I often wonder what significant anniversaries are due at some point in the future as some of them might be of interest as triggers for blog posts or visits somewhere. However, it is often difficult to find out quickly what events have significant anniversaries - hence this section on the website.
By "significant anniversaries", I mean dates that are not, for example, the 73rd anniversary of something, but the 50th, 100th, 200th etc.
It should help to flag up interesting events.
Anniversaries during April 2016
Note: This page lists ALL anniversaries, not just the key dates.
For that more useful list, click here.
| Anniversary | Details |
| 723rd | Robert Winchelsey leaves England for Rome, to be consecrated as Archbishop of Canterbury. (1st Apr 1293) |
| 698th | Berwick-upon-Tweed is captured by the Scottish from England. (1st Apr 1318) |
| 143rd | The British steamer RMS Atlantic sinks off Nova Scotia, killing 547. (1st Apr 1873) |
| 108th | The Territorial Force (renamed Territorial Army in 1920) is formed as a volunteer reserve component of the British Army. (1st Apr 1908) |
| 98th | The Royal Air Force is created by the merger of the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service. (1st Apr 1918) |
| 83rd | English cricketer Wally Hammond set a record for the highest individual Test innings of 336 not out, during a Test match against New Zealand. (1st Apr 1933) |
| 59th | The BBC broadcasts the spaghetti tree hoax on its current affairs programme Panorama. (1st Apr 1957) |
| 47th | The Hawker Siddeley Harrier enters service with the Royal Air Force. (1st Apr 1969) |
| 42nd | The Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties come into being. (1st Apr 1974) |
| 54th | The first official Panda crossing is opened outside Waterloo station, London. (1st Apr 1962) |
| 43rd | VAT comes into effect in the UK. (1st Apr 1973) |
| 1000th | King Cnut attacked London sometime around April-June, allegedly digging a canal in South London to bypass London Bridge. (1st Apr 1016) |
| 52nd | Ministry of Defence takes over the duties of the War Office, Admiralty, and Air Ministry, which cease to exist. The title of Lord High Admiral is re-vested in the Monarch. (1st Apr 1964) |
| 82nd | Surgeon R.K. Wilson allegedly takes a photograph of the Loch Ness Monster. (1st Apr 1934) |
| 127th | New elected county councils in England and Wales (including the London County Council) created by the Local Government Act 1888, take up their powers. (1st Apr 1889) |
| 1st | English Heritage begins to operate as a charitable trust to manage the nation's portfolio of historic properties, while Historic England is formed to take on its previous functions in statutory planning, advice on and protection of the historic built environment. (1st Apr 2015) |
| 3rd | Police Scotland begins operations, merging all the former forces in the country. (1st Apr 2013) |
| 51st | The Greater London Council comes into its powers, replacing the London County Council and greatly expanding the metropolitan area of the city. (1st Apr 1965) |
| 5th | The Daily Sport and Sunday Sport tabloid newspapers ceased publication and entered administration. (1st Apr 2011) |
| 69th | Raising of school leaving age to 15. (1st Apr 1947) |
| 699th | Baron Roger Mortimer, newly appointed Justiciar of Ireland drives Scottish raiders back to the north of Ireland. (1st Apr 1317) |
| 38th | first official naturist beach opens at Fairlight Glen in Covehurst Bay near Hastings. (1st Apr 1978) |
| 48th | Thames Valley Police is formed by the amalgamation of Berkshire Constabulary, Buckinghamshire Constabulary, Oxford City Police, Oxfordshire Constabulary and Reading Borough Police. (1st Apr 1968) |
| 58th | BBC Radiophonic Workshop created. (1st Apr 1958) |
| 68th | Nationalisation of the electricity supply industry under terms of the Electricity Act 1947 comes into effect. (1st Apr 1948) |
| 88th | Cinematograph Films Act 1927 comes into force, setting a minimum quota for British films to be shown in UK cinemas. (1st Apr 1928) |
| -6th | The energy price cap for domestic gas and electricity in Great Britain rises by 54%, from £1,278 to £1,971. Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey warns that the country is facing the biggest single shock from energy prices since the 1970s. It is the largest increase, by far, in the price cap since it was introduced. (1st Apr 2022) |
| -5th | Benjamin Hannam becomes the first British police officer to be convicted of a terrorism offence, after being found guilty of joining the banned right-wing extremist group National Action, lying on his Met Police application, and having terror documents detailing knife combat and explosive-making. On 30 April, he is jailed at the Old Bailey for four years and four months. (1st Apr 2021) |
| 103rd | Suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst sentenced to three years of penal servitude. (2nd Apr 1913) |
| 9th | A smoking ban came into effect in all enclosed public places in Wales. (2nd Apr 2007) |
| 8th | An embryo that was a cross between a human and a cow survived a third straight day after being fertilised at Newcastle University. A director for embryonic stem cell laboratories at the Australian Stem Cell Centre said that the "99 per cent human" embryo could improve research within the field of human diseases. The Catholic Church of England and Wales however said that the creation was "monstrous" and says that the later destruction of it is unethical. (2nd Apr 2008) |
