SWINDON

1952: The lighting committee of Wootton Bassett Parish Council, approved the spending of more than £500 to place more street lights. There was also a full parish council meeting, at which it was decided that the builders of Brynard’s Hill Road should be asked to repair the surface. Members also heard that a replacement cover had been placed over a well near the lake, as the previous one had been destroyed by vandals.

1962: The Highworth branch line service known as the Workmen’s Special, which carried Railway Works staff, was to cease operating after Friday, August 3. A British Rail spokesman explained that the station itself was to close three days later as part of an economy drive. Alternative transport for Works staff from Highworth was to be provided in the form of a bus service.

1973: Canon Jeffery Stanley Maples, rural dean of Portsmouth, was named as the successor of the Venerable Freddie Temple as Archdeacon of Swindon. Mr Temple had recently been appointed Bishop of Malmesbury. Canon Maples had held various senior positions in the church, specialising in education.

THE WORLD

1608: French explorer Samuel Champlain founded the city of Quebec.

1728: Robert Adam, architect of the classical style, was born in Kirkcaldy.

1806: Michael Keen, of Isleworth, exhibited the first edible cultivated

strawberry, which he called Keen’s Seedling.

1863: The Battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War ended with the Confederate Army routed and more than 50,000 dead or wounded.

1920: The first RAF air display took place at Hendon.

1928: A policeman’s helmet and a bunch of red roses were among the pictures shown on John Logie Baird’s first television transmission in colour at Baird Studios, London.

1954: Food rationing ended in Britain. Smithfield market opened at midnight instead of 6am to cope with the demand for beef.

1959: The first radio broadcast of Sing Something Simple with Cliff Adams and the Adams Singers took place, providing non-stop songs for half an hour.

1969: Brian Jones, who had just left the Rolling Stones, was found drowned in his swimming pool. On the same day in 1971, Doors singer Jim Morrison reportedly died of a heart attack in Paris.

BIRTHDAYS

Sir Tom Stoppard, playwright, 81; Susan Penhaligon, actress, 69; Sir Richard Hadlee, former cricketer, 67; Sian Lloyd, weather presenter, 60; Julie Burchill, writer, 59; Vince Clarke, pop musician, 58; Tom Cruise, actor, 56; Shane Lynch, singer (Boyzone), 42.