1853 – Queen Victoria became the first monarch to receive chloroform. It was administered to ease the birth of her eighth child, Prince Leopold.

1908 – H. H. Asquith of the Liberal Party took office as Prime Minister. He served until 1916 making him the longest continuously serving Prime Minister of the 20th century until 5th January 1988, when his record was surpassed by Margaret Thatcher.

1914 – The House of Commons passed the Irish Home Rule Bill.

1930 – The birth of German-born, British actor Andrew Sachs. He made his name for his portrayal of Manuel in Fawlty Towers.

1958 – An Easter march to the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston attracted 3,000 anti atomic bomb marchers and a further 12,000 members of the new CND movement (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament).

1968 – British world motor-racing champion Jim Clark died in a crash at the Hockenheim circuit in Germany. He won two World Championships, in 1963 and 1965 and at the time of his death, aged 32, he had won more Grand Prix races (25) and achieved more Grand Prix pole positions (33) than any other driver. In 2009, The Times placed Clark at the top of a list of the greatest-ever Formula One drivers.

1976 – MP John Stonehouse resigned from the Labour Party, leaving James Callaghan’s government in a minority of one. Stonehouse is best remembered for faking his own suicide (20th November 1974), by leaving a pile of clothes on a Miami beach. He was presumed dead, and obituaries were published, despite the fact that no body had been found. In reality, he was en route to Australia, hoping to set up a new life with his mistress and secretary, Sheila Buckley. He also faced 18 charges of theft, forgery, attempted insurance frauds and conspiracy.

1986 – Home computing pioneer Sir Clive Sinclair sold the rights to his machines to Amstrad.

1997 – The 150th Grand National (cancelled on the 5th) due to bomb threats by the IRA, was held for the first time ever on a Monday, with the organisers offering free admission. Some 20,000 people had been left stranded over the weekend, as their cars and coaches were locked in the course. There was limited accommodation space in the city and surrounding areas, and those local residents not affected by the incident opened their doors and took in many of those stranded.

2014 – It was announced that the body of 25 year old Peaches Geldof had been discovered at her home. She was the second daughter of musician and Live Aid founder Bob Geldof and the television presenter Paula Yates (who died in September 2000, aged 41, of a heroin overdose). An inquest in July 2014 found that the cause of Peaches Geldof’s death was also a heroin overdose.