1822: Florida becomes an organised territory of the United States
1842: Crawford W. Long first uses ether as an anaesthetic
1853: Vincent van Gogh is born
1949: Lene Lovich is born; goes on to release two songs that still make me bounce around, “Lucky Number” and “New Toy”
1981: Ronald Reagan is shot and wounded by John Hinckley; Al Haig declares himself “in control”; Jodie Foster is not impressed