Extra! Extra! Parliament Dissolved, Jamestown Attacked, A King is Born, A Sultan is Killed

Mary Johnston's bestselling novel To Have and To Hold was written in 1900, but it takes place in Jamestown, Virginia over the course of 1621 and 1622. She drew heavily on the rich and dramatic history of the time period, and though the brave men and women who pioneered England's first New World colony were isolated and had many problems of their own to contend with, there were some far-reaching developments, many of which would affect them in one way or another. Here's a sampling of news headlines from 1622:

January 1:  January 1 is declared as the first day of the year in the Gregorian calendar, instead of March 25. Though initially rejected by many Protestant countries who believed the Catholic invention was part of a plot to return them to the Catholic fold, the Gregorian calendar had been in use in Europe for 40 years at the time of the date change.

Extra! Extra! England Crowns a New King, Zeppelins Fly, The Fight of the Century Sparks Riots

Our sweet romance release, Kilmeny of the Orchard, was written in 1910 and set on Canada's Prince Edward Island. It's easy to get lulled by the idyllic isolation of the island in the novel, but in reality the world in 1910 was becoming more and more connected, and events occurred across the globe that would have far-reaching repercussions. Here's a sampling of headlines from other parts of the world in 1910:

May 6:  George V becomes King of the United Kingdom upon the death of his father, Edward VII. He wrote in his diary, "I have lost my best friend and the best of fathers ... I never had a [cross] word with him in my life. I am heart-broken and overwhelmed with grief but God will help me in my responsibilities and darling May will be my comfort as she has always been. May God give me strength and guidance in the heavy task which has fallen on me."

Extra! Extra! Princess Victoria Weds, Kansas Bleeds, Macy's Department Store Opens

Dora Deane is a sweet romance set mostly in the idyllic countryside of New York. Though the year is 1858 and the United States would be engaged in a bloody Civil War in less than three years' time, the outside world rarely intrudes into Dora's. But there were plenty of big news stories gracing the pages of the country's newspapers that year, and here's a sampling:

January:  Seventeen-year-old Victoria, Princess Royal, daughter of Queen Victoria, marries Prince Frederick William of Prussia at St. James's Palace on January 25, 1858. The marriage was both a love match and a dynastic alliance. At the time of their wedding, Londoners chanted, "God save the Prince and Bride! God keep their lands allied!" The Wedding March by Felix Mendelssohn became a popular wedding recessional after it was played at the wedding.

Extra! Extra! Red Sox Win, Oreo Invented, Tragedy on the Sea and at the South Pole

In The Prince and Betty, there’s plenty of headline making news--long-lost royal heir, newspaper exposés of slums, gangsters--but 1912 was filled with explosive headlines to rival Betty’s. Some highlights...

January: Robert Falcon Scott, British explorer, reaches the South Pole--second. Five weeks earlier, Norwegian Roald Amundsen and his expedition made the historic expedition. News of this victory, however, wouldn’t come until March, when Amundsen reached Tasmania and telegraphed his announcement.

February: A blizzard that began in the Midwest reaches New York City on the 22nd with typhoon-force gales. Just after midnight, meteorological devices record a 110 mile-per-hour gust of wind, and for most of the day, the city is buffeted with 70 mile-per-hour winds. People are ‘hurled’ to the street, and trees, airplanes, and tugboats are ripped into the air. While New York City’s skyscrapers survived relatively unscathed, the electric billboards and signs that decorated Times Square were torn down and smashed. On the 23rd when the storm subsided, the streets were covered with glass, metal, and other debris.

Extra! Extra! Typhoid Mary Released, Woman Smokes at the Ritz

For Kit McNair and her rich, sociable friends, New York City in 1910 offered a panoply of delights and distractions. World records were made, firsts achieved, and non-stop notoriety rivalled the drama of Kit’s mock marriage and quarantine in When A Man Marries by Mary Roberts Rinehart.

A few highlights...

January: The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower is the world’s tallest skyscraper at 700 feet, and would retain that title for...three years. The opening is celebrated lavishly at the Hotel Astor.

February: The cook known publicly as ‘Typhoid Mary’ is released from her three-year quarantine. Mary Mallon had agreed to give up work as a cook after extensive education on hygiene. (By 1915, she would be taken in to quarantine again and remain there until her death.)