Delve into the history books and see what happened on this week in sport.

1981: First London Marathon held - March 29

Maybe, like I was, you'll be surprised to learn that the first London Marathon only took place in 1981; but so it was that 6,700 participants ran the 26-mile route from Greenwich Park to Buckingham Palace. The next year a whopping 90,000 people applied to take part and these days around 30,000 people run the race each year. The first men's race was a tie as American Dick Beardsley and Norwegian Inge Simonsen crossed together hand-in-hand after two hours, 11 minutes and 48 seconds. Joyce Smith of Britain won the women's race in a time of 2:29:56.

1980: Britain decides to attend Moscow Olympics - March 25

If you thought all this Steven Spielberg/Beijing mumbo-jumbo was bad, well there was an all together more controversial run up to the Moscow Games in 1980 when the USA led a boycott due to the Soviet Union's invasion into Afghanistan the previous year. At the height of the Cold War there was pressure on others to follow but the British Olympic Association decided to send a team against the wishes of the government, who were in favour of the boycott. Only the hockey association opposed the idea of travelling to the Games. In the end Britain was one of the 81 countries who competed in Moscow and took home 21 medals including a gold for Scotsman Allen Wells in the 100m - the first time a Briton had won that race since 1924.

1955: England bowl New Zealand out for 26 - March 28

New Zealand have had a few dodgy innings in their current Test series with England, but that is nothing compared to the horror show they put on in Auckland back in 1955 when they produced the worst batting total ever in a Test match. At Eden Park, the Kiwis went into their second innings trailing by 46 but amazingly England wouldn't even have to go out and bat their second innings as they skittled New Zealand for just 26. New Zealand opener Bert Sutcliffe scored the 'massive' total of 11, but then the rest of the line-up just dropped like flies. The best England bowling performance came from Bob Appleyard, who had four wickets for just seven runs - and he was denied a hat-trick in both innings by New Zealand tail-ender Alex Moir. Still, not a bad day at the office for all of those concerned with the England team.

1950: Ski jumpers soar over Hampstead Heath - March 25

Ski Jumping? In London? It happened on this week in 1950 when a bunch of Norwegians brought 45 tonnes of snow with them (no such thing as artificial snow for another two years) to add to a jump built by the 'Central Council of Physical Recreation' on Hampstead Heath. It wasn't a full-size jump (skiers had enough room to jump to about 90ft) but it was still enough to provide a spectacular and highly odd sight for most of the crowd. They even had a university contest between Oxford and Cambridge, with the Oxford team winning. The individual event was won by Arne Hoel of Oslo. Many attempts have been made to try and revive the event but it has never managed a second staging. However, if Ken Livingstone or Boris Johnson can find a way to bring the competition back to London, they can count on my vote.

1913: Netherlands beat England at football for first time - March 24

A famous day in Dutch football came on this week a whopping 95 years ago when they beat England for the first time with a 2-1 victory in a friendly international. There were two heroes for Holland on the day - Huug de Groot was the first because he scored both the goals but the other was the coach - Edgar Chadwick - an Englishman who had a long and distinguished career with Everton during the 1890s. Yes, there was a time when other countries used to call upon English coaches and not the other way around!

Seán Fay / Eurosport