1746: Francisco de Goya, Spanish painter, was born.

1840: Regency dandy George Bryan "Beau" Brummell died a pauper in France.

1842: Ether was used as an anaesthetic for the first time, by American surgeon Dr Crawford Long.

1853: Artist Vincent van Gogh was born in the Dutch village of Groot-Zundert.

1867: Alaska was bought by America from Russia for $7.2 million - less than two cents an acre.

1880: Playwright Sean O'Casey was born in Dublin.

1964: The seaside resort of Clacton was the scene of pitched battles by gangs of mods and rockers.

1981: US President Ronald Reagan was wounded in an assassination attempt outside Washington's Hilton Hotel.

1986: James Cagney, American tough-guy actor, died aged 86.

1987: Sunflowers by Vincent van Gogh was sold at auction by Christie's for £24.75 million.

1991: Seven million people in Sudan were faced with starvation after drought and crop failure.

LAST YEAR: Renowned BBC broadcaster Alistair Cooke died aged 95, four weeks after dispatching his final Letter From America, his show which ran for more than half a century.