SWINDON

1951: A change in the price of postage left Swindon postmen with pockets full of coins. Many people, unaware that the price had gone up from a penny to one-and-a-half pence, were still putting penny stamps on envelopes. That meant postmen had to collect the extra when they delivered the letters. One postman ended up having to carry 72 old pennies back to the sorting office.

1951: A farmer and one of his former labourers took a disputed wages claim to Swindon County Court on what was described as a lovely sunny day. The judge, whose name was Kirkhouse Jenkins, interrupted the proceedings to gaze out of the window and proclaim: “They want to be haymaking in this weather, not fiddling about in court.” He passed on the case to the town’s Registrar, and suggested that any future hearing was saved for a rainy day.

1961: A proposal to establish a theatre workshop in Swindon, to improve the standards of acting production, stage management and designs in amateur productions was taken a step further. The executive committee of Swindon and District Theatre Guild appointed a sub-committee to investigate ways of making the proposal a reality and report back.

1961: At 65 years old, Miss N Heap of 65 Beckhampton Street was planning a sea voyage from Southampton to New York and then a journey to Pittsburgh. There she was to be reunited with cousins she had not seen in 14 years. She was also hoping to do a great deal of sightseeing during a stay she expected to last until Christmas.

1971: More than £200 toward the cost of roofing Richard Jefferies School’s new swimming pool was raised by the school’s annual fete. Attractions included a skydiving display by six military parachutists based at Netheravon, six-a-side football, displays of gymnastics and trampolining and a sponsored swim by pupils.

1971: Thieves broke open a ticket machine at the multi-storey car park in Fleming Way and stole the contents, thought to total £16.15p. Other crime news came from Chiseldon, where thieves broke into two cars in Castle View Road and stole tools and accessories, and also took a radio from a car parked in School Close.

THE WORLD

1329: Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland from 1306, died of leprosy at Cardross Castle on the Firth of Clyde, and was buried in Dunfermline Abbey under the High Altar.

1520: Henry VIII and Francis I of France met in a glittering ceremony at the Field Of The Cloth Of Gold, near Calais.

1614: The Addled Parliament was dissolved. It earned its name by failing to pass a single Bill since it first sat on April 5.

1778: ‘’Beau’’ Brummell was born. Although he became a leader of fashion and a friend of the Prince Regent, he died destitute in France at the age of 62 through gambling and extravagance.

1909: Mary Pickford made her screen debut at the age of 16, in The Violin Maker Of Cremona.

1929: The Papal State, extinct since 1870, was revived as the State of Vatican City in Rome, as a result of the Lateran Treaty.

1945: Benjamin Britten’s opera Peter Grimes was premiered at Sadler’s Wells, London.

1946: Television resumed after the war, and announcer Leslie Mitchell said: ‘’As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted...’’ 1970: The Who’s ‘’rock opera’’ Tommy was performed at New York’s Metropolitan Opera House.

1989: Peter Shilton made his record 109th appearance for England against Denmark, passing Bobby Moore’s long-standing record.

2016: Sports Direct boss Mike Ashley admitted to a committee of MPs that he paid workers below the minimum wage.

BIRTHDAYS James Ivory, film director, 89; Virginia McKenna, actress, 86; Tom Jones, singer, 77; Ronald Pickup, actor, 77; Michael Pennington, actor and writer, 74; Orhan Pamuk, novelist, 65; Liam Neeson, actor, 65; Damien Hirst, artist, 52; Anna Kournikova, former tennis player, 36.