SWINDON...

1947: There were two good reasons why the Swindon Central Hall should have been crowded – the entertainment provided by Morris Motors Band together with guest artists and the fact that the concert was in aid of the Royal Artillery Association’s Benevolent fund. However public response was disappointing. The compere was Frank Phillips, a BBC announcer.

1957: About 400 men of the 29th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery were due to arrive in Chiseldon station. They were moving into Chiseldon Camp until they were shipped out to Cyprus. The regiment’s advance party had been preparing for their reception before they travelled from Germany where they had been stationed.

1977: RSPCA Inspector Dave Millard and three volunteers left Swindon on a 880-mile drive in an attempt to raise £1,000 for animal welfare. Members were selling tickets showing various times of the journey. The star prize was a weekend in Paris.

2013: Swindon Council’s planning committee approved plans for the next steps towards the 890-home estate at Coate. Developer Swindon Gateway Partnership had been given the thumbs up for its design codes for the first phase of the urban extension, known officially as the Commonhead development.

THE WORLD...

1755: Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language is published in London.

1865: Abraham Lincoln dies after being shot the previous evening by actor John Wilkes Booth.

1912: The British passenger liner RMS Titanic sinks in the North Atlantic at 2:20 a.m., two hours and forty minutes after hitting an iceberg. Only 710 of 2,227 passengers and crew on board survive.

1923: Insulin becomes generally available for use by people with diabetes.

1945: The Bergen-Belsen concentration camp is liberated.

1989: Hillsborough disaster: A human crush occurs at Hillsborough Stadium, home of Sheffield Wednesday, in the FA Cup Semi-final, resulting in the deaths of 96 Liverpool fans.

BORN...

1452: Leonardo da Vinci, Italian painter, sculptor, and architect (d. 1519).

1843: Henry James, American-English author (d. 1916).

1894: Bessie Smith, American singer and actress (d. 1937).

1901: Joe Davis, English snooker player (d. 1978).

1958: Benjamin Zephaniah, English actor, singer, and author.

1990: Emma Watson, British actress.

DIED...

1942: Robert Musil, Austrian author (b. 1880).

1949: Wallace Beery, American actor (b. 1885).

1984: Tommy Cooper, Welsh comedian and magician, pictured, (b. 1921).

1988: Kenneth Williams, English actor (b. 1926).

1998: Pol Pot, Cambodian politician, 29th Prime Minister of Cambodia (b. 1925).