| -6th | COVID-19 vaccination in the UK: Low-dose vaccines for COVID-19 become available for children aged 5 to 11 in England, with five million eligible. A second dose is recommended after 12 weeks. (2nd Apr 2022) |
| 973rd | Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England. (3rd Apr 1043) |
| 128th | The first of 11 unsolved brutal murders of women committed in or near the impoverished Whitechapel district in the East End of London, occurs. (3rd Apr 1888) |
| 121st | Trial of the libel case instigated by Oscar Wilde begins, eventually resulting in his imprisonment on charges of homosexuality. (3rd Apr 1895) |
| 87th | RMS Queen Mary is ordered from John Brown & Company Shipbuilding and Engineering by Cunard Line. (3rd Apr 1929) |
| 83rd | First flight over Mount Everest, a British expedition, led by the Marquis of Clydesdale, and funded by Lucy, Lady Houston (3rd Apr 1933) |
| 82nd | Percy Shaw patents the cat's eye road-safety device. (3rd Apr 1934) |
| 5th | The UK's last circus elephant retired. (3rd Apr 2011) |
| 49th | Anguillan-born Norwell Roberts becames the first black officer in London's Metropolitan Police Service. (3rd Apr 1967) |
| 69th | The private healthcare firm BUPA founded. (3rd Apr 1947) |
| 199th | The imposter, 'Princess Caraboo' appears in Almondsbury in Gloucestershire. (3rd Apr 1817) |
| 38th | permanent radio broadcasts of proceedings in the House of Commons begin. (3rd Apr 1978) |
| 7th | Vincent Nichols is named as the new Archbishop of Westminster and head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, replacing Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor. (3rd Apr 2009) |
| -6th | Conservative MP David Warburton is admitted to a psychiatric hospital, following his suspension from the parliamentary party amid allegations of sexual harassment and drug taking. (3rd Apr 2022) |
| -5th | More than 100 people are arrested in central London during a protest against the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. (3rd Apr 2021) |
| 435th | Francis Drake is knighted for completing a circumnavigation of the world. (4th Apr 1581) |
| 356th | Declaration of Breda by King Charles II of England. (4th Apr 1660) |
| 295th | Sir Robert Walpole enters office as the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom under King George I. (4th Apr 1721) |
| 204th | US President James Madison enacted a ninety-day embargo on trade with the United Kingdom. (4th Apr 1812) |
| 166th | The Great Fire of Cottenham, a large part of the Cambridgeshire village (England) is burnt to the ground under suspicious circumstances. (4th Apr 1850) |
| 143rd | The Kennel Club is founded, the oldest and first official registry of purebred dogs in the world. (4th Apr 1873) |
| 67th | Twelve nations sign the North Atlantic Treaty creating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. (4th Apr 1949) |
| 58th | The CND Peace Symbol displayed in public for the first time in London. (4th Apr 1958) |
| 54th | James Hanratty is hanged at Bedford Prison for the A6 murder, despite protestations from many people who believed he was innocent, and the late introduction of witnesses who claimed to have seen him in Rhyl, North Wales, on the day of the murder. (4th Apr 1962) |
| 277th | First performance of Handel's oratorio Israel in Egypt at the King's Theatre, London. (4th Apr 1739) |
| 5th | As part of the British government's package of welfare reforms, starting from this date the one-and-a-half million people in the United Kingdom who were claiming incapacity benefit began to receive letters asking them to attend a work capability assessment. The tests are part of government plans to reduce the number of long-term claimants and will take until 2014 to complete. (4th Apr 2011) |
| 173rd | William Wordsworth accepts the office of Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom following the death of Robert Southey on 21 March. (4th Apr 1843) |
| 11th | The Gender Recognition Act 2004 comes into effect, allowing transsexual people to have their reassigned gender legally recognised by law. (4th Apr 2005) |
| 395th | The Mayflower sets sail from Plymouth, Massachusetts on a return trip to Great Britain. (5th Apr 1621) |
| 212th | The first recorded meteorite in Scotland falls in Possil. (5th Apr 1804) |
| 142nd | The first civic public park, is opened in Birkenhead. (5th Apr 1874) |
| 112th | The first international rugby league match is played between England and an Other Nationalities team (Welsh & Scottish players) in Central Park, Wigan, England. (5th Apr 1904) |
| 61st | Winston Churchill resigns as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom amid indications of failing health. (5th Apr 1955) |
| -2nd | All firms with at least 250 employees are required to publish data about their pay differences between men and women. (5th Apr 2018) |
| 61st | Resignation of Winston Churchill as Prime Minister due to ill-health at the age of 80. (5th Apr 1955) |
| 89th | Food Hoarding Order issued to prevent households from hoarding food in short supply. (5th Apr 1927) |
| 15th | Perry Wacker, a Dutch lorry driver, is jailed for 14 years for the manslaughter of 58 Chinese illegal immigrants who were found suffocated in his lorry at Dover ferry port in June last year. (5th Apr 2001) |
| 7th | The Independent Police Complaints Commission announces an investigation into the death of Ian Tomlinson who had died at the G20 protests at the beginning of the month. Video footage emerged on 7 April showing Mr Tomlinson being pushed to the ground by a police officer; he died of a heart attack. (5th Apr 2009) |
