WARTIME Prime Minister Winston Churchill died; Roman Emperor Hadrian was born and canned beer went on sale for the first time.

Take a look at what happened in years past on this day in history, January 24.

AD41: The mad Roman Emperor Caligula was assassinated.

AD76: The Roman Emperor Hadrian was born. It was on his orders that Hadrian's Wall was built in Britain "to separate the Romans from the Barbarians".

1670: William Congreve, English playwright, was born near Leeds.

1848: James Marshall discovered gold at Sutter's sawmill in California to spark the great Gold Rush.

1916: Conscription was introduced in Britain.

1922: The first performance of William Walton's Facade took place in the Sitwell family drawing room in Carlyle Square, London.

1935: Canned beer went on sale for the first time, made by Krueger brewery of Richmond, Virginia.

1965: Sir Winston Churchill died, aged 90. His father, Lord Randolph Churchill, had died on the same date 70 years earlier.

1976: Margaret Thatcher was dubbed The Iron Lady in the Soviet newspaper Red Star, after a speech about the Communist threat.

1986: Staff of The Sun and News of the World newspapers were told they were moving to London's Docklands - the start of a press exodus from Fleet Street.

1997: The Archers celebrated its 12,000th episode. The Radio 4 series drew an average 4.5 million listeners each week.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: A music lover who graduated four months ago had paid off his student debts and was ready to pursue his dream of working with touring rock bands after winning £1 million on the EuroMillions.

BIRTHDAYS: Desmond Morris, zoologist and ethologist, 91; Bamber Gascoigne, writer and broadcaster, 84; Neil Diamond, singer, 78; Aaron Neville, R&B singer, 78; Michael Des Barres, singer/actor, 71; Adrian Edmondson, actor, 62; Jools Holland, musician/TV presenter, 61; Vic Reeves, comedian, 60; Tatyana Ali, actress and singer, 40.