SWINDON...

1947: J M Farrant’s was the only entry to turn up, out of 60, at the appointed hour for the spring sale of cattle at Swindon Market. The sale was postponed for another fortnight in the hope of better weather.

1957: Voluntary helpers redecorated Prospect Place Methodist Church which was recently re-dedicated. The service, which was conducted by Rev J C Allcott of Purton was followed by tea and a concert by Ferndale Road Methodist Church Choir.

1977: About 100 new jobs were on the cards for Swindon after another London-based company announced it was negotiating a lease on a prominent office block in which it will transfer key executives and computer operations. Until the lease was signed the company would not reveal its identity.

2013: Swindon Council’s Create Studios were kicking off their national First Light Award by making three films with more than 60 new young filmmakers in Swindon, ready to premiere by the summer.

 

THE WORLD...

1682: The Chelsea Hospital for old soldiers (Chelsea Pensioners), also venue for the world-famous flower show, was founded.

1702: The first successful English daily newspaper, a single broadsheet called the Daily Courant, was published.

1845: In New Zealand, a Maori uprising against the British began.

1864: The Bradfield Reservoir, near Sheffield, burst its banks, killing 270 people.

1941: The US Congress passed the Lend-Lease Bill, enabling Britain to borrow millions of dollars to buy food and arms needed for the Second World War.

1945: The huge Krupps factory in Germany was destroyed when 1,000 Allied bombers took part in the biggest ever daylight raid.

1985: The Al-Fayed brothers won control of the House of Fraser Group to become owners of Harrods.

1988: The Bank of England pound note ceased to be legal tender at midnight, and was replaced by the pound coin.

1993: North Korea pulled out of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

 

BORN...

1819: Henry Tate, businessman who founded Tate & Lyle

1863: Andrew Stoddart, English cricketer

1885: Malcolm Campbell, race car driver

1916: Harold Wilson, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

1931: Rupert Murdoch, businessman who founded News Corporation

1952: Douglas Adams, author and playwright

1965: Jesse Jackson, Jr., American politician

1967: John Barrowman, actor

1969: Terrence Howard, actor singer and producer

 

DIED...

1759: John Forbes, Scottish general

1952: Pierre Renoir, French actor and director (b. 1885).

1955: Alexander Fleming, biologist, pharmacologist and botanist.

1969: John Wyndham, English author.

1986: Sonny Terry, American singer and harmonica player (b. 1911).

2006: Slobodan Miloševic, Yugoslav politician, 3rd President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (b. 1941).