lady members were admitted. |
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1936 | The geographer, Phyllis Pearsall (1906-1996) publishes her A-Z of London. |
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1936 | The acclaimed French singer, Edith Piaf (1915-1963), makes her first recording.
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1936 | The first Tampax tampons go on sale, invented by Doctor Earle Haas in 1929. |
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1937 | The Matrimonial Causes Act extends the grounds on which divorce could be granted to include wilful desertion, cruelty, incurable insanity and habitual drunkenness. |
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1938 | The Married Women's Association is set up by Edith Summerskill (1901-1980) to promote equality in marriage. |
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1938 | The Women's Voluntary Service for Civil Defence (later the Women's Royal Voluntary Service) is set up by Lady Stella Reading(1894-1971). |
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1938 | The Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS), the women's army, is formed. |
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1938 | The art collector, Peggy Guggenheim (1898 - 1980) opens her Guggenheim-Jeune gallery in London to exhibit avant-garde art. |
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1939 | Dorothy Garrod (1892 - 1968) is appointed the first female professor at Oxbridge when she takes over the Chair of Archaeology at Cambridge. |
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1939 | The Women's Land Army is re-launched under the leadership of Lady Gertrude Denman. |
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