SWINDON

1951: Bobby Wallin of Watchfield, Faringdon, had joined the Army 11 years earlier at 18 years old. Four years of soldiering and schooling had followed before he passed into the REME and finally became a Warrant Officer Class One and Chief Technician at the Army’s main workshop in Nairobi In East Africa. He was hoping to return home soon.

1951: Since attacking the occupants of a canoe, a male swan whose nest was on the Island in the River Thames near Inglesham Church, had shown such an aggressive attitude towards users of the river that a complaint was made to Mr Turk, the King’s Swan Master. Mr Turk caught the cob, pen and four cygnets and said he would have to find them a new home but he did not know where.

1961: The importance of a good walk to health and beauty was shown at a Graceful Walk Competition, held at East Street Co-operative Hall, Swindon. There were 104 entries for the competition, organised by the Women’s League of Health and Beauty Swindon Centre. The judge was Peggy St Lo, national organising secretary of the League. The winner was Elsie Scott, who received a silver trophy.

1961: More than 800 people with disabilities from all over Wiltshire attended an annual rally at Lydiard Park. The rally was opened by Lady Oaksey. They were entertained by the Sandford Street (Swindon) Ladies Choir, the Timbrel Group and the Band of the Duke of Edinburgh Royal Regiment, before taking tea.

1971: Swindon’s Wyvern Theatre and Arts Centre had been allotted a £2,500 grant from the Southern Arts Association. It was to be used to help offset running costs for the Wyvern’s first year.

1971: Athlete Patrick Brennan, 15, and his mum, Ann Brennan, were a familiar sight in Park North and Park South, while the St Joseph’s school boy was in training. He was taking part in morning training sessions, with his mum cycling behind, as he had no coach. Patrick had won the 12 to 14 years-old division of the 3,000 metres event for the past two years, earning him a place in the All England Schools’ Championship.

THE WORLD

AD 68: Rome’s Emperor Nero committed suicide, aged 32, after the Senate had declared him a public enemy.

1549: The Church of England adopted The Book of Common Prayer compiled by Thomas Cranmer.

1836: Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, English physician, was born in London. She was the first woman doctor to qualify in Britain, and opened St Mary’s dispensary for women and children in Seymour Place.

1870: Charles Dickens, pictured, died in Gad’s Hill Place, near Rochester, Kent, after a brain haemorrhage the previous evening. He left only six of the planned 12 parts of his final novel, The Mystery Of Edwin Drood, completed.

1898: Hong Kong was leased to Britain from China for 99 years.

1904: The London Symphony Orchestra was formed by musicians who had left Henry Wood’s orchestra after a disagreement.

1934: Donald Duck was born - in Walt Disney’s cartoon The Wise Little Hen.

1959: America launched the first ballistic missile submarine, the George Washington.

1975: Live radio broadcasting from the House of Commons began.

1991: The £100 million, two-mile, four-lane Dartford Bridge in east London was completed.

2016: The stars of Carla Lane’s hit television comedies, including Bread and the Liver Birds, joined family and friends to pay tribute to the acclaimed writer at her funeral in Liverpool.

BIRTHDAYS Tony Britton, actor, 93; Charles Saatchi, advertising executive, 74; David Troughton, actor, 67; Patricia Cornwell, writer, 61; Michael J Fox, actor, 56; Johnny Depp, actor, 54; Gloria Reuben, actress, 53; Natalie Portman, actress, 36.