Swindon

1951: About 70 members of the public accepted an invitation to tour a new cowshed at Commander R Royd’s Diana Lodge Farm in Purton. They heard talks by officials including Miss BC Beamond, the County Milk Production Officer. The new cowshed had cost £1,620 to build, and would house 26 cattle. The farm raised Shorthorns, which the visitors heard were far more productive than many other breeds.

1951: Canon CF Harman, the vicar of South Marston, condemned inadequate parenting in an article for the parish magazine. He said: “People have no moral right to bring children into the world at all unless they are prepared to nurture and love them to the point of sacrifice. Example is far better than precept every time, and every baptised child throws a heavy responsibility upon the parents and godparents. How can we expect our children to grow up good Christians when parents and godparents neglect their Christian duties?”

1961: Miss Jean Sneddon of Queen’s Drive was chosen as queen for the forthcoming Park South Tenants’ Association Estate Day, a celebration of local life and community groups which was to be held on July 8.

1961: Firefighters dealt with four grass fires across the district of Swindon, three of them on railway embankments. Firemen put out embankment fires near Moredon Power Station and Okus Road, and a grass fire behind Copper’s yard in Stratton Road, while colleagues in Cricklade tackled one at Hathstone Bridge.

1971: Jane Griffiths, a 22-year-old secretary who lived in Cowleaze Crescent, was appointed Wroughton’s Carnival Queen for 1971. Runners-up in the contest were Jackie Timmins, of Princess Alexandra Military Hospital and Judith Morton, of Priors Hill, Wroughton.

1971: Four Hercules transport aircraft flew over the town hall in Swindon as the Mayor, Coun Arthur Palmer, and Group Captain F Yeoman took the salute. RAF Lyneham personnel marched past the saluting dais during the annual anniversary parade to mark the anniversary of the base being awarded the Freedom of the Borough of Swindon.”

The world

1683: The first public museum, the Ashmolean, was opened by Elias Ashmole in Oxford. Exhibits included stuffed animals and a dodo.

1844: George Williams founded the YMCA at 72 St Paul’s Churchyard, London.

1882: The three-mile coastal limit for territorial waters was established by the Hague Convention.

1907: Persil washing powder first went on sale, made in Dusseldorf, Germany.

1933: The first drive-in movie theatre opened in Camden, New Jersey, with room for 400 cars.

1936: Gatwick airport was opened.

1944: D-Day: The Allied landings on the coast of Normandy, called Operation Overlord, took place. It was the biggest sea-borne invasion in history.

1949: Nineteen Eighty Four, George Orwell’s prophetic novel of a world ruled by Big Brother, was published.

1954: The Eurovision television link-up was inaugurated.

1988: The Queen stripped imprisoned jockey Lester Piggott, pictured, of his OBE.

2016: Facebook announced founder Mark Zuckerberg’s Twitter account had been briefly hijacked.

BIRTHDAYS David Blunkett, former politician, 70; Sandra Bernhard, comedienne and actress, 62; Bjorn Borg, former tennis player, 61; Mike Gatting, former cricketer, 60; Josie Lawrence, comedienne and actress, 58.

Steve Vai, rock guitarist, 57; Jason Isaacs, actor, 54.