SWINDON...

1947: Haydon Wick Workingmen’s Club had the honour of being at home to the Swindon Workingmen’s Club and Institute Union. Presentations were made, including the Aggregate Cup. The mayor Alderman G H Selman awarded the trophies and the special guest was MP Mr T Reid.

1957: One of the biggest road improvements undertaken by Wiltshire County Council since the war was being carried out by direct labour on Blunsdon Hill. The road, notorious for its high number of accidents, is being almost completely straightened.

1977: The gales of a few months earlier were too strong for four pinnacles guarding the tower of Purton Church. After 500 years they finally blew off. Ted TIokner, 73, a skilled mason in gothic carving was repairing the pinnacles.

2013: More than 100 people put their best feet forward for a trek around Lydiard Park to launch the Walking Festival of Swindon. The festival, organised by Swindon Council’s health walk team, involved a month of walks during May and aimed to not only highlight the fitness benefits from walking but also its economic and environmental benefits.

THE WORLD...

1494: Christopher Columbus landed on the island of Jamaica and claimed it for Spain.

1821: Emperor Napoleon I died in exile on the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean.

1980: The SAS stormed the Iranian embassy in London after a six-day siege.

1981: Bobby Sands died, aged 27, in the Long Kesh prison hospital after 66 days of hunger-striking.

BORN...

1818: Karl Marx, German philosopher

1914: Tyrone Power, American actor

1942: Tammy Wynette, country singer

1943: Michael Palin, actor, writer and TV presenter

1957: Richard E. Grant, actor

1959: Ian McCulloch, singer-songwriter with Echo & the Bunnymen

1972: James Cracknell, English rower

1988: Adele, English singer

DIED...

1821: Napoleon, French general and emperor

1981: Bobby Sands, Irish activist

2011: Dana Wynter, actress