on this day in April

1980  The nudists' beach in Brighton opened

1973  Value Added Tax came into force in the UK 

1967  Adrian Mole - secret diarist - was born

1882  Jesse James was shot in the back by a member of his own gang

1721  Horace Walpole became Britain's first Prime Minister

1984  Winston Smith begin his diary with the words "Down with Big Brother" repeated again and again

1981  Oxford won the University Boat Race with the first woman cox - Susan Brown

1794  The French revolutionary Georges Danton was guillotined

1614   Pocahontas - daughter of the Native American chief Powhatan - married John Rolfe, an English settler

1896  The Olympic games were revived by Pierre de Coubertin

1739  The highwayman Dick Turpin was hanged for murder

1986  Clint Eastwood was elected mayor of Carmel, California

1961  King Zog of Albania died in exile

2000  Peter Jones - the voice of the Book in 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' - died

1849  The safety pin was patented 

1939  Darts was banned in Glasgow pubs as too dangerous

1961  Russian Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space

1861  The American Civil War began

1709  The Tatler was first published

1741  The Royal Military Academy was established at Woolwich though it later moved to Sandhurst

1937  The three penny bit went into circulation

1986  Playing for the West Indies against England in Antigua Viv Richards scored 100 off 56 balls 

1955  The MacDonald's hamburger chain was founded

1942  Malta was awarded the George Cross recognising the islanders' heroism in the face of constant German attack 

1912  Harriet Quimby became the first woman to fly the English Channel

1980  Rhodesia became fully independent as Zimbabwe - nearthecoast was an undergraduate at North London Poly at the time and the next day we all shook hands with Zac, the new Zimbabwean of the class

1909  Joan of Arc was beatified

1951  The first Miss World beauty contest was held

1933  Cricket umpire 'Dickie' Bird was born

1981  Steve Davis won the world professional snooker championship for the first time

1959  At the age of 13 Dolly Parton released her first record, Puppy Love

1940  The electron microscope was first demonstrated

1980  Sony (UK) became the first Japanese owned firm to win a Queen's Award for Export Achievement

1770  James Cook reached Australia

1884  The East Anglian earthquake, estimated at 5.2 on the Richter scale, is thought to have killed 4 people

1965  The Pennine Way long-distance footpath was opened

1961  Bob Dylan made his recording debut playing harmonica on the title track of Harry Belafonte's album 'Midnight Special'

1558  Mary, Queen of Scots married the Dauphine of France

1792  Nicolas Pelletier, found guilty of robbery with violence, became the first Frenchman to be executed by the guillotine

1564  William Shakespeare was baptised

1749  Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks was first performed - only a few fireworks went off because of rain but the stand still  burnt down!

1789  Fletcher Christian led the mutiny on the Bounty

1933  The first FA Cup Final took place with the players wearing numbers, 1-11 for Everton and 12-22 for Manchester City

1884  A statute admitted women to examinations at Oxford University

1980  Queen Juliana of the Netherlands abdicated in favour of her daughter Beatrix