Happy Anniversary: Haley Comets seen

HERE are some dates to celebrate in the coming week, a period of great activity in taxation, gastronomy and personal cleanliness.

12 April:

1954: Bill Haley and the Comets record 'Rock Around the Clock'.

Feast day of St Zeno, bishop of Verona, of whom the Dictionary of Saints says: 'He is usually represented with a fish, but whether this is a symbol of Baptism or a record of his addiction to angling is not entirely clear.'

13 April:

1925: A gastronomic survey in the United States reaches the conclusion that Americans are primarily 'steak-eaters'.

14 April:

1934: In Italy, Mussolini increases the tax on bachelors by 50 per cent.

1950: The birth of Dan Dare in the first edition of the Eagle.

1959: Robin Day adopted as Liberal Candidate in Hereford.

1989: Huddersfield police report a study showing that putting violent prisoners in pink cells has a calming effect.

15 April:

1901: Coventry sees the first use of a motor hearse (a Daimler) in a British funeral.

1929: Tea duty, one of Britain's longest-running taxes, is abolished after 325 years. Three years later a new tea tax was imposed.

1942: British Government bans embroidery on women's undergarments and nightwear.

1955: McDonald's hamburgers founded by Ray Kroc in De Plaines, Chicago.

16 April:

1900: The world's first book of stamps is issued in the United States.

1923: Stanley Baldwin cuts income tax by sixpence in the pound in his budget. Beer goes down by a penny a pint.

17 April:

1912: Total eclipse of the sun seen in London.

18 April:

1932: Business reply-paid envelopes are introduced by the GPO.

1934: The first launderette (called a 'washeteria') is opened in Fort Worth, Texas.

1949: Boy Scouts first Bob-A-Job week launched.