SWINDON

1952: Both sections of the Swindon and District Road Club riders got to the other side of the Chiltern Hills on their runs. Once there they found that the blast was so forceful that it was necessary to pedal really hard just to get downhill. The normal all day road club party riders launched east through Shrivenham by way of Longcot and at Fernham turned to cross The Ock and circle round at Baulkington. After tea they returned in the dark via Hungerford and Aldbourne.

1962: The Mayor of Swindon Coun A E Cockram was a guest at at cocktail party at the Royal Military College of Science, Shrivenham. The given by the College’s Commanding Officer Manor General R W Ewbanks. The mayor was accompanied by the mayoress.

1972: Permission was sought from the Home Office to move four graves to Swindon’s Christ Church to make way for a car park. The Parochial Church Council decided to go ahead with plans for a £25,000 car park north of the church. It was planned to take about 40 cars.

THE WORLD

1781: Lord Charles Cornwallis surrendered to George Washington at Yorktown, Virginia, in the American War of Independence.

1812: Napoleon’s army began its retreat from Moscow.

1862: Auguste Lumiere, French moving picture pioneer, was born. His Cinematographe system gave its name to the word cinema.

1872: The Holtermann nugget, the largest gold-bearing nugget ever found, was mined at Hill End, New South Wales, Australia.

1914: The first Battle of Ypres began.

1963: Sir Alec Douglas-Home succeeded Harold Macmillan as prime minister.

1987: Jacqueline du Pre, British cellist, died aged 42.

1987: Black Monday on Wall Street wiped out millions on stock markets around the world. Wall Street ended the day down 22%, lower than the 1929 crash.

1989: The Guildford Four had their convictions quashed after serving 15 years for the IRA Guildford and Woolwich bombings.

2017: The Scottish Government confirmed that smacking children was to be banned in Scotland.

BIRTHDAYS

John Le Carre, author, 87; Sir Michael Gambon, actor, 78; John Lithgow, actor, 73; Sam Allardyce, football manager and pundit, 64; Evander Holyfield, former boxer, 56; Sinitta, actress and singer, 50; Pras Michel, R&B singer/producer, 46.