| 696th | The Scots reaffirm their independence by signing the Declaration of Arbroath. (6th Apr 1320) |
| 436th | One of the largest earthquakes recorded in the history of England, Flanders, or Northern France, takes place. (6th Apr 1580) |
| 121st | Oscar Wilde is arrested in the Cadogan Hotel, London after losing a libel case against the Marquess of Queensberry. (6th Apr 1895) |
| 51st | The British Government announces the cancellation of the TSR-2 aircraft project. (6th Apr 1965) |
| -2nd | The sugary drinks tax comes into force throughout the UK. (6th Apr 2018) |
| 0th | The 2016 Dog Microchipping Legislation comes into force, requiring every dog in England, Scotland and Wales to be micro-chipped if they are over eight weeks old. (This law had already been introduced in Northern Ireland, in 2012). (6th Apr 2016) |
| 99th | Bakerloo Line extension on the London Underground from Queen's Park to Watford Junction opens. (6th Apr 1917) |
| 5th | The Competition Commission released their investigation order designed to prevent future mis-selling of payment protection insurance in the United Kingdom (PPI); most rules came into force in October. (6th Apr 2011) |
| 6th | The prime minister, Gordon Brown, visited Buckingham Palace to seek The Queen's permission to dissolve Parliament on 12 April, triggering a general election on 6 May. (6th Apr 2010) |
| 38th | State Earnings-Related Pension Scheme introduced. (6th Apr 1978) |
| 8th | The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 came into force. (6th Apr 2008) |
| -6th | The rise in National Insurance comes into effect, adding an extra 1.25% in contributions paid by employees, businesses and the self-employed. (6th Apr 2022) |
| -6th | The biggest reform of divorce laws for 50 years comes into effect, ending the need for couples to first separate for two or more years and introducing a "no-fault" rule, bringing England and Wales into line with Scotland's laws. Lawyers predict a surge in divorce applications as a result of the change. (6th Apr 2022) |
| -6th | New rules requiring calorie information to be displayed on menus and food labels come into force. (6th Apr 2022) |
| 189th | John Walker, an English chemist, sells the first friction match that he had invented the previous year. (7th Apr 1827) |
| 108th | H. H. Asquith of the Liberal Party takes office as Prime Minister, succeeding Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (7th Apr 1908) |
| 40th | Former British Cabinet Minister John Stonehouse resigns from the Labour Party. (7th Apr 1976) |
| 1st | An estimated £200,000,000 worth of jewels are stolen from Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Ltd, Hatton Garden central London, in a meticulously-planned heist that takes place over the Easter bank holiday weekend. CCTV footage later emerges, at the website of UK newspaper the Daily Mirror, showing the thieves dressed as building workers and using wheelie bins. (7th Apr 2015) |
| 58th | the Church of England gives its moral backing to family planning. (7th Apr 1958) |
| 11th | Gambling Act 2005 transfers authority for licensing gambling from magistrates' courts to local authorities, creates the Gambling Commission, allows gambling companies to advertise on the broadcast media, regulates online gambling, provides for regional casinos and changes regulations for lotteries including on-product promotions. (7th Apr 2005) |
| 10th | Mr Justice Peter Smith delivers judgment in the copyright case over The Da Vinci Code finding that Dan Brown had not breached the copyright of Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh. The judgment itself contained a coded message on the whim of the judge. (7th Apr 2006) |
| 8th | The inquest into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales recorded a verdict of accidental death, caused by the heavy drinking, drug abuse and speeding of her chauffeur Henri Paul, who died in the crash along with Diana and Dodi Fayed. (7th Apr 2008) |
| -6th | The government's new energy strategy is published, which includes a plan for eight new nuclear reactors and 95% of the UK's electricity coming from low-carbon sources by 2030. (7th Apr 2022) |
| -5th | Police confirm that a body found in a pond in Epping Forest is that of 19-year-old student Richard Okorogheye, who went missing on 22 March. (7th Apr 2021) |
| 923rd | The new Winchester Cathedral is dedicated by Walkelin. (8th Apr 1093) |
| 130th | William Gladstone introduces the first Irish Home Rule Bill into the British House of Commons. (8th Apr 1886) |
| 112th | The French Third Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland sign the Entente cordiale. (8th Apr 1904) |
| 3rd | Street parties are held in a number of cities across the UK to "celebrate" the death of Margaret Thatcher (8th Apr 2013) |
| -3rd | London's Ultra-Low Emission Zone comes into effect. (8th Apr 2019) |
| -6th | Koci Selamaj is jailed for life, with a minimum term of 36 years, for the murder of primary school teacher Sabina Nessa in south-east London in September 2021. (8th Apr 2022) |
| -6th | Rishi Sunak's wife Akshata Murty announces she will pay UK taxes on her overseas income, following controversy over her non-dom status. (8th Apr 2022) |
| 603rd | Henry V is crowned King of England. (9th Apr 1413) |
| 505th | St John's College, Cambridge, England, founded by Lady Margaret Beaufort, receives its charter. (9th Apr 1511) |
