January

• 1st
  • 1942: Prostitution in Switzerland became regulated with the introduction of a new Criminal Code.
  • 1999: Sweden's Kvinnofrid law, which criminalised the buying of sex, came into force.
  • 2009: Norway becomes the second country to adopt the Swedish model of prostitution which criminalises the buying of sex.
• 3rd
  • 1916: Birth of Toni Jo Henry (née Annie Beatrice McQuiston), an American prostitute, murderer and the only woman ever to be executed in Louisiana's electric chair.
• 7th
  • 1929: Death of Mattie Silks, a prostitute and leading madam in the late 19th century American West.
  • 1951: Death of Sylvia Clevenger, an American prostitute and a minor associate of the John Dillinger gang.
• 17th
  • 1888: Death of Maggie Hall, a Dublin born prostitute and brothel madam in Murray, Idaho. She is known in local lore as a "Prostitute with a heart of gold" and the "Patron Saint of Murray".

February

• 6th
  • 1986: Murder of Sallie-Anne Huckstepp, an Australian prostitute and heroin addict who became a writer and whistleblower.
• 7th
  • 2018: Death of Laura Lee, an Irish born prostitute and activist who initiated a judicial review against Northern Irelands Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Criminal Justice and Support for Victims) Act (Northern Ireland) 2015.
• 9th
  • 1982: Death of Marthe Richard, a French prostitute and spy. She later became a politician and worked towards the closing of brothels in France in 1946.
• 12th
  • 2009: Death of Domenica Niehoff, a German prostitute and activist. She appeared in television shows in the 1990s, where she campaigned for legalization of and regulation of the profession.
• 25th
  • 1992: Birth of Zahia Dehar, a French-Algerian fashion and lingerie designer who was once known for her role in an underage prostitution scandal involving Franck Ribéry and Karim Benzema.
• 27th
  • 1914: Birth of Dulcie Markham, a prominent Sydney prostitute, brothel-keeper and associate of gangland figures in Sydney during the 1930s, 1940's and 1950s, when she was closely involved with the razor gang milieu of that era.
• 28th
  • 1608: Execution of Margaret Fernseed, an English prostitute and brothel keeper who had murdered her husband.

March

• 4th
  • 1972: Death of Shirley Brifman, an Australian prostitute and brothel madam who was known as a whistleblower on police corruption. She died at the age of 36 in suspicious circumstances, in what was ruled a suicide.
• 12th
  • 1975: Birth of Vanessa de Oliveira, a Brazilian writer and former call girl.
• 17th
  • 2008: Resignation of the Governor of New York, Eliot Spitzer, following revelations of a prostitution scandal by the New York Times.
• 19th
  • 1944: Birth of Molly Luft (nee Edda Blanck), a German prostitute, noted for her obesity and lurid make-up.
• 27th
  • 2017: Paying for sex in Ireland became illegal by the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017 coming into force.

April

• 1st
  • 1957: The Prostitution Prevention Law, which outlawed Prostitution in Japan, came into force.
• 4th
  • 1888: Murder of Emma Elizabeth Smith. Her killing was the first of the Whitechapel murders.
• 10th
  • 1836: Murder of Helen Jewett, a New York prostitute, whose alleged murderer, Richard P. Robinson, was tried and sensationally acquitted.
• 13th
  • 1946: Brothels were outlawed in France by the passing of the Loi Marthe Richard.
  • 2016: Paying for sex in France became illegal by Law 444 (2016) coming into force.
• 17th
  • 2009: Iceland enacted legislation to adopt the Nordic model of prostitution which criminalises the buying of sex.
• 24th
  • 1891: Murder of Carrie Brown, a New York prostitute who was murdered and mutilated. She is occasionally mentioned as an alleged victim of Jack the Ripper.

