One Mile Walk

Tripping over History

         My fiction stories occur in a framework of history. I use spreadsheet mathematics to relate dates and time intervals for character’s births, schools, marriages, story events, etc.
         Five years ago I started History_Timeline.xls of significant historic events so I can use real happenings to influence my storyline.
         I use History.com to fill in the major events and ChatGPT to nail down precise times and places. I now have 2700 entries; some current, a few back to Roman times, but most in the 19th and 20th centuries.
         Occasionally, when I enter “This Day in History”, it triggers ideas for stories. For instance: on November 2nd History.com reminded me: 1960 - “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” obscenity trial ends.

         And ChatGPT said:
         The "Lady Chatterley's Lover" obscenity trial took place in London, England at the Old Bailey (the Central Criminal Court of England and Wales) in 1960. This landmark trial began on October 20, 1960, and concluded (not guilty) on November 2, 1960.

         Even though the trial was in England, I remember the interest it stirred up, when I was in high school.
         We’ve had “Peyton Place”, the novel by Grace Metalious since 1956, a movie of it in 1957, and a new television series just starting. But the expectations of “Lady Chatterley” by D.H. Lawrence were higher.
         When it was published weeks later, someone pilfered a copy from a private library, and a few of us could read the ‘good parts.’ The book back was broken, dog-eared on certain pages, and stealthy toted around in a lunch box.
         Yes, it was good trash for that period. It took 60 years before “50 shades of Grey” topped it.
         But the expectation is missing.