SWINDON

1952: An artist had been at work in the vaults of a Swindon Hotel. When the Swindon Jazz Club re-opened, the members and their friends were amused at the original and colourful work of Mr David Backhouse, the former secretary of the club, who had redecorated the vaults and painted the walls with musical instruments, musical signs and slogans.

1952: Local Territorials of D Company 4th Battalion The Wiltshire Regiment TA marched through Swindon for Old Town station where they left to join the regiment at Windmill Camp, Luggershall for 14 days annual camp. The 56 under the command of the 2nd Lieutenant D P Barlow were mainly national service men.

1962: Swindon film star Diana Dors gave birth to her second son in Hollywood. He weighted in at ten pounds two ounces. Miss Dors, wife of the comedian Richard Dawson, had her first child, Mark, in London in 1960. Her father Mr A E S Fluck of Marlborough Road, Swindon told an Evening Advertiser reporter that he had had a cable from his daughter about the birth.

1962: More than 2,000 bookings have been taken for a ride across the Dee Estuary in the Vickers Armstrong Hovercraft VA 3, made in South Marston near Swindon. The service, a joint venture between Vickers Armstrong and British United Airways, was originally planned to connect Rhyl and Hoylake but due to residents’ objections it was moved.

1972: It was reported that Swindon Town may get a £100,000 shot in the arm from Swindon Council. It was rumoured that the club were thinking of using the cash to buy new players, despite a Tory leader’s warning against it. The council’s finance committee gave it their blessing but Tory group leader Coun Stuart Macpherson wanted the loan reconsidered as he felt the public would object to the council paying for a new striker.

1972: Work was expected to start on a £50,000 scheme to reconstruct the existing roundabout at Drove Road and the County Ground in preparation for a multi mini roundabouts experiment by the Road Research Laboratory.

THE WORLD

1491: Henry VIII, English monarch best known for his six wives and religious split from Rome, was born.

1838: Queen Victoria was crowned in Westminster Abbey, aged just 19. During the ceremony, Austrian composer Johann Strauss conducted his orchestra outside the London Reform Club, playing God Save The Queen.

1914: Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, was assassinated with his wife in the Bosnian town of Sarajevo by terrorist Gavrilo Princip, lighting the touchpaper to the First World War.

1919: A Peace Treaty between German representatives and Allied powers was signed in the Palace of Versailles in northern France, officially ending the First World War.

1930: Frank Whittle (later Sir) patented the jet engine.

1935: The first Rupert Bear cartoon was drawn by Alfred Bestall and appeared in the Daily Express. Bestall had taken over from Rupert’s creator Mary Tourtel.

1950: The United States humbled England 1-0 in a World Cup match in Brazil.

1984: After 104 years, the British magazine Tit-Bits stopped publishing.

1990: The Prince of Wales was detained in hospital overnight after breaking his right arm in two places when falling from his pony during a polo match.

2017: Rising numbers of poor students were dropping out of university before finishing their degree, figures suggested.

BIRTHDAYS

Mel Brooks, actor/writer/producer, 92; Harold Evans, publisher, 90; Kathy Bates, actress, 70; John Cusack, actor, 52; Mary Stuart Masterson, actress, 52; Adam Woodyatt, actor, 50; Mushtaq Ahmed, former Pakistan cricketer, 48; Fabien Barthez, former France and Manchester United goalkeeper, 47.