| 431st | The expedition organised by Sir Walter Raleigh departs England for Roanoke Island (now in North Carolina) to establish the Roanoke Colony. (9th Apr 1585) |
| 47th | The first British-built Concorde 002 makes its maiden flight from Filton to RAF Fairford. (9th Apr 1969) |
| 102nd | Showing of the first colour feature film in Britain — The World, the Flesh and the Devil. (9th Apr 1914) |
| 177th | The world's first commercial electric telegraph line comes into operation alongside the Great Western Railway line from Paddington station to West Drayton. (9th Apr 1839) |
| 71st | Administration of Estates Act abolishes the legal rule of primogeniture in England and Wales and the remnants of gavelkind in Kent. (9th Apr 1945) |
| 69th | How Does Your Garden Grow? first broadcast on BBC Radio, better known as Gardeners' Question Time. (9th Apr 1947) |
| 749th | Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford occupies London. (9th Apr 1267) |
| -3rd | Department store Debenhams goes into administration, after a last-ditch rescue offer from Mike Ashley's Sports Direct was rejected. (9th Apr 2019) |
| 11th | The wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles (who takes the title Duchess of Cornwall) in a twenty-minute ceremony at Windsor Guildhall is followed by a blessing at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. (9th Apr 2005) |
| -5th | Buckingham Palace announces the death of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and husband of the Queen, at the age of 99. (9th Apr 2021) |
| 410th | The Charter of the Virginia Company of London is established by royal charter by James I of England with the purpose of establishing colonial settlements in North America. (10th Apr 1606) |
| 306th | The Statute of Anne, the first law regulating copyright, enters into force in Great Britain. (10th Apr 1710) |
| 158th | The original Big Ben, a 14.5 tonne bell for the Palace of Westminster is cast in Stockton-on-Tees by Warner's of Cripplegate. This however cracked during testing and is recast into the 13.76 tonne bell by Whitechapel Bell Foundry and is still in use to date. (10th Apr 1858) |
| 104th | The Titanic leaves port in Southampton, England for her first and only voyage. (10th Apr 1912) |
| 52nd | Runcorn, a small town in north Cheshire, is designated as a new town. Extensive developments are predicted to inflate the town's population to around 70,000 by 1981. (10th Apr 1964) |
| -3rd | The UK and the EU agree an Article 50 extension to 31 October 2019. No reopening of the withdrawal agreement negotiations is allowed and the UK "must hold the elections to the European Parliament" on 23 May, or it will be forced to leave on 1 June 2019. (10th Apr 2019) |
| 327th | William III and Mary II are crowned as joint sovereigns of Britain. (11th Apr 1689) |
| 207th | Battle of the Basque Roads Naval battle fought between France and the United Kingdom (11th Apr 1809) |
| 65th | The Stone of Scone, the stone upon which Scottish monarchs were traditionally crowned, is found on the site of the altar of Arbroath Abbey. It had been taken by Scottish nationalist students from its place in Westminster Abbey. (11th Apr 1951) |
| -2nd | A £70,000,000 plan to extend Birmingham's Alexander Stadium is announced for the 2022 Commonwealth Games and confirmed by Theresa May on a visit to the city. (11th Apr 2018) |
| 52nd | The National Trust reopens the southern section of the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal, the first major restoration of a canal for leisure use. (11th Apr 1964) |
| 39th | London Transport's Silver Jubilee buses are launched. (11th Apr 1977) |
| -3rd | WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange is arrested after seven years of living in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. (11th Apr 2019) |
| 7th | Gordon Brown's special adviser Damian McBride resigns his position after it emerges that he and another prominent Labour Party operative, blogger Derek Draper, had exchanged a series of emails in which they discussed plans to smear Conservative Party politicians with a series of false stories about their private lives. (11th Apr 2009) |
| -6th | Ali Harbi Ali, a 26-year-old Islamic extremist, is found guilty of murdering Conservative MP Sir David Amess on 15 October 2021. (11th Apr 2022) |
| -6th | Conservative MP for Wakefield, Imran Ahmad Khan, is found guilty of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy in 2008 and is expelled from the party. (11th Apr 2022) |
| -6th | The 2022 British barristers' industrial action begins with nearly 2,500 participants. (11th Apr 2022) |
| 410th | The Union Flag is adopted as the flag of Great Britain. (12th Apr 1606) |
| 185th | Soldiers marching on the Broughton Suspension Bridge in Manchester, England cause it to collapse. (12th Apr 1831) |
| 81st | First flight of the Bristol Blenheim. (12th Apr 1935) |
| 79th | Sir Frank Whittle ground-tests the first jet engine designed to power an aircraft, at Rugby, England. (12th Apr 1937) |
| 4th | Transport for London bans an advertising campaign due to run on buses by a Christian group; which was suggesting that gay people could be cured by therapy. (12th Apr 2012) |
| 89th | The Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act renames the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The change acknowledges that the Irish Free State is no longer part of the Kingdom. (12th Apr 1927) |
| -3rd | Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage launches the Brexit Party. (12th Apr 2019) |
