SWINDON

1951: Mr Joyce Cary lectured on the Truth In The Novel at Swindon Arts Centre. Mr Cary has written a number of books, including the novel that was turned into the film Men Of Two Worlds, starring Eric Portman and Phyllis Calvert. He was magistrate at Borgu, Nigeria and made close connections with primitive native life.

1951: Men and women with artificial limbs, some without arms or legs, made one of the strangest yet most stirring gatherings Swindon has seen for a long time when the Swindon and District Branch of BLESMA held their inaugural meeting, at the Town Hall. The chairman read a telegram from the king.

1961: Children enjoyed a trip to Haydon Farm, Haydon Wick, near Swindon, where they got to ride in a donkey cart drawn by sleepy looking donkeys, owned by Josephine Knowles, whose hobbies include buying and selling ponies, donkeys and gipsy caravans.

1961: A camera which produced a finished print only 10 second after taking a photograph was demonstrated to 35 members of the Swindon Camera Club by Mr F W Champion of Cheltenham. Mr Champion brought with him 20 models, one of which was 60 years old.

1971: A total of 1,392 people have signed a petition urging Swindon Borough Council not to allow the stopping of free school milk to the over sevens. The signatures were collected in shopping areas of the town by members of the Swindon Communist party.

1971: Swindon's Magpie a diesel locomotive that went into service in 1961 was part of the British Rail contribution to the steam and diesel open day it mounted at Didcot with the Great Western Society.

THE WORLD

1649: Titus Oates, English Anglican priest and fabricator of the ''Popish Plot'' in 1678, was born.

1830: At the official opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, Britain's first railway fatality occurred when MP William Huskisson stepped from a train to shake hands with the Duke of Wellington - and was run over.

1859: Isambard Kingdom Brunel, probably the greatest British engineer, died. He designed the Clifton suspension bridge and many others, and also designed and built the three largest ships in the world.

1871: The Army and Navy Co-operative began the first mail order business to meet the needs of its members in Britain and overseas.

1890: Agatha Christie, creator of Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, and writer of detective stories which sold more than 300 million copies, was born in Torquay.

1916: Tanks went into battle for the first time for the British Army, in the Somme. Designed by Sir Ernest Swinton, they revolutionised battle strategy.

1935: At a Nuremberg rally, Adolf Hitler issued new decrees which relegated Jews to sub-human status and made the swastika the official German flag.

1974: Civil war broke out in Beirut between Christians and Muslims.

1985: Tony Jacklin's European team won the Ryder Cup from the US who had long dominated the competition.

2008: Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe and opposition leaders signed a landmark deal under which the leader of nearly three decades was to cede some power.

2016: Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr came together for the premiere of a film documenting The Beatles' live tours when they played to hordes of screaming fans.

BIRTHDAYS Viscount (John Julius) Norwich, 88; Clive Merrison, actor, 72; Tommy Lee Jones, actor, 71; Oliver Stone, film director, 71; Jaki Graham, singer, 61; Prince Harry, 33; Clare Maguire, singer, 29.