1755Dr Samuel Johnson's dictionary 'A Dictionary of the English Language' was first published, in London. It contained explanations and meanings for 40,000 different words and had taken him almost 9 years to compile, although he had claimed he could finish it in three. He was paid the sum of 1,500 guineas, equivalent to about £230,000 in today's money.
1870Canada no longer accepted US silver coins as legal tender in the country.
The RMS Titanic, a passenger liner, sank in the North Atlantic on 15th April 1912 during her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York, causing the deaths of 1,502 out of the 2,224 passengers and crew on board. Some Welsh connections to the Titanic;
* Artie Moore, an amateur wireless enthusiast from Blackwood, was one of the few people to hear the first distress signals from the Titanic.
* Harold Godfrey Lowe of Llanrhos in Caernarfonshire was the Fifth Officer of the RMS Titanic and was the only officer who rowed back to save drowning passengers.
* David John Bowen, a former collier and Welsh lightweight champion from Treherbert, perished in the sinking. He was travelling to the USA with fellow boxer Leslie Williams from Tonypandy, who also lost his life in the sinking, for a series of boxing contests. Bowen and had written a letter to his mother dated 11 April 1912 which included the words, "This is a lovely boat, she is very near so big as Treherbert."
* The silverware on the Titanic was Elkington silverware from Burry Port.
* Most of the coal on the ship was supplied by the Lewis Merthyr Consolidated Collieries.
* Wrexham Lager was one of the main beers served at the bar.
1984Tommy Cooper, Welsh comedian, collapsed and died from a heart attack in front of millions of television viewers, midway through his act on the London Weekend Television variety show Live From Her Majesty's.
1966 UK music fans were treated to a concert by Jimi Hendrix, The Walker Brothers, Cat Stevens and Englebert Humperdinck when they appeared live at the Blackpool Odeon. Tickets cost 5 and 10 shillings
1971 - ClassicBands.com
April 15 The Beatles win an Oscar Award for the film Let It Be in the Original Song Score category. None of the band members were in attendance that night, so Quincy Jones accepted on their behalf. Sadly, only John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison were named as recipients by the Academy because they believed that those three were the sole composers. Ringo Starr's writing credit on the song "Dig It" was mistakenly overlooked.
