SWINDON

1952: The Swindon proclamation of the Queen’s accession to the throne would be made the following day, two days after the death of her father, King George VI, was announced. The Swindon ceremony was due to take place on the steps of the Town Hall at 12.45pm, with assurances from the borough council that any changes to the timing would be displayed on public notices.

1952: The 1,000th council house built for Swindon Corporation since the end of the Second World War was handed over to its first tenants. It had the added historic distinction of being the first occupied property on the Penhill estate. The new tenants of the property at Charlton Close were Mr and Mrs Alfred Burton. Mr Burton was looking forward to working in the garden and Mrs Burton was impressed by the bright and modern kitchen.

1962: Television viewers in and around Swindon were told they could look forward to improved reception by the end of the year, as both the BBC and independent television were working on building new transmitters and improving the existing ones. The plans included a new BBC television transmitter in Broome Manor Lane.

1962: Paul Angliss, a 17-year-old pianist from Swindon, was preparing to audition in Bristol for an ITV talent show. Paul, an apprentice coach fitter at the Railway Works, was widely known in Swindon as Fingers thanks to his keyboard skills, and was a popular draw at pubs and clubs in the town.

1972: Residents of Swindon’s modern Greenmeadow estate called for the local children to be given a play area. Although the local parish council had recently set up a special sub-committee to look into the matter, some people living on the estate said they had been calling for a play area for a decade. Some complained that on moving in they had been promised a variety of amenities which had yet to materialise.

1972: Purton Parish Council demanded more of a say in the running of their village centre, which was in need of repairs whose cost was estimated at £15,000. Parish councillors were unhappy that only two of their number were on the centre’s management committee, and planned to raise the matter with local MP Daniel Awdrey.

THE WORLD

1301: The first Prince of Wales was created. Edward of Caernarvon later became Edward II.

1812: Charles Dickens was born at Landport, Portsmouth.

1845: The Portland Vase, a 10-inch Roman glass vessel, was smashed by a hooligan while on loan to the British Museum. It was successfully restored.

1928: An amended version of the Book of Common Prayer was approved by the Church of England.

1940: Walt Disney’s Pinocchio had its world premiere.

1976: Two ladies made sporting history: Joan Bazely became the first woman referee of an all-male football match at Croydon, and Diana Thorne became the first woman jockey to win under National Hunt Rules.

1990: In the USSR, the Central Committee agreed to end the communist monopoly on power, paving the way for a multi-party democracy.

1991: The IRA launched a mortar bomb attack on 10 Downing Street from a van in Whitehall. No one was hurt.

2017: Playing the piano, singing, dancing and owning your own home can all boost wellbeing in later life, data from 15,000 people found.

BIRTHDAYS Mick McCarthy, football manager, 59; James Spader, actor, 58; Garth Brooks, country singer, 56; David Bryan, musician (Bon Jovi), 56; Eddie Izzard, comedian/actor, 56; Ray Mears, survival expert, 54; Chris Rock, actor/comedian, 53