1952

DIANA Dors, the Swindon-born actress who would go on to be seen by many as Britain's answer to Marilyn Monroe, was about to head for Germany to make a forces' radio appearance for British military personnel. Her co-performer was comedian Cyril Fletcher, who many years later would be a team member on the That's Life! consumer programme led by Esther Rantzen. In subsequent weeks, Diana's management said, she would make stage appearances at Southsea, Brighton and in the West End.

1962

LITTLEWOODS Mail Order Stores Ltd confirmed to the Adver that it was the new owner of some properties in the centre of Swindon. A spokesman said the premises were in Regent Street. Although he declined to elaborate further, it was understood that the portfolio consisted of a block occupied by wine and spirit merchants Goddard and Co, grocer David Greig Ltd, the Dolcis shoe shop and the Eagle pub.

1972

SWINDON glider pilot Leslie Painter had a lucky escape when he was forced to land his aircraft on a patch of open land about 300 yards from the White Hart Crossroads in Stratton St Margaret. A sudden downdraught left him with no option but to take emergency action, and he walked away unscathed even though his glider struck a tree as it came down.

THE WORLD

1625: Charles I was crowned King of England and Scotland.

1863: Sir Henry Royce, co-founder of Rolls-Royce Motor Company, was born in Alwalton, near Peterborough, the son of a miller.

1923: Chemist and physicist Sir James Dewar, who invented the vacuum flask, died in London.

1924: Jazz singer Sarah Vaughan was born in New Jersey.

1931: Arnold Bennett, novelist and writer (Clayhanger) died of typhoid after a

visit to Paris.

1945: The last of more than 1,000 V2 bombs dropped on Britain landed at

Orpington, Kent.

1958: Nikita Khrushchev ousted prime minister Nikolai Bulganin to take power in the USSR.

1966: Football's World Cup trophy was found in a garden in south London by a

dog called Pickles after it was stolen from a public exhibition in Westminster

Hall a week earlier.

1977: Two jumbo jets collided on the ground at foggy Tenerife airport, killing 574 people.

1980: Mount St Helens in Washington state in the United States became active after 123 years dormant.

1980: North Sea accommodation platform Alexander Kielland collapsed, killing 123 oil rig workers.

1989: Bank Holiday Monday was the warmest for 37 years, with the Midlands

hotter than the Costa Brava or the Canary Islands.

1991: David Icke, former goalkeeper, BBC sports presenter and then Green Party spokesman, announced he had been "chosen" to save the world.

2017: The unfinished Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece, Adoration Of The Magi, was revealed following a six-year renovation, looking cleaner and brighter.

BIRTHDAYS

Julian Glover, actor, 83; Michael York, actor, 76; Tony Banks, musician (Genesis), 68; Quentin Tarantino, film director, 55; David Coulthard, former F1 racing driver, 47; Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, former footballer, 46; Fergie, singer (Black Eyed Peas), 43; Jessie J, singer, 30.