Swindon

1951: Drove Road was a mass of flowers and was described by the Adver as one of Swindon’s most pleasant thoroughfares. The chestnut trees lining the road were in blossom, the flower beds outside Steele’s Garage were filled with blooms, and Swindon Corporation had lately planted colourful beds on the County Ground and Belle Vue roundabouts. We said: “The school offers a grand assortment of flowering shrubs and the roses will soon be at their best, while further along there is an old stone wall covered with pinks and flowering rock plants.”

1961: Swindon WRAF member Janet Ann Gayler, of Urchfont Way, Penhill, led one of two teams of six from the Royal Air Force Medical Training Establishment at Freckleton, Lancashire, who took part in an expedition to climb 10 of the famous Dartmoor Tors. All participants were training to become WRAF nursing attendants.

1971: The Royal Engineers took part in a military tattoo at the Polo Ground in Swindon and unveiled a secret weapon which drummed up plenty of interest in their information stall - sticks of rock. It was described as “just like the seaside stuff only produced in the green and red colours of the Royal Engineers with their name running right through the middle.”

The world

1756: Night of the Black Hole Of Calcutta. Some 146 English prisoners were put into a cell measuring 18ft by 14ft on a hot June evening when the Nawab of Bengal captured Fort William. Only 23 survived the night.

1789: The seeds of the French Revolution were sown when a National Assembly was formed to oppose the domination of the aristocracy.

1819: Composer Jacques Offenbach - creator of Tales Of Hoffman and Orpheus In The Underworld - was born in Cologne. He lived and worked in France.

1837: William IV died at Windsor, and his niece Alexandrine Victoria, aged 18, came to the throne. When she was handed documents at her first Privy Council meeting, she instructed officials to delete Alexandrine and name her Queen Victoria.

1909: Errol Flynn was born in Hobart, Tasmania. He was swashbuckling long before he got to Hollywood, as a deck-hand, prospector, tropical bird hunter and policeman.

1927: Greyhound racing began at London’s White City stadium.

1949: American tennis player ‘’Gorgeous Gussie’’ Moran caused a sensation at Wimbledon by wearing lace-trimmed underwear under her short skirt, designed by Teddy Tinling.

1960: Nan Winton became the first woman to read the national news on BBC television.

1977: A pipeline carrying oil across Alaska was opened.

1990: The Agra Diamond was sold for a record £4,070,000 at Christie’s.

2016: Bookies said £40.5m had been gambled on the EU referendum, making it the biggest political betting event in British history.

BIRTHDAYS Olympia Dukakis, actress, 86; Martin Landau, actor, 89; Danny Aiello, actor, 84; Wendy Craig, actress, 83; Stephen Frears, film director, 76; Brian Wilson, musician (Beach Boys), 75; Lionel Richie, singer/songwriter, 68; John Goodman, actor, 65; Vikram Seth, novelist, 65; Nicole Kidman, actress, 50.