SWINDON 1952: Rotarians and their wives from Swindon, Chippenham, Gloucestershire and Cheltenham Rotary Clubs were the guests of Cirencester Rotary Cub Ladies Night in the Bingham Hall. The hit of the evening was a telepathy show. The toast of The Ladies was given by Mr S J Turner. Mrs F Loch, president of the Cirencester Inner Wheel replied. After diner the 130 guests enjoyed dancing and the compere was Mr P Jackson.

1952: Mr T Reid, Labour MP for Swindon, was one of the guests at the wedding of Miss Mary Dixon daughter of Mr W Dixon, secretary and agent for the Swindon Labour Party and Mrs Dixon of County Road, Swindon when she married Mr Eric Walter Long of Liddington Street, at Christ Church in Old Town, Swindon.

1962: About 200 people attended the annual ball held by the Marlborough and District Young Farmers Club in the Town Hall in Marlborough. The MCs were Messrs Charles Loveday and John Waight. The refreshments were provided by the parents of members.

1962: About 50 old people attended a concert at the British Legion Hall in Swindon given by the South Area Old People’s Welfare Committee. The concert was organised by Mrs G Crust and the entertainment was provided by the Versatile Eight members of the women’s branch of the Swindon British Legion.

1972: It was reported that children in Old Town Swindon would be able to join a two day organised play scheme planned for the Easter holiday. The scheme was to be held at the newly-opened adult education centre at The Croft, Hesketh Centre. It follows last year’s highly successful event at The Lawns where more than 100 children attended playing games, trivia, treasure hunts, story reading and other activities for under 12s.

1972: A plan to turn the famous landmark, the Faringdon Folly into a private house was vigorously rejected. The scheme by Mr J Mckenzie of London was turned down by the Planning Committee of the Faringdon Rural District Council. The chairman Coun Bill White suggested that drivers heading for Faringdon would see ladies briefs on a line of washing rather than the flag waving in the wind.

THE WORLD 1660: England’s Long Parliament was dissolved after sitting for 20 years.

1802: The United States Military Academy at West Point was established.

1872: The first English FA Cup Final took place. Wanderers, a team formed by university and ex-public school players, beat the Royal Engineers 1-0 at The Oval in London.

1888: The first recorded sale of a manufactured motor car was to Emile Roger of Paris, who bought a petrol-driven Benz.

1900: Sir Arthur Evans uncovered the ancient city of Knossos, Crete.

1926: The first liquid-fuelled rocket was demonstrated in the USA, by Dr Robert H Goddard.

1935: Hitler renounced the Versailles Treaty and reintroduced conscription.

1947: Almost 600,000 acres of farming land were submerged by floodwater on the Fens as the River Ouse overflowed and a million sheep died. Storm damage came to more than £20 million.

1971: Boxer Henry Cooper announced his retirement after losing his title to Joe Bugner.

1980: Alan Minter out-pointed Vito Antuofermo of the US to win boxing’s world middleweight title.

1988: A Loyalist gunman opened fire indiscriminately and hurled grenades into a crowd of mourners at an IRA funeral for three people killed by the SAS in Gibraltar 10 days before.

1998: Beef exports from Northern Ireland were to resume after a three-year ban stemming from the BSE crisis.

2017: Paul O’Grady was confirmed as the new host of Blind Date, which returned to screens last year.

BIRTHDAYS Bernardo Bertolucci, film director, 78; Erik Estrada, actor, 69; Graham Cole, actor, 66; Isabelle Huppert, actress, 65; Jimmy Nail, actor/singer, 64; Matthew Bannister, broadcaster and former Radio 1 controller, 61; Jenny Eclair, comedienne, 58; Theo Walcott, footballer, 29.