May

• 9th
  • 1914: Birth of Denham Fouts, an American male prostitute, socialite and literary muse. He served as the inspiration for characters by Truman Capote, Gore Vidal, Christopher Isherwood and Gavin Lambert.
• 14th
  • 1973: Death of Dorothy Baker, also known as Big Dorothy, an American madam in Helena, Montana.
• 26th
  • 1956: The Prostitution Prevention Law, which outlawed Prostitution in Japan, was passed by Japan's National Diet
• 27th
  • 1835: Birth of Anna Wilson, a pioneer madam in Omaha, Nebraska. When she died she bequeathed her life savings to the City of Omaha, along with her 25-room mansion brothel, which was used as a hospital.
  • 1951: Birth of Norma Jean Almodovar, American author and sex workers activist.
• 28th
  • 1905: Birth of Sada Abe, a Japanese geisha and prostitute, who erotically asphyxiated her lover and then cut off his penis and testicles and carried them around with her in her kimono.
• 30th
  • 1949: The government-run brothel, Campo Alegre, opened in the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao in an attempt to concentrate prostitution in one location on the island.

June

• 1st
  • 2015: Paying for sex in Northern Ireland became illegal by the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Criminal Justice and Support for Victims) Act (Northern Ireland) 2015 coming into force.
• 2nd
  • 1975: Occupation of Saint-Nizier church by Lyon prostitutes. The event is commemorated annually on 2 June as International Whores' Day.
• 4th
  • 1998: The Swedish Riksdag passed The Kvinnofrid law, which criminalised the buying of sex.
• 9th
  • 1849: Death of Phoebe Doty, an American prostitute and madam who owned several brothels in New York.
• 15th
  • 1943: Birth of Xaviera Hollander, a Dutch call girl, madam, and author, best known for her best-selling memoir The Happy Hooker: My Own Story.
• 25th
  • 1910: The United States introduced the Mann Act, which made it a felony to engage in interstate or foreign commerce transport of "any woman or girl for the purpose of prostitution or debauchery, or for any other immoral purpose"
• 28th
  • 2003: The Prostitution Reform Act 2003 decriminalised Prostitution in New Zealand.

July

• 3rd
  • 1888: Death of Mattie Blaylock, prostitute and common-law wife of Old West lawman and gambler Wyatt Earp.
• 8th
  • 1845: Birth of Al Swearengen, an American pimp and entertainment entrepreneur who ran the Gem Theater, a notorious brothel, in Deadwood, South Dakota, in the late 19th century.
• 13th
  • 1941: US President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law a federal ban on prostitution near naval and army bases
• 16th
  • 1788: Execution of Elisabeth Gassner, an infamous German pickpocket, thief and prostitute, known as Schwarze Lies (Black Lisa).
• 25th
  • 1951: The United Nations' Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others came into force.
• 29th
  • 1910: Death of Valtesse de La Bigne, French courtesan and demi-mondaine.

August

• 11th
  • 1929: Birth of Grisélidis Réal, a writer, sex worker and activist from Geneva, Switzerland.
  • 1952: Birth of Lindi St Clair (Marian June Akin), a British author, leader of the Corrective Party, and campaigner for prostitutes' rights. She accused the Inland Revenue in the High Court of England of being "Her Majesty's pimps".
• 14th
  • 1885: Brothels were outlawed in the United Kingdom by the passing of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885.
• 15th
  • 1889: Birth of Marthe Richard, a French prostitute and spy. She later became a politician and worked towards the closing of brothels in France in 1946.
• 16th
  • 1959: Street prostitution was outlawed in England and Wales by the Street Offences Act 1959 coming into force.
• 17th
  • 1888: Murder of Martha Tabram, an English prostitute killed in a spate of violent murders in Whitechapel, in the East End of London. She may have been the first victim of the still-unidentified Jack the Ripper.
• 31st
  • 1888: Murder of Mary Ann Nichols. Her death has been attributed to the notorious unidentified serial killer Jack the Ripper.

