Swindon:

1951

 THE alleged theft of tools and a bicycle from an allotment shed was one of two complaints raised by gardeners at a meeting of Upper Stratton Parish Council. We said: "The other, depredations caused by moles, was allowed to 'lie' when it was stated that a complaint had already been made to the County Pests Officer." Parish council chairman Mr SC Casson told the complainer, Mr NC Roper: "I can see you arriving at a future meeting in a moleskin waistcoat." Mr Roper replied: "And a hat to match."

SWINDON and District Theatre Guild president Mr H Diment said the Arts Centre - which was at that time based at the old Methodist Hall in the town centre - was too small. He explained that the limited size meant certain theatre companies could not turn a profit on productions, even if they played to packed houses."

1961

ROCK 'N' ROLL was one of the finest things ever to happen to young people, according to Swindon music shop owner Mr WJ Kempster. He said: "Many young people who did not know they had any music in them have taken it up seriously by buying rock 'n' roll guitars. There are now several rock groups playing in and around Swindon that are as good as you will find anywhere."

MR and Mrs A Jefferies of Pembroke Street in Swindon celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary. Mr Jefferies, 90, was born in Minchinhampton. It was there that he met his wife, Rose, 84, who was originally from Crawley. The couple moved to Swindon in1897, and Mr Jefferies worked as a GWR cabinet maker.

1971

POLICE and fire experts were investigating a blaze - the second in a week - which destroyed a third of Garrard's factory at Cheney Manor, Swindon, today. The blaze was the town's biggest for several years but all the women working in the building escaped unhurt. More than a thousand people were left wondering when they would be able to return to work.

MARCUS Fewings, a seven-year-old Swindon boy, was awarded a choral scholarship to Gloucester Cathedral and The King's School, Gloucester. He had been singing since the age of two when his grandmother, visiting from Carmarthen, brought a record of Welsh hymns by a boy singer. She taught him the hymns on the disc.

Swindon

World:

1533: Henry VIII divorced Catherine of Aragon to marry Anne Boleyn, pictured, wife number two. The result was a break with the church in Rome.

1701: Scottish pirate William Kidd was hanged at Execution Dock in London for piracy.

1795: Sir Charles Barry, architect, was born in Westminster. With assistant Augustus Pugin, he designed the new Houses of Parliament.

1873: The North West Mounted Police were established in Canada - the name was changed to The Royal Canadian Mounted Police in 1920.

1887: The French crown jewels went on sale and raised six million francs.

1931: Whipsnade Zoo, in Bedfordshire, opened.

1934: Bank robbers Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were shot dead in an ambush by Texas Rangers near Gibland, Louisiana.

1945: Heinrich Himmler, Hitler’s minister of the interior, committed suicide.

1960: The Israelis announced the capture of war criminal Adolf Eichmann.

2016: A “reckless’’ Indian restaurant owner who was convicted of killing a customer with a nut allergy by supplying him with a takeaway containing peanuts was jailed for six years.

BIRTHDAYS

Joan Collins, actress, 84; Johnny Ball, presenter, 79; Anatoly Karpov, chess champion, 66; Marvin Hagler, former boxer, 63; Phil Selway, rock drummer (Radiohead), 50; Rubens Barrichello, former F1 driver, 45. ewel, singer, 43.