This Day in History - 24 April

1558Mary Queen of Scots, also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, married the French Dauphin at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris.

1731 The death of Daniel Defoe, English novelist and author of Robinson Crusoe, his most famous novel. Robinson Crusoe is second only to the Bible in its number of translations.

1743Edmund Cartwright, the inventor of the cotton spinning power loom, was born, in Marnham, Nottinghamshire. In 1809 Cartwright obtained a grant of £10,000 from parliament for his invention and in May 1821 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.

1882The birth in Moffat (Dumfries and Galloway) of Lord Dowding, air force commander who directed the 1940 Battle of Britain.

1889The birth of Sir Richard Stafford Cripps, British Labour politician and, from 1947 to 1950, Chancellor of the Exchequer. In the latter position, Cripps was responsible for laying the foundations of Britain’s post-war economic prosperity, and was, according to the historian Eric Shaw, 'the real architect of the rapidly improving economic picture and growing affluence from 1952 onwards.'

1900The first issue of the newspaper the Daily Express. It was founded by Arthur Pearson.

1906William Joyce, British traitor and Nazi propagandist ('Lord Haw-Haw') was born.

1916In Dublin, Irish nationalists, led by Patrick Pearse, launched the Easter Rebellion against British rule.

1932A mass trespass by thousands of ramblers, led by Benny Rothman, took place on Kinder Scout in the Peak District. Their aim was to establish public right of access on the moors and mountains that were privately owned for grouse shooting.The mass trespass started at Bowden Bridge Quarry, close to Hayfield and had a far-reaching impact that culminated in the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 which gave people 'the right to roam' on mapped access land. This commemorative plaque at Bowden Bridge Quarry was unveiled in 1982.

1953Winston Churchill was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

1957English astronomer Patrick Moore presented the first broadcast of The Sky at Night, on BBC television.

1963Princess Alexandra (the youngest grand daughter of King George V) married the Honourable Angus Ogilvy at Westminster Abbey.

1982A crewman of a Sea King helicopter on its way to the Falklands Islands was missing and presumed dead after the aircraft crashed. Petty Officer Kevin Stuart Casey was the first casualty of the Falklands war against Argentina.

1989British jockey Peter Scudamore became the first National Hunt jockey in Britain to ride 200 winners in a season.

1993A massive bomb ripped through the the City of London, killing one and injuring more than 40.