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1
April.
|
1662 |
British King
Charles II grants royal patronage to a group of scientists
and academics founding the Royal Society of London. |
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2
April. |
1801 |
Admiral
Horatio Nelson, aboard HMS Elephant, defiantly ignores
orders from his commander-in-chief to withdraw his forces and
proceeds to sink the pro French Danish fleet off its home port
of Copenhagen. |
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3
April. |
1721 |
Robert
Walpole became the first Prime Minister of Britain. |
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4
April. |
1963 |
The Beatles
fill the first five places in the US singles chart with
"Please Please Me", "I Want to Hold Your
Hand", "She Loves You", "Twist and
Shout" and "Can't Buy Me Love". |
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5
April. |
1649 |
Death of
Englishman John Winthrop, first governor of the Massachusetts
Bay Company. |
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6
April. |
1199 |
Richard
I (the Lion-Heart) of England dies from an infected wound
while besieging Chalus Castle. |
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7
April. |
1739 |
Travellers throughout
England breathe a sigh of relief, safe in the knowledge that the
most notorious of highwaymen Dick
Turpin, was hanged today in York. |
 |
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8
April. |
1838 |
Brunel's new steamship Great
Western left Bristol today on her maiden voyage across the
Atlantic to Boston. |
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9
April. |
1806 |
Birthday of
English engineer and inventor Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Perhaps
the greatest of the 19th-century engineers, he designed
railways, bridges, tunnels, viaducts and ships. |
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10
April. |
1633 |
Bananas,
never seen before in England, went on sale in a London shop. |
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11
April. |
1689 |
The joint
coronation of William III, Prince of Orange and champion of
Protestantism, and his wife Mary II took place in London. |
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12
April. |
1606 |
The Union
Jack becomes the official flag of Britain. |
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13
April. |
1919 |
British
troops fired into a crowd of 10,000 Sikhs that had gathered to
protest at the arrest of two Indian Congress Party leaders, 379
people were killed and 1,200 wounded in the Holy City of
Amritsar, India. |
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14
April. |
1983 |
The first cordless telephone went on
sale in Britain. |
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15
April. |
1753 |
English lexicographer Dr Samuel
Johnson published his Dictionary; he had taken nine years
to compile it. |
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16
April. |
1746 |
Charles Edward Stuart
(Bonnie Prince Charlie) was defeated at the Battle of Culloden
Moor in Scotland by an English Army under the the command of
William, Duke of Cumberland. Stuart fled the battlefield. |
 |
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17
April. |
1969 |
The age at
which a person is eligible to vote in Britain was lowered from
21 to 18. |
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18
April. |
1775 |
At the start
of the War of American Independence, US patriot Paul Revere rode
from Charleston to Lexington, warning people that British troops
were advancing. |
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19
April. |
1775 |
The first
battle in the War of American Independence took place at
Lexington, Massachusetts (Britain1 - Colonists 0). |
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20
April. |
1912 |
The
Irish-born writer Bram Stoker, author of Count Dracula, died
at his London home. He was 65. |
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21
April. |
1509 |
Henry VIII
becomes King of England, following the death of his father Henry
VII. |
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22
April. |
1838 |
The first
steamship to cross the Atlantic, the British ship Sirius,
arrived at New York; it made the crossing in 18 days. |
|
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23
April. |
1616 |
Death of
William Shakespeare, playwright and poet, aged 52. He leaves
behind a wife, Anne, two daughters, Judith and Susanna as well
as a wealth of literary treasures.
Feast day of
St George,
Patron Saint of England.
|
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24
April. |
1858 |
At the second
attempt, the biggest bell in the world, Big Ben, is finally
ready for hanging in the clock tower of Westminster Palace,
London. |
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25
April. |
1915 |
In World War
I, over 90,000 Australian, New Zealand and British troops met
fierce resistance from Turkish forces as they landed at
Gallipoli. |
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26
April. |
1923 |
The Duke of
York and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, later King George VI and Queen
Elizabeth, were married in Westminster Abbey, London. |
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27
April. |
1828 |
The
Zoological Society of London opened a zoological gardens in
Regent's Park. Lady visitors were politely requested to refrain
from poking the beasts through the bars of the cages. |
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28
April. |
1770 |
English naval
explorer James Cook arrived in Botany Bay, Australia, the first
European to do so. |
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29
April. |
1884 |
Oxford
University agreed to admit female students to examinations.
However, woman are not to be awarded degrees. |
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30
April. |
1945 |
In his
hideaway bunker in Berlin, Adolf Hitler shoots himself . His
wife of 48 hours and former mistress, Eva Braun, took a cyanide
capsule. In accordance with Hitler's instructions both bodies
were then burnt. |