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1955: Britain's big freeze Deep snow and freezing temperatures continue to cause havoc across much of Britain.

1968: South Vietnamese recapture Hue The South Vietnamese celebrate the recapture of the country's third city, Hue, after a battle lasting three weeks.

1950: Labour wins slim majority Clement Attlee returns as prime minister of Britain but with a single-figure majority.

1981: Prince Charles and Lady Di to marry The Prince of Wales and the Lady Diana Spencer end months of speculation by announcing they are to wed this summer.

1999: Lawrence report blasts 'racist' police London's police force is "institutionally racist" says a report on the murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence.

Commonwealth citizens lose their automatic right to remain in the UK under the government's new Immigration Bill.

 Not so different from today then -- the government of the day continues to chop and change the rules at whim.

1981: President Reagan is shot President Ronald Reagan is shot and wounded when a lone gunman opens fire in Washington.

1979: Car bomb kills Airey Neave Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Airey Neave is killed by a car bomb as he leaves the House of Commons car park.

1951: Rosenbergs guilty of espionage An American electrical engineer and his wife are found guilty by the Federal Court in New York of passing secrets about the atomic bomb to Russia.

2002: Queen Mother dies Buckingham Palace announces that the Queen Mother has died peacefully in her sleep aged 101.

1992: John Major climbs onto his soapbox Prime Minister John Major gets onto his soapbox to persuade Conservatives to come out and vote.

1978: Tories recruit advertisers to win votes
Saatchi & Saatchi gets the job of revamping the Conservative Party image ahead of the General Election.

On this day in 1700, English pranksters begin popularizing the annual tradition of April Fools’ Day by playing practical jokes on each other.

Although the day, also called All Fools’ Day, has been celebrated for several centuries by different cultures, its exact origins remain a mystery. Some historians speculate that April Fools’ Day dates back to 1582, when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, as called for by the Council of Trent in 1563. People who were slow to get the news or failed to recognize that the start of the new year had moved to January 1 and continued to celebrate it during the last week of March through April 1 became the butt of jokes and hoaxes. These included having paper fish placed on their backs and being referred to as “poisson d’avril” (April fish), said to symbolize a young, easily caught fish and a gullible person.

Historians have also linked April Fools’ Day to ancient festivals such as Hilaria, which was celebrated in Rome at the end of March and involved people dressing up in disguises. There’s also speculation that April Fools’ Day was tied to the vernal equinox, or first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, when Mother Nature fooled people with changing, unpredictable weather.

April Fools’ Day spread throughout Britain during the 18th century. In Scotland, the tradition became a two-day event, starting with “hunting the gowk,” in which people were sent on phony errands (gowk is a word for cuckoo bird, a symbol for fool) and followed by Tailie Day, which involved pranks played on people’s derrieres, such as pinning fake tails or “kick me” signs on them.

In modern times, people have gone to great lengths to create elaborate April Fools’ Day hoaxes. Newspapers, radio and TV stations and Web sites have participated in the April 1 tradition of reporting outrageous fictional claims that have fooled their audiences. In 1957, the BBC reported that Swiss farmers were experiencing a record spaghetti crop and showed footage of people harvesting noodles from trees; numerous viewers were fooled. In 1985, Sports Illustrated tricked many of its readers when it ran a made-up article about a rookie pitcher named Sidd Finch who could throw a fastball over 168 miles per hour. In 1996, Taco Bell, the fast-food restaurant chain, duped people when it announced it had agreed to purchase Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell and intended to rename it the Taco Liberty Bell. In 1998, after Burger King advertised a “Left-Handed Whopper,” scores of clueless customers requested the fake sandwich.

1982: Argentina invades Falklands Argentina has invaded the British territory of the Falkland Islands in the south Atlantic.

2005: Pope John Paul II dies Pope John Paul II dies at the age of 84 following heart failure, ending one of the longest pontificates in history.

1986: Bomb tears hole in airliner over Greece Four people are killed after they are sucked through a hole blown in the side of a TWA jet flying to Athens.

1977: Hat trick for Red Rum Red Rum has galloped into racing history by winning the Grand National for a record third time.

