A Turkish assailant in St Peter's Square in Rome shoots and seriously wounds John Paul II

Diego Maradona is sold to Napoli for a new record fee of about £5 million, two years after being sold to Barcelona for £3 million

Luciano Berio's opera Un re in ascolto has its premiere in Salzburg

Three tenors (Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras) sing at a concert in Rome to celebrate the World Cup

US sculptor Jeff Koons marries one of his favourite subjects, Italian porn star La Cicciolina

A man found frozen high in the Alps turns out to be a neolithic hunter from about 5000 years ago

Media magnate Silvio Berlusconi founds Forza Italia as a new centre-right political party in Italy

Former prime minister Bettino Craxi leaves Italy to escape a gaol sentence for corruption

Sylvio Berlusconi's new party, Forza Italia, wins enough votes for him to head a coalition as prime minister

In his apostolic letter Ordinatio sacerdotalis John Paul II forbids even any discussion of the ordination of women

The collapse of Sylvio Berlusconi's coaltion brings to an end his short-lived first period as Italy's prime minister

Sylvio Berlusconi returns as Italy's prime minister with the electoral success of his right-wing House of Liberties coalition

John Paul II, dying after 26 years on the papal throne, is the third longest-serving pope in history

Joseph Ratzinger is elected pope and takes the name Benedict XVI

Romano Prodi becomes Italy's prime minister after narrowly defeating Silvio Berlusconi in a general election

Italy declares a state of emergency in Venice following record flooding