The week that was
A look back at the week ahead.
14 April 1901: Actors are arrested at the Academy of Music in New York for wearing costumes on a Sunday.
14 April 1934: Mussolini increases the tax on bachelors by 50 per cent.
14 April 1989: Huddersfield police report that putting prisoners in a pink cell has a calming effect.
15 April 1753: Samuel Johnson's dictionary is published.
15 April 1793: Bank of England issues the first £5 notes.
15 April 1942: The government bans embroidery on women's nightwear and underwear.
15 April 1988: Kim Il Sung, President of North Korea, receives an estimated 43,000 presents on his 76th birthday.
16 April 1900: The United States issues the world's first book of stamps.
16 April 1923: Stanley Baldwin's budget cuts sixpence off income tax and a penny off a pint of beer.
17 April 1421: Over 100,000 are drowned as the sea bursts through dykes at Dort, Holland.
17 April 1932: Slavery is abolished in Ethiopia.
18 April 1499: A pig is condemned to be hanged for killing an infant near Chartres. Its owners are fined 8 Francs.
18 April 1934: The world's first launderette opens in Fort Worth, Texas.
19 April 1637: Amye Everard becomes the first Englishwoman to be granted a patent - for a tincture of saffron and essence of roses.
19 April 1988: Western pop music is broadcast for the first time in China, but "Roll Over Beethoven" is banned.
20 April 1887: In Paris, Georges Bouton, driving a 4-seater steam quadricycle, wins the first ever motor race. He was the only entrant.
20 April 1987: Fukashi Kazami of Japan becomes the first person to reach the North Pole on a motorcycle.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies