Swindon

1951: Members of the Wroughton Branch of the Royal Horticultural Society paid a visit to the gardens of Waterers Twyford and the Royal Horticultural Society School at Waterperry near Wheatley, where they were shown round the greenhouses and served tea on the lawns of the former mansion.

1951: A cheque for £151 towards the Royal College of Nursing Education Fund was handed over to Lady Tritton, the area chairman of the appeal, by members of the Swindon Inner Wheel at the Goddard Arms Hotel in Swindon.

1961: A farewell presentation of 10 gifts was made to Dr H Bassage, curate at St Michael’s Church, Highworth for the past two years. The presentation, including two silks, was on the vicarage lawn. Dr Bassage is returning to America with his wife Anne and two children.

1961: A demonstration of beauty preparations by two beauty consultants, Miss Mavis Ockwell and Miss Wendy Law, was a feature of the monthly meeting of the Stratton St Margaret Women’s Institute, at the Institute Hall in Dores Road. Miss B Macdonald was the model.

1971: Mrs Daphne Otridge of Bolingbroke Road, Moredon, Swindon, won a cup for graceful walking. She was a member of the Swindon Women’s League of Health and Beauty.

1971: Roger Rahn, 26, was made the master carpenter of the new Wyvern Theatre in Swindon. He studied the technical side of theatre when he left the Army in 1953. He went to drama school before his National Service. He was master carpenter on London shows such as Half A Sixpence, Robert and Elizabeth and West Side Story.

The world

1796: Robert Burns, national poet of Scotland, died in Dumfries, aged 37, from endocarditis induced by rheumatism.

1809: Famous fatty Daniel Lambert died, weighing out at 52 stone 11lb. He passed away in a ground floor room at the Wagon and Horses Inn at Stamford, Lincolnshire, and a wall and window had to be demolished to get him out.

1868: Harry Relph, English music hall star better known as Little Tich, was born. He was 4ft 6in tall and had six digits on each hand.

1896: The first Royal Command Film Performance was held at Marlborough House, London, when an assortment of 20 films was shown to 40 guests on the eve of the wedding of Princess Maud.

1897: The Tate Gallery in London was officially opened, built on the site of the former Millbank Prison.

1904: The Trans-Siberian railway was finally completed. The 4,607 miles of track took 13 years to lay.

1960: Francis Chichester - later Sir - docked in New York in Gypsy Moth II, setting a new record of 40 days for a solo Atlantic crossing.

1962: The Rolling Stones made their first appearance, at the Marquee club in London.

1984: The man who popularised jogging, James Fixx, had a heart attack and died while out running in Vermont. He was 52.

2011: America’s space shuttle programme passed into history with the words ‘’wheels stop’’ crackling over the cockpit radio for the last time. In an end to the 30-year-old programme, Atlantis and its four astronauts glided to a landing after one last visit to the International Space Station, completing the 135th and final shuttle flight.

Birthdays Norman Jewison, film director, 91; Jonathan Miller, theatre director, 83; Julian Pettifer, TV presenter, 82; Yusuf Islam, activist and former singer (Cat Stevens), 69; Ross Kemp, actor, 53; Chris Bisson, actor, 42; Josh Hartnett, actor, 39; Paloma Faith, singer, 36.