September

• 10th
  • 1929: Birth of Gerda Munsinger, an East German prostitute and alleged Soviet spy who was the central protagonist of the Munsinger Affair.
• 12th
  • 1937: Birth of Margo St. James, an American self-described prostitute and sex-positive feminist who founded the organization COYOTE (Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics).
• 13th
  • 2012: Death of Robyn Few, an American sex workers' rights activist, founder of the Sex Workers Outreach Project USA (SWOP-USA), and co-organiser the annual International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers.
• 27th
  • 1927: Birth of Blonde Dolly (Sybille Alida Johanna Niemans), a Dutch prostitute, businesswoman and murder victim.
• 28th
  • 2010: Some of Canada's prostitution laws were struck down by Justice Susan Himel of the Court of Appeal for Ontario in Canada (AG) v Bedford.
• 30th
  • 1888: Murders of Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes, prostitutes wotking in London and believed to have been victims of the notorious unidentified serial killer called Jack the Ripper.
  • 1915: Birth of Dorothy Baker, also known as Big Dorothy, an American madam in Helena, Montana.

October

• 3rd
  • 1877: Death of Jurjentje Aukes Rauwerda, a Dutch prostitute and procurer. She was famous among members of her profession in the contemporary Netherlands, and ran the largest brothel in Amsterdam, the Maison Weinthal.
• 7th
  • 1958: Birth of Robyn Few, an American sex workers' rights activist, founder of the Sex Workers Outreach Project USA (SWOP-USA), and co-organiser the annual International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers.
• 9th
  • 1669: Death of Damaris Page, a London brothel keeper, entrepreneur and property developer, one of the most successful and famous prostitutes of her time.
• 16th
  • 2018: Death of Dennis Hof, an American brothel owner, politician, and star of the HBO series Cathouse. He was best known as the owner of seven legal brothels in Nevada.
• 29th
  • 1957: Murder of Rosemarie Nitribitt, a German luxury call girl whose violent death caused a scandal in the Germany of the Wirtschaftswunder years. The case gave rise to a novel, three movies and a musical.
• 31st
  • 1959: Murder of Blonde Dolly (Sybille Alida Johanna Niemans), a Dutch prostitute and businesswoman.

November

• 2nd
  • 1940: Death of Big Nose Kate (Mary Katherine Horony-Cummings), Hungarian-born prostitute and common-law wife of Old West gunfighter Doc Holliday.
• 3rd
  • 2009: Prostitution in Rhode Island was made illegal. Rhode Island was the last state in the US to ban prostitution.
• 5th
  • 1975: Birth of Brooke Magnanti (pen-name Belle de Jour), an American born research scientist, blogger and writer, known for her book The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl.
• 9th
  • 1888: Murder of Mary Jane Kelly, an Irish born London prostitute, widely believed to be the final victim of the notorious unidentified serial killer Jack the Ripper.
• 24th
  • 1998: Death of Gerda Munsinger, an East German prostitute and alleged Soviet spy who was the central protagonist of the Munsinger Affair.
• 28th
  • 1942: Execution of Toni Jo Henry (née Annie Beatrice McQuiston), an American prostitute, murderer and the only woman ever to be executed in Louisiana's electric chair.

December

• 1st
  • 1992: The Prostitution Act 1992 (Anna's Law), came into force in the Australian Capital Territory. The law regulated prostitution in the Territory.
• 6th
  • 2014: The Parliament of Canada passed legislation to criminalise the buying of sex.
• 13th
  • 1994: The Prostitution Control Act 1994 was passed into law in Victoria, Australia. This legislation regulated prostitution in the state.
• 17th
  • 2003: First International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. The event has taken place annually since then.
• 20th
  • 2013: The Supreme Court of Canada struck down the country's prostitution laws, finding that bans on street soliciting, brothels and people living off the avails of prostitution create severe dangers for vulnerable women.
• 30th
  • 1965: Birth of Heidi Fleiss (the Hollywood Madam), an American former madam, and television personality who was imprisoned for running a prostitution ring based in Los Angeles.
• 31st
  • 2018: The Israeli Knesset passed legislation which criminalises the buying of sex.