SWINDON...

1947: Great Western Players gave a festival of three one act plays at the Bright Street Institution, Swindon, instead of presenting their usual half yearly single play in aid of GWR Helping Hand Fund.

1957: A tribute to British Legion branches in Wiltshire was paid by the Queen Mother when she inspected more than 4,000 men and women representing almost all branches in the country at RAF Station Hullavington.

1977: More than 100 Wootton Bassett girls sought selection as members of the town’s carnival royalty for its jubilee year and the two sessions attracted large audiences at the Roman Catholic Church Hall. The judges’ choice was to be revealed at the carnival ball.

2013: Years of dedication and hard work paid off for Jacob O’Connell as he secured a place at the world-renowned Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance. Jacob, 15, of Covingham, had been student on the Swindon Dance Youth Dance Academy since the age of 11.

THE WORLD...

1707: England, Wales and Scotland formed United Kingdom.

1777: RB Sheridan’s School For Scandal premiered in London.

1786: Mozart’s opera, Marriage Of Figaro premiered in Vienna.

1840: Penny Blacks, the first adhesive postage stamps were issued in the UK.

1851: The Great Exhibition opened in the Crystal Palace, London.

1869: Folies Bergère opened in Paris.

1889: Bayer introduced aspirin in powder form.

1925: Cyprus became a British Colony.

1930: Don Bradman scored 236 in the match Aust v Worcs, his first first-class innings in England.

1948: North Korea proclaimed itself People’s Democratic Republic of Korea.

1961: Fidel Castro announced there would be no more elections in Cuba.

1961: The Pulitzer prize was awarded to Harper Lee, for To Kill A Mockingbird.

BORN...

1662: Queen Mary II of England.

1870: Franz Lehar – operetta composer.

1893: Joachim von Ribbentrop – Nazi foreign minister.

1933: Willie Nelson– country singer.

1943: Bobby Vee – singer, who sang Devil Or Angel and the Night Has A Thousand Eyes.

1954: Jane Campion – New Zealand film director

1979: Harvey – English rapper and actor with the So Solid Crew.

1982: Kirsten Dunst – American actress who starred in Interview With The Vampire, and Spider-Man.

DIED...

1731: Johann Ludwig Bach – German violinist and composer.

1873: David Livingstone – Scottish missionary.

1904: Antonín Dvoøák – Czech composer.

1986: Hylda Baker, English actress.

1994: Ayrton Senna, Brazilian race car driver.

2011: Ted Lowe – English sportscaster.

2011: Henry Cooper – English boxer.