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 28-year career he wrote 173 books, 22 plays and hundreds of short stories.

1908 The Territorial Army was founded.

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. One remand prisoner died.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Gun salutes rang out across the United Kingdom as the nation mourned the death of the Queen Mother.

BIRTHDAYS: Milan Kundera, novelist, 74; George Baker, actor, 72; Debbie Reynolds, actress, 72; Ali MacGraw, actress, 65; Jimmy Cliff, singer, 55; JJ Williams, former rugby player, 55; Gil Scott-Heron, singer, 54; Barry Sonnenfield, film director, 50; David Gower, broadcaster and former cricketer, 46; Phillip Schofield, TV presenter, 41; Chris Evans, DJ/TV presenter, 36; Hannah Spearritt, pop singer (S Club 7), 22.