Swindon

1951: Postmen said they were grateful to people living in Beechcroft Road, Upper Stratton for being so considerate during a potentially confusing period. The road had recently changed its name from Kingsdown Road, with many houses being renumbered, and residents had taken to displaying both numbers on their doors to ensure letters, parcels and shop deliveries reached their destinations with a minimum of fuss.

1961: A cat belonging to Wroughton man Mr T Carpenter managed to catch and kill a snipe. We pointed out that in doing so the feline had achieved what many a hunter failed to do, as the birds were notorious for their rapid and erratic flight. Mr Carpenter said: “My cat is a great hunter and regularly brings home birds, rats and mice. I have never heard of a cat catching a snipe and wonder if it is a record.”

1971: Swindon Public Libraries Music Club, which gave amateur musicians opportunities to play for live audiences, announced a concert at the Arts Centre in Devizes Road. A chamber orchestra of 20 leading local and visiting musicians was being assembled, and would be conducted by John Birkin. The programme was set to include works by Mozart, Warlock and Schubert.

The World

1356: The English, led by Edward, the Black Prince, defeated the French at the Battle of Poitiers in the Hundred Years’ War.

1839: George Cadbury was born in Birmingham. He expanded his father’s chocolate business and established a model village for his workers at Bourneville.

1846: Two French shepherd children, Mélanie Calvat and Maximin Giraud, experienced a Marian apparition on a mountaintop near La Salette, France, now known as Our Lady of La Salette.

1876: The first carpet-sweeper was patented by Melville Bissell of Grand Rapids in Michigan.

1879: The Blackpool Illuminations are switched on for the first time.

1881: James Abram Garfield, 20th US president, died of wounds suffered when he was shot in July.

1888: The world’s first beauty contest took place in Spa, Belgium.

1893: Women’s suffrage: In New Zealand, the Electoral Act of 1893was consented to by the governor giving all women in New Zealand the right to vote.

1928: The first cartoon talking picture, Walt Disney’s Steamboat Willie, featuring Mickey Mouse, was shown in New York.

1945: Wartime traitor William Joyce - Lord Haw-Haw - was sentenced to be hanged after his trial at the Old Bailey.

1952: The United States barred Charlie Chaplin, pictured, from re-entering the country after a trip to England on the grounds of his political views and moral behaviour.

1960: Chubby Checker’s The Twist - a cover of an original Hank Ballard song - entered the US charts and launched a dance craze.

1975: The first episode of Fawlty Towers was broadcast by the BBC.

1985: More than 20,000 people died when an earthquake devastated large areas Of Mexico City.

2016: Smoking rates across England were announced to be the lowest on record, health officials said.

BIRTHDAYS David McCallum, actor, 84; Zandra Rhodes, fashion designer, 77; Kate Adie, TV reporter, 72; Jeremy Irons, actor, 69; Twiggy (Lesley Hornby), model/actress, 68; Daniel Lanois, singer and music producer, 66; Nile Rodgers, music producer, 65.