ON THIS DAY

April Fool’s Day in 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: Residents at a Fir Villa Residential Home in Somerset recreated a giant game of Kerplunk out of garden netting, a cardboard box, bamboo canes and balls to lift their spirits in lockdown isolation.

BIRTHDAYS: Milan Kundera, novelist, 92; Ali MacGraw, actress, 82; Jimmy Cliff, singer, 73; Barry Sonnenfeld, film director, 68; David Gower, broadcaster and former cricketer, 64; Phillip Schofield, TV presenter, 59; Chris Evans, DJ/ TV presenter, 55; Hannah Spearritt, actress and former singer (S Club 7), 40.