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.