US President, Ronald Reagan, was shot in the chest outside a hotel in Washington, D.C. The assailant was John Hinckley, Jr., who was later declared insane.

One of the most popular TV shows on American television history, Jeopardy, debuted. It aired for 20 years on the NBC channel. The creator of Jeopardy, Merv Griffin, also created the hit show, Wheel of Fortune.

British musician, Eric Clapton, was born in Surrey, England. His first band was "The Yardbirds", which he left in 1965 to form his own band, "The Cream".

Soviet armed forces invaded Austria and captured the city of Vienna.

Actor and director, Warren Beatty, was born in Richmond, Virginia. Apart from his film endeavours, he is an very active political activist and supporter of the Democratic party if the United States.

American singer, Frankie Laine, was born in Chicago. He was one of the most popular musicians of the 1940's - 50's era.

Greek politician, Harilaos Trikoupis, died in Cannes, France. He was Prime Minister of Greece 7 times, but retired to France after suffering a huge defeat in the elections of 1895.

The territory of Alaska was purchased by the United States from Russia, for 7.2 million dollars. The man mostly responsible for the purchase was the Secretary of State at the time, William Seward. He was greatly criticized for this move at the time, as it was considered a huge purchase of a useless piece of land.

George the 1st was crowned King of England. He was the son of the king of Denmark. He was shot dead in the city of Thessalonica 50 years later.

The first pencil with an eraser attached was patented by Hymen Lipman. The patent however was invalidated later on as the item was a combination of two previously known and used items.

The Crimean War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. The war was fought between Imperial Russia on one side and an alliance of France, the United Kingdom, and the Ottoman Empire on the other. It ended with the defeat of Russia.

Dutch painter, Vincent van Gogh, was born in Zundert, Netherlands. One of the most celebrated painters on the 19th century, he created over two thousand works of art in a period of ten years. He is thought to have been mentally ill and committed suicide on the 29th of July, 1890.

The Republic of Texas joined the United States as its 28th state with the name Texas.

Anaesthesia was used for the first time ever during an operation.

King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella signed the decree of Alhambra which included the expelling all Jews from the kingdoms of then Spain unless they convert to Roman Catholicism.