SWINDON

1952: Larry Adler, the celebrated harmonica player, was a soloist in a concerto composed by a Swindon man, at a concert at the Central Hall, Swindon. The composer was 24-year-old Graham Whettam, who was born in Swindon and attended Commonweal and Headlands Grammar Schools.

1952: Agreement had been reached with the architects who were approved for Swindon’s new hospital and their fees at the end of the 1951-1952 financial year, it was reported at the meeting of the Oxford Regional Hospital Board, would not exceed the £5,000 already budgeted. If the Ministry gave approval to stage one of the scheme to go on then a new agreement would be required.

1962: The final stage in the moving of engines into the Swindon Railway Museum was completed when North Star and the driving wheels of the Lord of the Isles was moved into the museum. The North Star was a model completed in Swindon for the railway centenary held at Paddington in 1925.

1962: Men of the 4th Battalion The Wiltshire Regiment Territorial Army supported by 504 Transport Company of the Royal Army Service Corps, Swindon, took part in a stiff exercise in mobile warfare during their annual camp in Devon. The exercise lasted three days on Dartmoor with The Terriers having the task of clearing the enemy - provided by the Royal Marine Commandos - from a series of tors.

1972: Handwriting expert Reginald Phillips was in Swindon to try and help 40 college students and 12 staff members to write better. He was the managing director of a pen services company in Oxford that made gold nibs and tailored pens to the needs of the individual customers. His message to the students was you must write to communicate, you can not opt out like you can with netball.

1972: A pigeon from the loft of the Smith brothers from Park South, Swindon won the Haydon Street Homecoming Society Cross Channel Race from Cartertet in an average speed of almost 60mph. The bird, a pied cock, covered the 151 miiles, 712 yards in two hours, 32 minutes and 46 seconds. There were 174 pigeons in the race.

THE WORLD

330: Constantinople became the new capital of the Roman Empire.

1812: British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval was shot dead by a bankrupt broker, John Bellingham, as he entered the House of Commons.

1888: Songwriter Irving Berlin was born as Israel Baline in Siberia.

1949: Siam changed its name to Thailand.

1981: Reggae singer Bob Marley died of cancer.

1985: A fire broke out in the main stand of Bradford City football ground and 56 spectators died.

1997: World chess champion Gary Kasparov was defeated by IBM supercomputer Deep Blue.

2010: Conservative Party leader David Cameron became prime minister with Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg announced as his deputy.

2017: JK Rowling urged Harry Potter fans not to buy a hand-written prequel to the series after the manuscript was stolen by burglars.

BIRTHDAYS:

Louis Farrakhan, leader of Nation of Islam, 85; Eric Burdon, rock singer (The Animals), 77; Pam Ferris, actress, 70; Jeremy Paxman, broadcaster, 68; Frances Fisher, actress, 66; John Parrott, former snooker player/commentator, 54; Holly Valance, actress and singer, 35.