SWINDON

1952: A Bristol couple, Mr and Mrs H Shepherd, were desperate for news of their dog, Lassie, who ran off after a car crash at Swan Hill near Swindon. The couple were taken to the GWR Hospital in the Railway Village following the collision, where Mrs Shepherd was still being treated a week later. Mr Shepherd was released, and appealed for help in tracking down their pet, a black and white cross-breed bitch. “I want to find her or at least to know the end of her story,” he said.

1952: Death watch beetle was found to have been at work among the timbers of Wroughton Parish Church. The vestry roof was especially badly affected, with large pieces of wood eaten away to such an extent that they were left with all the weight and strength of cork.

1962: Residents of Gooch Street in Swindon were slowly drying out their homes and belongings after a sudden flood brought on by heavy rain. The borough council’s streets and planning committee promised to investigate possible flood prevention measures for low-lying parts of the town, but pointed out that such measures were expensive. The committee also said residents could expect some compensation for the damage.

1962: The latest major hovercraft project at Vickers-Armstrongs (Engineering) Ltd, was well under way. Called the VA-2, the machine was planned as a smaller sibling to the VA-3, which had recently made history for being at the heart of the first scheduled passenger hovercraft service, which ran between Rhyl in North Wales and Wallasey on the Wirral Peninsula.

1973: A scale model of what would become known as the Magic Roundabout was put on public display at British Home Stores in Bridge Street. It was described as more efficient than the conventional roundabout currently at the junction of County Road, Fleming Way, Queen’s Drive, Shrivenham Road and Drove Road.

1973: Mr and Mrs Frank Hathaway, who lived in Ferndale Road, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. The couple’s relationship had begun as a holiday romance in Paignton, Devon. Even though Mrs Hathaway had lived in Swindon for all of her life, and Mr Hathaway had done so since boyhood, they had never met before their chance encounter in Devon.

THE WORLD

117: Hadrian became Emperor of Rome.

1834: The Poor Law Amendment Act was passed, abandoning the system of outdoor relief by which parishes looked after their poor and replacing it with the workhouse.

1876: Frank Richards, author and creator of fat schoolboy Billy Bunter, was born in London as Charles Hamilton.

1900: The Davis Cup for tennis was contested for the first time at Brookline, Massachusetts, and won by USA.

1940: The Battle of Britain began.

1958: Columbia Records signed up a 17-year-old singer called Cliff Richard.

1963: The Great Train Robbery took place at Sears Crossing, Buckinghamshire, when a gang of 15 men, including Ronnie Biggs and Buster Edwards, stole more than £2.6 million.

1974: Richard Nixon announced his resignation as US president, the first to do so, because of his implication in the Watergate scandal.

1991: Hostage John McCarthy came home, five years and three months after being kidnapped and held hostage in Beirut.

2008: The opening ceremony of the Olympics took place in Beijing at the ‘Bird’s Nest’ Stadium.

2017: Scientists following the antics of a lovelorn nightjar which unexpectedly travelled more than 600 miles across the UK in a quest to find a mate, renamed the bird Marcel, after the Love Island contestant.

BIRTHDAYS

Dustin Hoffman, actor, 81; Connie Stevens, actress and singer, 80; Keith Carradine, actor, 69; Nigel Mansell, former racing driver, 65; The Edge (David Evans), rock guitarist (U2), 57; Angus Fraser, former cricketer, 53; Chris Eubank, former boxer, 52; Princess Beatrice of York, 30.