SWINDON...

1947: The annual meeting of the Swindon Canine Society was held at the Town Hall, Swindon. Mr J R Hewer, chairman of the committee, presided. The Hon Sec presented the annual report and said that the past year had been a successful one.

1955: Final decisions as to the procedure for this year’s Service of Remembrance were taken at a meeting of the Swindon branch of the Royal British Legion. Members would attend the Cenotaph service and lay wreaths and then parade in the evening for their own service at Christ Church.

1975: More than 10,000 tropical fish perished in Swindon when a fire broke out in a collector’s fairyland display. The second disastrous blaze in six years at Greenlock Fisheries in Broadway caused damage estimated at £45,000.

2013: Teenagers who were at risk of permanent exclusion celebrated their achievements in a leaving ceremony at Oakfield Project, the school that gave them a second chance.

THE WORLD...

1837: A system of the civil registration of births, marriages and deaths is established in England and Wales.

1863: American Civil War: the Battle of Gettysburg begins.

1874: The Sholes and Glidden typewriter, the first commercially successful typewriter, goes on sale.

1903: Start of first Tour de France bicycle race.

1967: The European Community is formally created out of a merger with the Common Market, the European Coal and Steel Community, and the European Atomic Energy Commission.

2007: Smoking in England is banned in all public indoor spaces.

BORN...

1633: Johann Heinrich Heidegger, Swiss theologian (d. 1698).
1899: Charles Laughton, English-American actor and director (d. 1962).
1952: Dan Aykroyd, Canadian actor, screenwriter, and producer.
1965: Carl Fogarty, English motorcycle racer.
1976: Patrick Kluivert, Dutch footballer and coach.
1977: Liv Tyler, American actress and model.

DIED...

1884: Allan Pinkerton, Scottish-American detective (b. 1819).
1925: Erik Satie, French pianist and composer (b. 1866).
1974: Juan Perón, Argentinian general and politician, President of Argentina (b. 1895).
2000: Walter Matthau, American actor and singer (b. 1920).