1726: Sir John Vanbrugh, playwright and architect of Blenheim Palace, Castle Howard, and many castles and houses, died of a quinsy.
1780: The first Sunday newspaper in Britain was published: the British Gazette And Sunday Monitor.
1827: Composer Ludwig van Beethoven died, aged 57. His last words were reputedly: "I shall hear in Heaven."
1885: The first cremation in Britain took place at Woking in Surrey.
1923: Regular daily weather forecasting began on BBC radio.
1937: Popeye the sailor-man became the first cartoon character to have his statue erected - in Crystal City, Texas.
1945: David Lloyd George, who laid the foundations of the Welfare State and led Britain through the First World War, died at the age of 82.
1955: No national newspapers appeared because of a strike by 700 electricians and maintenance engineers over pay.
1962: The French army launched an offensive to crush the armed uprising in Algeria.
1973: Playwright, actor and songwriter Sir Noel Coward, known for many years as "The Master", died.
1973: The first woman stockbroker set foot on the floor of the London Stock Exchange.
1981: The so-called Gang of Four launched the Social Democratic Party.
1992: Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson was jailed after being found guilty of one count of rape and two counts of criminal deviate conduct.
LAST YEAR: Families claiming that doctors took organs from their dead children without consent won the right to sue.
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