| 10th | Prince Harry passed out as a commissioned officer during the Sovereign's Parade at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. (12th Apr 2006) |
| -6th | Partygate: Boris Johnson, his wife Carrie Johnson, and Rishi Sunak are among those issued with fixed penalty notices for breaches of lockdown rules at gatherings in Whitehall and Downing Street. This makes Johnson the first sitting Prime Minister to be sanctioned for breaking the law. 30 more penalties are announced, in addition to the 20 given by police on 29 March. Johnson and Sunak apologise, but resist calls from opposition parties including Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the SNP to resign. (12th Apr 2022) |
| -5th | COVID-19 in the UK: The next stage of lockdown easing begins with non-essential shops, gyms, hairdressers, and pub gardens opening across England. Rules are also eased in the rest of the UK. (12th Apr 2021) |
| 187th | The British Parliament grants freedom of religion to Roman Catholics. (13th Apr 1829) |
| 63rd | Ian Fleming publishes his first James Bond novel, Casino Royale. (13th Apr 1953) |
| 71st | The first Scottish National Party Member of Parliament, Robert McIntyre, is elected to the Parliament of the United Kingdom after his victory at the Motherwell by-election. (13th Apr 1945) |
| -6th | Inflation hits 7%, up from 6.2% the previous month and the highest level since 1992. (13th Apr 2022) |
| -5th | A third vaccine begins to be rolled out, developed by U.S. company Moderna, following the Pfizer BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines. (13th Apr 2021) |
| 545th | The Yorkists under Edward IV defeat the Lancastrians under the Earl of Warwick at the Battle of Barnet; the Earl is killed and Edward IV resumes the throne. (14th Apr 1471) |
| 104th | The British passenger liner RMS Titanic hits an iceberg in the North Atlantic at 11:40pm. The ship sinks the following morning with the loss of 1,517 lives. (14th Apr 1912) |
| -6th | COVID-19 vaccination in the UK: Valneva is approved as the UK's sixth vaccine. (14th Apr 2022) |
| -6th | COVID-19 vaccination in the UK: The Moderna vaccine is approved for use in 6 to 11-year olds. (14th Apr 2022) |
| -6th | The UK signs the Rwanda asylum plan, to fly thousands of migrants who cross the English Channel in lorries or on boats more than 4,000 miles on chartered planes to the African country. The plan is criticised by many charities, as well as opposition figures. (14th Apr 2022) |
| 566th | Battle of Formigny: Toward the end of the Hundred Years' War, the French attack and nearly annihilate English forces, ending English domination in Northern France. (15th Apr 1450) |
| 278th | Premiere in London, England, Great Britain of Serse, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel. (15th Apr 1738) |
| 261st | Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language is published in London. (15th Apr 1755) |
| 95th | Black Friday: mine owners announce more wage and price cuts, leading to the threat of a strike all across England. (15th Apr 1921) |
| 270th | The Battle of Culloden is fought between the French-supported Jacobites and the British Hanoverian forces commanded by William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, in Scotland after the battle many highland traditions were banned and the Highlands of Scotland were cleared of inhabitants. (15th Apr 1746) |
| 53rd | 70,000 marchers arrive in London from Aldermarston, to demonstrate against nuclear weapons. (15th Apr 1963) |
| 68th | Rowntree's introduce Polo mint sweets. (15th Apr 1948) |
| 11th | Eight days after its going into receivership, administrators at carmaker MG Rover make redundant virtually all of the workforce, with over 6,000 job losses. (15th Apr 2005) |
| -6th | The UN refugee agency condemns the plan to send migrants to Rwanda, deeming it illegal and discriminatory under international law. (15th Apr 2022) |
| -5th | The UK's biggest rockfall in 60 years occurs on the Dorset coast, with about 300 metres of cliff weighing an estimated 4,000 tonnes collapsing onto a beach. No deaths or injuries are reported. (15th Apr 2021) |
| 104th | Harriet Quimby becomes the first woman to fly an airplane across the English Channel. (16th Apr 1912) |
| 63rd | Queen Elizabeth II launches the Royal Yacht HMY Britannia. (16th Apr 1953) |
| 619th | Geoffrey Chaucer tells the Canterbury Tales for the first time at the court of Richard II. Chaucer scholars have also identified this date (in 1387) the start of the book's pilgrimage to Canterbury. (17th Apr 1397) |
| 3rd | The funeral of Margaret Thatcher takes place at London's St Paul's Cathedral. (17th Apr 2013) |
| 69th | In the largest non-nuclear single explosive detonation in history, the Royal Navy sets off 6,800 tonnes of surplus ammunition in an attempt to destroy Heligoland, Germany. (17th Apr 1947) |
| -3rd | Demonstrations by the climate change activist group Extinction Rebellion cause disruption in central London, blocking roads and resulting in over 1,000 arrests, with 53 people charged for various offences. A "pause" in the protest is announced on 21 April, although the group continues to base itself in Marble Arch. (17th Apr 2019) |
| -5th | The funeral of Prince Philip takes place at Windsor Castle. COVID-19 restrictions mean there is a limit of 30 guests, with social distancing and mask wearing inside St George's Chapel. (17th Apr 2021) |
| 117th | The St. Andrew's Ambulance Association is granted a Royal Charter by Queen Victoria. (18th Apr 1899) |
| 86th | BBC Radio announces that there is no news on that day. (18th Apr 1930) |
