ON THIS DAY
April Fool’s Day in Wales and England, Gowk’s (Cuckoo’s) Day in Scotland, Poisson d’Avril (April Fish) Day in France. 1873: Sergei Rachmaninov, last of the great Russian Romantic composers, was born in Oneg. He later settled in the USA. 1875: Edgar Wallace, thriller writer and journalist, was born in London. In his career he wrote more than 170 books, along with plays and hundreds of short stories. 1918: The Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps merged to become the Royal Air Force. 1924: The first gramophone to change records automatically went on sale. 1965: Greater London came into being, comprising the City of London plus 32 metropolitan boroughs. 1973: Value Added Tax was introduced in Britain. 1974: Re-organisation of local government in England and Wales saw changes to many county names and boundaries. 1990: The longest prison riot in British history began at Strangeways, Manchester, and lasted until April 25. ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: This Morning remembered agony aunt Denise Robertson in an emotional tribute show following her death from pancreatic cancer at the age of 83. BIRTHDAYS: Milan Kundera, novelist, 88; Ali MacGraw, actress, 78; Jimmy Cliff, singer, 69; Barry Sonnenfeld, film director, 64; David Gower, broadcaster and former cricketer, 60; Phillip Schofield, TV presenter, 55; Chris Evans, DJ/TV presenter, 51; Hannah Spearritt, actress and former singer (S Club 7), 36.