Nigel Kneale (1922–2006) was a British screenwriter from the Isle of Man. Active in television, film, radio drama and prose fiction, he wrote professionally for over fifty years, was a winner of the Somerset Maugham Award and was twice nominated for the British Film Award for Best Screenplay. Predominantly a writer of thrillers which used science-fiction and horror elements, he was best known for the creation of the character Professor Bernard Quatermass. Quatermass was a heroic scientist who appeared in various television, film and radio productions written by Kneale for the BBC, Hammer Film Productions and Thames Television between 1953 and 1996. Kneale wrote original scripts and successfully adapted works by writers such as George Orwell, John Osborne, H. G. Wells and Susan Hill. He was most active in television, joining BBC Television in 1951 as one of its first staff writers; his final script was transmitted on ITV in 1997. Kneale wrote well-received television dramas such as The Year of the Sex Olympics (1968) and The Stone Tape (1972) in addition to the Quatermass serials. He has been described as "one of the most influential writers of the 20th century", and as "having invented popular TV". ( more...)

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Jim Yong Kim (pictured) is elected President of the World Bank.

Argentina announces re-nationalisation of the oil-company YPF amid a dispute with Repsol and the government of Spain.

In the United Kingdom, Neptune Collonges wins the Grand National horse race, in the event's closest-ever finish.

The rocket carrying Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3, a North Korean Earth observation satellite, explodes shortly after launch.

Amid an early presidential election, mutinous soldiers take control of Bissau, Guinea-Bissau's capital.

The ruling Saenuri Party, led by Park Geun-hye, retains its majority in the National Assembly of South Korea.

An 8.6- magnitude earthquake strikes 430 km (270 mi) off the coast of Indonesia, initially prompting tsunami warnings across the Indian Ocean.

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April 18: Independence Day in Zimbabwe ( 1980); Yom HaShoah begins at sunset (Israel, 2012)

1506 – Construction of the current St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, to replace the old basilica built in the 4th century, began.

1689 – Provincial militia and citizens gathered in Boston, and arrested officials of the Dominion of New England.

1938 – Superman, created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, made his debut in Action Comics #1, the first true superhero comic book.

1942 – World War II: Sixteen B-25 Mitchell bombers from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet (launch pictured) carried out the Doolittle Raid, the first Allied attack on the Japanese home islands.

1949 – Ireland officially left the British Commonwealth and became a republic.

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Meteor Crater is a meteorite impact crater approximately 43 miles (69 km) east of Flagstaff, Arizona, US. It was created about 50,000 years ago during the Pleistocene epoch. The object that excavated the crater was a nickel- iron meteorite about 50 m (160 ft) across, which impacted the plain at a speed of several km per second. Photo: National Map Seamless Server, USGS Recently featured: Eastern Spinebill – Peter Ustinov – Level junction Archive – More featured pictures...