1998: Papon guilty of war crimes Former French cabinet minister Maurice Papon has been found guilty of war crimes for his part in deporting Jews from France during World War II.

1962: New pedestrian crossings cause chaos
A new style of pedestrian crossing causes confusion among both drivers and pedestrians following its launch in London.

1968: Martin Luther King shot dead The American black civil rights leader, Dr Martin Luther King, is assassinated.

1979: Deposed Pakistani PM is executed Pakistan's former Prime Minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, is hanged in spite of international calls for clemency.

1991: Orkney 'abuse' children go home The children at the centre of satanic abuse allegations in the Orkney Islands off Scotland are reunited with their families after the case was thrown out of court.

1984: Greenham Common women evicted The women from the main peace camp at Greenham Common in Berkshire are evicted but say it will not end their protest.

2000: Spring freeze brings chaos Severe weather forces the closure of Luton airport as blizzards and flooding cause widespread chaos.

1968: United States erupts in race violence Dozens of major cities in the United States are rocked by an escalation in the race riots following the assassination of Martin Luther King.

1994: Rwanda presidents' plane 'shot down' The presidents of the African states of Rwanda and Burundi are killed in a plane crash believed to have been caused by rocket fire.

1997: Fault cuts short space shuttle mission Nasa brings home the space shuttle Columbia 12 days early amid fears over a defective fuel cell.

1975: 'Operation Babylift' lands in UK A plane carrying 99 Vietnamese orphans has landed at Heathrow airport.

1989: Dockers' 'jobs for life' scrapped The government has announced it is to abolish legislation which guarantees work for more than 9,000 dockers.

1978: Carter delays N-bomb production The US President Jimmy Carter decides to postpone production of the controversial neutron bomb.

1976: Government crisis as Stonehouse quits Controversial MP John Stonehouse resigns from the Labour Party, leaving James Callaghan's government in a minority of one.

1968: Jim Clark killed in car smash Motor racing world champion Jim Clark is killed in a car crash during a Formula Two race at Hockenheim.

1986: Sinclair sells computer business Home computing pioneer Sir Clive Sinclair sells rights to his machines to Amstrad in a £5m deal.

1999: US claims 'banana war' victory The World Trade Organisation has ruled in favour of the United States in its long-running trade dispute with Europe over bananas.

2003: Saddam statue topples with regime Iraqis turn on symbols of their former leader, pulling down a statue and tearing it to pieces as US tanks roll into the centre of Baghdad.

1976: Young Liberal leader cleared of robbery The president of the Young Liberals, Peter Hain, has been acquitted of robbing a branch of Barclays bank.

2005: Prince Charles marries Camilla The Prince of Wales weds Camilla Parker-Bowles at a civil ceremony followed by a blessing.

1984: Dozens arrested in picket line violence About 100 pickets are arrested during violent clashes with police outside two working coal pits in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.

1999: President of Niger 'killed in ambush' The president of Niger, Ibrahim Bare Mainassara, has been shot dead in an apparent coup attempt.

1969: Sikh busmen win turban fight
Sikh busmen in Wolverhampton have won the right to wear turbans on duty after a long-running campaign.

1981: Brixton ablaze after riot The arrest of a black man leads to hundreds of youths rampaging through the streets of Brixton in south London.

1961: Nazi war crimes trial begins The trial has begun in Israel of the man accused of helping Hitler in his plan to exterminate the Jews.

1996: Israel launches attack on Beirut Israeli planes and helicopters have launched air strikes against targets in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, for the first time in nearly 14 years.

1951: MacArthur fired - Ridgway takes over US President Truman appoints General Ridgway as supreme commander of the UN forces in Korea after shocking the American public by dismissing General Macarthur.

1990: Customs seize 'supergun' Customs officers in Middlesbrough say they have seized what they believe to be the barrel of a massive gun on a ship bound for Iraq.

1957: Britain agrees to Singapore self-rule
The island of Singapore is granted self-government from Britain to come into effect next year.

1945: British troops liberate Bergen-Belsen British troops enter the concentration camp after negotiating a truce with the German commandant.

1986: US launches air strikes on Libya The United States bombs Tripoli in retaliation for Libyan terrorist attacks on American targets.

