SWINDON...

1947: Massed choirs of nearly 300 voices representing the three Swindon Methodist circuits were heard at the Wesley Church, Faringdon Road, Swindon, in the Festival of Praise which told the story of Methodist music since 1738.

1955: Mr H Venn, headmaster of Ferndale Road School, Swindon, told how his pupils were being overcrowded because he had to take children from the Penhill housing estate. He said that the result was that the junior school, built in 1935 for 180 pupils, now had twice that number.

1975: The mayor of Thamesdown, Coun John Stevens, presented Kevin May with an award for fishing, at the Civil Services and NALGO Sports Week presentation at the BR Dining Hall, Swindon.

2013: Hundreds turned out to mark Armed Forces Day and recognise the work the military services do for their country. Shoppers young and old paused in respect under the Big Screen in Wharf Green during the Fly the Flag ceremony, where the Swindon Sea Cadets joined the Mayor and Deputy Lieutenant, David Brewer, in raising the flag.

THE WORLD...

1859: French acrobat Charles Blondin crossed Niagara Falls on a tightrope.

1934: The Night of the Long Knives, Adolf Hitler’s violent purge of his political rivals in Germany, took place.

1937: The world’s first emergency telephone number, 999, was introduced in London 1990: East Germany and West Germany merged their economies.

1997: The United Kingdom transferred sovereignty over Hong Kong to the People’s Republic of China.

BORN...

1908: Winston Graham, English author
1939: Tony Hatch, English songwriter
1963: Rupert Graves, English actor
1965: Gary Pallister, former Manchester United and England
1966: Mike Tyson, American boxer
1983: Cheryl Cole, English singer
1985: Michael Phelps, record breaking US Olympic swimmer

DIED...

1973: Nancy Mitford, English author
1984: Lillian Hellman, American author
2001: Chet Atkins, American singer-songwriter and guitarist