| 54th | Commonwealth Immigrants Act in the United Kingdom removes free immigration from the citizens of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, requiring proof of employment in the UK. (18th Apr 1962) |
| -1st | Prime Minister Theresa May calls a snap general election for 8 June. (18th Apr 2017) |
| 39th | The Embassy World Snooker Championship moves to the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, and attracts television coverage for the first time. (18th Apr 1977) |
| 48th | London Bridge sold to American entrepreneur Robert P. McCulloch, for £1,029,000, who rebuilds it at Lake Havasu City, Arizona. (18th Apr 1968) |
| -3rd | 29-year-old journalist and author Lyra McKee is shot dead amid rioting in Derry, Northern Ireland, with police treating it as a "terrorist incident" and suspecting the New IRA. (18th Apr 2019) |
| 1004th | Martyrdom of Ælfheah in Greenwich, London. (19th Apr 1012) |
| 161st | Visit of Napoleon III to Guildhall, London (19th Apr 1855) |
| 88th | The 125th and final fascicle of the Oxford English Dictionary is published. (19th Apr 1928) |
| -2nd | The UK experiences its hottest day in April since 1949, with temperatures of 28.5℃C (83.3℃F) recorded in Central London. (19th Apr 2018) |
| 3rd | The Royal Agricultural College at Cirencester is granted full university status as the Royal Agricultural University. (19th Apr 2013) |
| -6th | In a statement to the House of Commons, Prime Minister Johnson apologises following his receipt of a fixed penalty notice for breaching lockdown rules, and says that he did not realise he had breached rules at the time. (19th Apr 2022) |
| 363rd | Oliver Cromwell dissolves the Rump Parliament. (20th Apr 1653) |
| 327th | The former King James II of England, now deposed, lays siege to Derry. (20th Apr 1689) |
| 198th | The case of Ashford v Thornton ends, with Abraham Thornton allowed to go free rather than face a retrial for murder, after his demand for trial by battle is upheld. (20th Apr 1818) |
| -2nd | Commonwealth leaders announce that Charles, Prince of Wales will succeed The Queen as Head of the Commonwealth. (20th Apr 2018) |
| 227th | First boat passes through the Thames and Severn Canal's Sapperton Tunnel near Cirencester in Gloucestershire. It is the longest tunnel of any kind in England at this date. (20th Apr 1789) |
| 2nd | The Anglican Diocese of Leeds, created by merger of the Church of England's West Yorkshire dioceses of Ripon & Leeds, Bradford and Wakefield, comes into being. (20th Apr 2014) |
| 48th | Enoch Powell makes his controversial Rivers of Blood Speech on immigration. (20th Apr 1968) |
| 73rd | worst bombing of Aberdeen. (21st Apr 1943) |
| 507th | Henry VIII ascends the throne of England on the death of his father, Henry VII. (21st Apr 1509) |
| -1st | Britain goes a full day without using coal power to generate electricity for the first time since the Industrial Revolution, according to the National Grid. (21st Apr 2017) |
| 52nd | BBC Two begins scheduled broadcasting; its first programme is Play School. (21st Apr 1964) |
| 61st | National newspapers published for the first time after a month-long strike by maintenance workers. (21st Apr 1955) |
| 11th | Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act passed by the Scottish Parliament, the first piece of legislation in the UK to give formal recognition to the Scottish Gaelic language. It aims to secure Gaelic as an official language of Scotland. (21st Apr 2005) |
| 86th | The United Kingdom, Japan and the United States sign the London Naval Treaty regulating submarine warfare and limiting shipbuilding. (22nd Apr 1930) |
| 47th | British yachtsman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston completes the first solo non-stop circumnavigation of the world. (22nd Apr 1969) |
| 3rd | A London house goes on sale for a record £250 million, 700 times greater than the average £370,000 cost of a property in the city. (22nd Apr 2013) |
| 4th | 30-year-old Claire Squires collapses and dies while running the London Marathon, the tenth death in the race's history. She had planned to raise £500 for The Samaritans, but within a day members of the public have donated £219,000. The end of the year would see this total rise to nearly £1M. (22nd Apr 2012) |
| 58th | the Hancock's Half Hour episode "Sunday Afternoon at Home" is first broadcast on BBC radio. (22nd Apr 1958) |
| -3rd | The hottest Easter Monday on record in all four nations of the UK is confirmed by the Met Office, with 25C (77F) reported at Heathrow, Northolt and Wisley. (22nd Apr 2019) |
| 1000th | Edmund Ironside succeeds his father Æthelred the Unready as king of England. (23rd Apr 1016) |
| 668th | The founding of the Order of the Garter by King Edward III is announced on St George's Day. (23rd Apr 1348) |
| 355th | King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland is crowned in Westminster Abbey. (23rd Apr 1661) |
| 84th | New Shakespeare Memorial Theatre opens in Stratford-upon-Avon. Designed by Elisabeth Scott, it is the country's first important work by a woman architect. (23rd Apr 1932) |
| 3rd | Businessman James McCormick is convicted on three counts of fraud at the Old Bailey after selling fake bomb detectors based on a device for finding golf balls to countries including Iraq and Georgia. (23rd Apr 2013) |
| 51st | The Pennine Way officially opens. (23rd Apr 1965) |
