SWINDON...

1947: Skidding on wet rails, a goods train carrying 9,000 gallons of milk slipped on to a catch point at Woottton Bassett and became partly derailed. The train was leaving the United Dairy Depot at Wootton Bassett, bound for London. It took nearly three hours for the GWR breakdown gang to jack the engine back on track.

1957: The local valuation court in Swindon ruled on the rateable value of some Swindon premises and houses. The assessment of a house and garage at Greyweathers Avenue was confirmed at £52 gross and £42 net. The owner had sought a reduction to £49 gross and £39 net but to no avail.

1977: More than 50 people are expected to take part in a sponsored walk to raise funds for Cystic Fibrosis sufferers. The walk is organised by the Swindon group of the Cystic Fibrosis Research Trust to hopefully raise £500.

2013: A trio from Commonweal School triumphed at the Swindon Youth Slam. Valentina Opare-Darko, Holly Walen and Jimmy Campbell, who make up The Glam Girls and Jimmy, beat 11 other teams with their performance poetry at the Arts Centre.

THE WORLD...

1926: In the UK, a nine-day general strike by trade unions ended.

2008: An earthquake in Sichuan, China, killed over 69,000 people.

BORN...

1820: Florence Nightingale, pioneering English nurse

1907: Katharine Hepburn, American actress

1924: Tony Hancock, comedy actor

1932: Joel Joffe, South African-born lawyer. Defended Nelson Mandela. Now living near Swindon

1942: Ian Dury, English singer-songwriter

1945: Alan Ball, former English footballer and World Cup winner

1950: Gabriel Byrne, Irish actor

1950: Jenni Murray, British journalist and broadcaster

1968: Catherine Tate, English actress

1970: Mark Foster, English swimmer

1975: Jonah Lomu, New Zealand rugby player

DIED...

1944: Arthur Quiller-Couch, English author

1994: John Smith, Scottish politician

2001: Perry Como, American singer