1694: The Bank of England was founded with government backing.

1866: The Great Eastern arrived at Heart's Content in Newfoundland, having successfully laid the transatlantic telegraph cable.

1890: Artist Vincent Van Gogh went to the spot where he had painted Cornfield With Flight Of Birds and shot himself. He died two days later, aged 37.

1921: The first insulin was isolated by Canadians Sir Frederick Banting and his assistant Charles Best, providing an effective treatment for diabetes.

1949: The de Havilland Comet, the world's first jet airliner, made its maiden flight.

1953: The Korean Armistice was signed at Panmunjom.

1964: Sir Winston Churchill made his last appearance in the House of Commons.

1980: The deposed Shah of Iran died of cancer in Cairo.

1988: Mercury Communications opened its first non-British Telecom payphones at Waterloo Station.

1989: The Common Cold Research Centre in Salisbury closed after giving colds to 30,000 people over 43 years.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: A couple were convicted of the manslaughter through gross negligence of two children who were allowed to play on a railway line during a family picnic and were killed by a train.

BIRTHDAYS: Jack Higgins, novelist, 73; Baroness (Shirley) Williams, politician, 72; Bobbie Gentry, singer, 58; Allan Border, former cricketer, 47; Christopher Dean, skater, 44; Jo Durie, tennis player, 42; Michael Ball, singer, 40; Tracy Shaw, actress, 29.