1989: Football fans crushed at Hillsborough At least 93 football supporters have been killed in Britain's worst-ever sporting disaster.

1942: Malta gets George Cross for bravery The people of Malta are awarded the George Cross in recognition of their heroic struggle against occupation.

1998: Former Cambodian dictator dies The former Cambodian dictator, Pol Pot, whose regime led to the deaths of millions of his people, has died.

2000: White farmer shot dead in Zimbabwe A white farmer in Zimbabwe has been kidnapped and shot dead by squatters occupying his land.

1953: Britain honours American hero
Reis Leming, a 22-year-old US airman, is awarded the George Medal for rescuing people trapped by winter floods.

1986: British journalist McCarthy kidnapped John McCarthy is abducted on his way to the airport - three bodies, believed to be of British hostages, are also found.

1984: Libyan embassy shots kill policewoman A police officer has been killed after shots were fired from the Libyan People's Bureau in central London.

1961: Exiles invade Cuba at Bay of Pigs Reports from Cuba say an invasion force has landed on the island to try to overthrow the country's leader, Fidel Castro.

1999: Dozens hurt in London bomb blast An explosion in south London has injured at least 45 people.

1951: Fears for crew of lost British submarine A massive air and sea search for the HM Submarine Affray is under away after it went missing earlier today.

1969: Devlin is youngest-ever woman MP
A 21-year-old woman, Bernadette Devlin, is voted in as Britain's youngest ever female MP and the country's third youngest ever.

1956: Macmillan unveils premium bond scheme The British Chancellor Harold Macmillan unveils plans for a new state saving scheme offering cash prizes instead of interest.

1955: Albert Einstein dies Eminent scientist Dr Albert Einstein, who developed the theory of relativity, dies in hospital aged 76.

1988: 'Ivan the Terrible' guilty of war crimes A retired US car worker has been found guilty of Nazi war crimes.

1994: Killing spreads in Rwanda The ethnic violence in Rwandan capital Kigali is spreading throughout the country, aid officials say.

1996: Greek tourists killed by Egyptian gunmen Seventeen Greek tourists and an Egyptian tour guide have been killed by gunmen in Cairo.

1978: Carter wins Panama Canal battle The US Senate has narrowly backed President Carter's controversial Panama Canal treaty.

1960: Thousands protest against H-bomb
At least 60,000 demonstrators gather in Trafalgar Square to mark the end of the Aldermaston to London "ban the bomb" march

1980: Tehran hostage rescue mission fails A top-secret attempt by the United States to free American hostages held in Iran collapses in failure, with the death of eight soldiers.

1974: Rebels seize control of Portugal Army rebels are in control of Portugal after an almost bloodless dawn coup.

1982: Marines land in South Georgia Britain re-establishes its presence in the Falkland Islands after a two-hour assault by Royal Marines on the remote island of South Georgia.

1983: 'Hitler diaries' published The German magazine, Stern, publishes the first instalment of the controversial "Hitler Diaries", said to be written by the Führer himself.

2002: Brothers cleared of Damilola murder Two teenage brothers are cleared of the murder of 10-year-old Damilola Taylor.

1953: Scientists describe 'secret of life'
Two Cambridge University scientists make public their answer to one of the most fundamental questions of biology - how do living things reproduce themselves?

1945: Germany announces Hitler is dead The German Fuhrer is killed in the Reich Chancery of Berlin fighting the Soviets, according to German radio.

1982: RAF bombs Port Stanley British planes attack two airstrips near the capital of the Falkland Islands in the war to rid the islands of Argentine forces

1994: Race ace Senna killed in car crash The world-class Brazilian racing driver Ayrton Senna dies in a crash at the San Marino Grand Prix in Italy.

1973: Thousands strike over pay and prices More than a million workers join a one-day strike in protest at the government's pay restraint policy and price rises.

1961: Victorious Castro bans elections Fidel Castro declares Cuba a socialist nation saying, "The revolution has no time for elections."

2000: May Day violence on London streets
Hundreds of anti-capitalist demonstrators fight running battles with police - the Cenotaph and statue of Winston Churchill are defaced with graffiti