Swindon

1949: Elizabeth Blochmann, German tutor and Fellow of Lady Margaret Hall in Oxford, visited Swindon on a tour of Women’s Institute groups. Hitler took her job away and she fled to the UK in 1934.

1949: A 500-strong crowd gathered in Swindon’s main street when a three-ton elephant arrived. It was waiting to be hung with posters announcing its presence at a Swindon theatre. It took 20 minutes to hang the banners and took Jumbo one jerk with his trunk to sweep them into his mouth. His Indian keeper stopped him from eating them.

1959: Swindon competitors were well to the fore in the BR (Western Region) for Music and Drama Festival at Reading. Choirs did particularly well with the Swindon Staff Association Club taking first place in the mixed choirs class and the Sanford Evening Institute Choir winning the choir for women.

1959: Cliff Curtis (Swindon and District ABC) holder of the title won his way through to the semi finals of the Junior ABA Championships at the Royal Albert Hall in London. In the most exciting bout of the quarter finals at Chelsea Barracks, Curtis out-pointed Noel Kearney (Ipswich Lads Club).

1979: Councillors were going in to secret session to discuss the controversial proposed development of Swindon’s Old Town area. Thamesdown Borough Council’s development department sub committee, the press and the public were to be excluded while they had a debate on the development of land to the North of Wood Street.

1979: A Cool-It skin costing £11,000 was to be put over Swindon’s Brunel market to save traders overheating in the summer. Angry councillors believed it was a waste of money. One suggested a bucket of green paint would do.

Born

1911: Josef Mengele, German physician and SS officer.

1920: Leo McKern, Australian-English actor.

1940: Bernardo Bertolucci, Italian director and screenwriter.

1952: Alice Hoffman, American author

1975: Sienna Guillory, pictured, English model and actress.

1989: Theo Walcott, pictured, English footballer.

1991: Wolfgang Van Halen, pictured, American bass player (Van Halen).

Died

37: Tiberius, Roman emperor.

1841: Félix Savart, French physicist and psychologist.

1898: Aubrey Beardsley, English author and illustrator.

1970: Tammi Terrell, American singer-songwriter.

1971: Bebe Daniels, pictured, American actress, singer, dancer, writer and producer.

1975: T-Bone Walker, American singer-songwriter and guitarist.