| 89th | Cardiff City F.C., members of the English Football League despite being based in Wales, win the FA Cup beating Arsenal 1-0 at Wembley Stadium and taking the trophy out of England for the first time. (23rd Apr 1927) |
| 48th | five and ten pence coins are introduced in the run-up to Decimalisation, which will be complete within the next three years. (23rd Apr 1968) |
| 98th | Conscription Crisis of 1918 in Ireland: a general strike is held here against conscription. (23rd Apr 1918) |
| -6th | Ospreys nesting in Poole Harbour produce an egg, the first in southern England in modern times. (23rd Apr 2022) |
| -5th | Thirty-nine Post Office workers convicted of theft, fraud, and false accounting have their names cleared after one of the UK's most widespread miscarriages of justice. (23rd Apr 2021) |
| -5th | COVID-19 pandemic costs mean government borrowing in the year to March reaches £303.1bn, the highest level since the end of World War II. (23rd Apr 2021) |
| -2nd | The first statue of a woman in Parliament Square is unveiled, that of suffragette Millicent Fawcett. (24th Apr 2018) |
| 458th | Mary, Queen of Scots, marries the Dauphin of France, François, at Notre Dame de Paris. (24th Apr 1558) |
| 98th | First tank-to-tank combat, at Villers-Bretonneux, France, when three British Mark IVs met three German A7Vs. (24th Apr 1918) |
| 94th | The first segment of the Imperial Wireless Chain providing wireless telegraphy between Leafield in Oxfordshire, England, and Cairo, Egypt, comes into operation. (24th Apr 1922) |
| 84th | Benny Rothman leads the mass trespass of Kinder Scout, leading to substantial legal reforms in the United Kingdom. (24th Apr 1932) |
| 63rd | Winston Churchill is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. (24th Apr 1953) |
| 53rd | Marriage of Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra of Kent to Angus Ogilvy at Westminster Abbey in London. (24th Apr 1963) |
| 2nd | Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander announces that Cornish people will be granted minority status under Council of Europe rules governing the protection of national minorities. (24th Apr 2014) |
| 101st | The FA Cup is won by Sheffield United F.C., who defeat Chelsea 3-0 in the final at Old Trafford, Manchester. The competition will now be abandoned until WW1 is over. (24th Apr 1915) |
| 201st | Anthony Trollope, later an English novelist is born. (24th Apr 1815) |
| 59th | First broadcast of BBC Television astronomy series The Sky at Night presented by Patrick Moore. This will run with the same presenter until his death in December 2012. (24th Apr 1957) |
| -6th | The Elections Act 2022 receives royal assent, The Act introduces voter photo identification for in-person voting to the UK for the first time. The requirement would apply to UK general elections, English local elections, and police and crime commissioner elections in England and Wales. (24th Apr 2022) |
| 100th | Easter Rebellion: The United Kingdom declares martial law in Ireland. (25th Apr 1916) |
| 63rd | Francis Crick and James D. Watson publish Molecular structure of nucleic acids: a structure for deoxyribose nucleic acid describing the double helix structure of DNA. (25th Apr 1953) |
| 78th | Anglo-Irish Trade Agreement with the Republic of Ireland settles trade disputes and agrees to the Royal Navy abandoning the British sovereign bases at the Treaty ports in Ireland. (25th Apr 1938) |
| 148th | HMS Repulse, the last wooden battleship constructed for the Royal Navy, is launched as an ironclad (with auxiliary steam propulsion) at Woolwich Dockyard. (25th Apr 1868) |
| 409th | English colonists make landfall at Cape Henry, Virginia. (26th Apr 1607) |
| 93rd | The Duke of York weds Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon at Westminster Abbey. (26th Apr 1923) |
| 92nd | Harry Grindell Matthews demonstrates his "death ray" in London but fails to convince the War Office. (26th Apr 1924) |
| 41st | A conference of Labour Party members voted against continued membership of the EEC. (26th Apr 1975) |
| 10th | The Duke of Edinburgh visits the Republic of Ireland. (26th Apr 2006) |
| -6th | DJ Tim Westwood is accused of predatory and unwanted sexual behaviour by seven women, as part of a joint BBC and Guardian investigation. He steps down from his Capital Xtra radio show the following day. (26th Apr 2022) |
| 720th | Battle of Dunbar: The Scots are defeated by Edward I of England. (27th Apr 1296) |
| 366th | The Battle of Carbisdale: A Royalist army invades mainland Scotland from Orkney Island but is defeated by a Covenanter army. (27th Apr 1650) |
| 267th | First performance of Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks in Green Park, London. (27th Apr 1749) |
| 243rd | The Parliament of Great Britain passes the Tea Act, designed to save the British East India Company by granting it a monopoly on the North American tea trade. (27th Apr 1773) |
| 176th | Foundation stone for new Palace of Westminster, London, is laid by wife of Sir Charles Barry. (27th Apr 1840) |
| 77th | Military Training Act (coming into force 3 June) introduces conscription; men aged 20 and 21 must undertake six months military training. (27th Apr 1939) |
| 349th | The blind, impoverished, 58-year-old John Milton seals a contract for publication of Paradise Lost with London printer Samuel Simmons for an initial payment of £5. The first edition is published in October and sells out in eighteen months. (27th Apr 1667) |
| 48th | the Abortion Act 1967 comes into effect, legalising abortion on a number of grounds, with free provision through the National Health Service. (27th Apr 1968) |
