Swindon

1951: All firms in the Swindon area, employing more than 200 people, have received a bulletin from the Home Office inviting them to set up their own Civil Defence unit. One Swindon firm, the factory of Messrs W D and H O Wills, has anticipated the bulletin and already started its own scheme. 100 employees have undergone training.

1961: Former colleagues from different parts of the country met in London to say farewell to Fred Salter, of Bourne Road, Swindon, who has retired from his position as Chief Mechanical Inspector running and maintaining departments for the British Rail Western Region.

1971: The Marlborough College effort to be ‘with it’ by allowing the boys to have longer hair has prompted uncomplimentary remarks from the town’s residents. The ‘with it’ decision was announced at the prizegiving by Master Mr J C Dancy but residents were shocked, feeling it was detrimental to the college’s image.

The world

1215: King John put the Royal Seal on Magna Carta at Runnymede, near Windsor.

1330: Edward, the Black Prince, eldest son of Edward III, was born at Woodstock, Oxfordshire.

1381: Wat Tyler, the first poll tax protester, was executed at Smithfield.

1572: Harrow School was founded.

1621: The first greenhouse in Britain was erected in Oxford in preparation for a predicted severe winter. A gardener tended a charcoal fire throughout the night to keep up the temperature.

1844: Charles Goodyear patented his vulcanised rubber process in the US, making possible the commercial use of rubber.

1846: The 49th parallel was established as the border between Canada and the USA.

1860: Florence Nightingale started her School for Nurses at St Thomas’ Hospital, London.

1934: Dictators Hitler and Mussolini met for the first time, in Venice.

1945: Family Allowance payments were introduced in Britain - five shillings (25p) a week for the second child and subsequent children, but no payment for the first-born.

1996: The IRA exploded a 3,300lb bomb in Manchester city centre, causing massive damage and more than 200 injuries, but no fatalities.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, appeared on the cover of the UK’s leading gay magazine, Attitude, as he spoke out against homophobic bullying.

BIRTHDAYS Richard Baker, broadcaster, 92; Noddy Holder, actor/singer, 71; Simon Callow, actor, 68; James Belushi, actor, 63; Helen Hunt, actress, 54; Courteney Cox, actress, 53.

Ice Cube, rapper and actor, 48; Jake Busey, actor, 46; Justin Leonard, golfer, 45; Neil Patrick Harris, actor, 44.