SWINDON

1952: Manor Park Tenants’ Association complained about the way the borough council ran the local communal heating scheme, in which hot water was piped to households from a central boiler. The association said so many tenants had complained about being cold that it bought a thermometer for them to borrow and monitor indoor temperatures.

1962: A petition signed by 42 Wroughton mothers, asking for steps to be taken to ensure the safety of children crossing Wharf Road, was presented at a parish council meeting. In the last eight months alone, said the mothers, there had been eight near misses.

1972: Swindon choirs and soloists took plenty of honours at the Basingstoke Eisteddfod. Pride of place went to the Olive Love Singers from Drove Evening centre, who won three classes.

THE WORLD

1804: Hobart, Tasmania, was founded.

1888: The 555ft white marble Washington Monument, designed by Robert Mills, was opened.

1940: Beatle John Lennon was born during an air raid in Liverpool.

1962: Uganda became independent.

1974: German businessman Oskar Schindler, credited with saving 1,200 Jews from the Holocaust, died at the age of 66.

1990: Hundreds of Chinese people queued to buy Big Macs when McDonald’s opened its first restaurant in Shenzhen.

BIRTHDAYS

The Duke of Kent, 83; Brian Blessed, actor, 82; John Pilger, investigative journalist and film-maker, 79; Steve Ovett, former athlete, 63; Sean Lennon, performer, 43.