SWINDON

1952: Swindon surgeon Mr JE Schofield brought a literary angle to a public lecture about cancer research. Evidently a connoisseur of Jane Austen, he said public education was important, as the elimination of Pride and Prejudice made for Sense and Sensibility. If all else failed, he added, some other form of Persuasion might be the answer.

1962: An exhibition of historic maps, prints and photographs of Swindon was held at the Central Library. Exhibits included images which are still familiar, such as that of the fatal 1906 tram crash at the bottom of Victoria Road and two views of the old Empire Theatre, which stood at the town centre end of Groundwell Road. There were also photographs of Wood Street festooned with banners, flags and ribbons in 1887 to mark Queen Victoria's golden jubilee.

1972: Barbara Stone, 27, was the only female conductor at the WD and HO Wills Brass Band Championships at the Royal Albert Hall. She wielded the baton for a Swindon band, the 28-strong British Rail Staff Association Band. Mrs Stone, who lived in High Wycombe, travelled to Swindon three or four times a week for rehearsals.

THE WORLD

1743: Edmund Cartwright, inventor of the power loom, was born.

1792: La Marseillaise was composed by Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisle.

1815: Novelist Anthony Trollope was born in London.

1889: Sir Stafford Cripps, Labour Chancellor who introduced austerity measures in Britain after the Second World War, was born.

1916: The Easter rebellion began in Dublin against British rule in Ireland (ended on April 29).

1950: President Truman denied there were communists in the US government.

1965: The Pennine Way - 250 miles from Edale in Derbyshire to Kirk Yetholm on the Scottish border - was officially opened.

1986: The Duchess of Windsor, the American widow of Edward, Duke of Windsor, died in Paris, aged 89.

1990: The Hubble Space Telescope was launched by the Space Shuttle Discovery.

2005: Snuppy becomes the world's first cloned dog

BIRTHDAYS

Shirley MacLaine, actress, 84; Barbra Streisand, singer/actress, 76; Michael O'Keefe, actor, 63; Stuart Pearce, former footballer, 56; Djimon Hounsou, actor, 54; Sachin Tendulkar, former cricketer, 45; Gabby Logan, television presenter, 45; Dave Vitty, radio personality, 44; Kelly Clarkson, singer-songwriter, 36; Ben Howard, singer-songwriter, 31.