| 58th | BOAC's first de Havilland Comet 4 makes its maiden flight. (27th Apr 1958) |
| -6th | In a statement, Conservative Chief Whip Chris Heaton-Harris says he is investigating reports that a Conservative MP watched pornography on his phone in the House of Commons chamber, after complaints from female Tory MPs. The MP is later revealed to be Neil Parish, Conservative MP for Tiverton and Honiton. (27th Apr 2022) |
| -6th | COVID-19 in the UK: The High Court of England and Wales rules that the UK government's policies on discharging untested patients from hospital to care homes in England at the start of the pandemic was unlawful because they failed to take into account the potential risk of COVID-19 to elderly and vulnerable people. (27th Apr 2022) |
| 227th | Mutiny on the Bounty: Lieutenant William Bligh and 18 sailors are set adrift and the rebel crew returns to Tahiti briefly and then sets sail for Pitcairn Island. (28th Apr 1789) |
| 93rd | The Empire Stadium, Wembley is opened to the public for the first time and holds the FA Cup Final between Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United football clubs. (28th Apr 1923) |
| 72nd | Allied convoy T4, forming part of amphibious Exercise Tiger (a full-scale rehearsal for the Normandy landings) in Start Bay off the Devon coast, is attacked by E-boats, resulting in the deaths of 749 American servicemen. (28th Apr 1944) |
| 2nd | Following a trial at Southwark Crown Court, publicist Max Clifford is convicted of eight indecent assaults on women and girls. (28th Apr 2014) |
| 12th | Landmark office building 30 St Mary Axe ("The Gherkin") in the City of London, designed by Norman Foster, opens. (28th Apr 2004) |
| 9th | An earthquake measuring 4.3 on the richter scale struck Kent, injuring one and causing damage to buildings. (28th Apr 2007) |
| -6th | 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine: Scott Sibley, aged 36, becomes the first British national confirmed to have died in the conflict. A second Briton is reported missing. (28th Apr 2022) |
| -5th | The Electoral Commission begins an investigation into the funding of Boris Johnson's Downing Street flat, saying there are "reasonable grounds to suspect an offence". (28th Apr 2021) |
| -5th | COVID-19 in the UK: The government orders an extra 60 million doses of the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine as it plans for a vaccination booster programme in the autumn. (28th Apr 2021) |
| 106th | Parliament passes the People's Budget, the first budget in British history with the expressed intent of redistributing wealth among the British public. (29th Apr 1910) |
| 64th | University of Southampton chartered, first post-war university established. (29th Apr 1952) |
| 1st | A blaze causes extensive damage at Clandon Park, a stately home in Surrey. (29th Apr 2015) |
| 5th | Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine Middleton married in Westminster Abbey. A public holiday celebrated the day, which in conjunction with the May Bank Holiday, made a four-day weekend. (29th Apr 2011) |
| 39th | British Aerospace is formed to run the nationalised aviation industry. (29th Apr 1977) |
| -6th | Conservative MP Neil Parish is suspended from the Conservative Whip over allegations that he watched pornography on his phone in the House of Commons. (29th Apr 2022) |
| -6th | Boris Becker, former tennis champion, is jailed for two and a half years following his trial at Southwark Crown Court for breaking UK insolvency laws after his 2017 bankruptcy. (29th Apr 2022) |
| 503rd | Edmund de la Pole, Yorkist pretender to the English throne, is executed on the orders of Henry VIII. (30th Apr 1513) |
| 73rd | The submarine HMS Seraph surfaces in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Spain to deposit a dead man planted with false invasion plans and dressed as a British military intelligence officer. (30th Apr 1943) |
| 53rd | The Bristol Bus Boycott is held in Bristol to protest the Bristol Omnibus Company's refusal to employ Black or Asian bus crews, drawing national attention to racial discrimination in the UK. (30th Apr 1963) |
| 44th | The Brighton Belle Pullman car train makes its last journey from London to Brighton. (30th Apr 1972) |
| 37th | London Underground's Jubilee Line is opened by the Prince of Wales -- although passenger journeys started the following day. (30th Apr 1979) |
| 39th | The Watercress Line, a heritage railway reopened as a service following closure by British Rail. (30th Apr 1977) |
| 58th | The Life Peerages Act receives Royal Assent; the Act allows the creation of life peers who can sit in the House of Lords. As life peerages could be bestowed on women, this Act allows for women to sit in the House of Lords for the first time. (30th Apr 1958) |
| 68th | the Land Rover is unveiled at the Amsterdam Motor Show. (30th Apr 1948) |
| 10th | The last astronomy show is held at the London Planetarium before it is acquired by neighbouring Madame Tussauds. (30th Apr 2006) |
| -6th | Neil Parish admits to watching pornography twice in the House of Commons and says that he will resign as an MP. (30th Apr 2022) |
| -5th | COVID-19 in the UK: The vaccine rollout opens to 40-year-olds and above in England. (30th Apr 2021) |
| -5th | Actor Noel Clarke has his BAFTA award and membership suspended, following accusations of groping, sexual harassment and bullying from 20 women. Clarke denies the allegations. (30th Apr 2021) |
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