SWINDON

1952: An urgent request for a telephone kiosk on the Meadowcroft Estate in Upper Stratton was made by Stratton St Margaret Parish Council, but learned it might have to wait for months as the kiosks were allocated according to a strict rota system. Kiosks were vital in an era when relatively few people had home telephones and waiting lists to have them installed were long.

1962: Swindon College principal Mr W Gillespie was invited to lead the annual prizegiving ceremony at Faringdon Modern School. In his speech, he advised the assembled parents not to choose their children’s careers for them, even if they did so with the best of intentions. “Let them pick a career,” he said. “You cannot select what your children want to do.”

1972: The Vickers Limited engineering plant in South Marston was visited by Group Captain Leonard Snaith, who had been a member of the winning British team in the Schneider Trophy air race for sea-planes. During his tour of the site, the veteran aviator was shown parts for the Concorde supersonic airliner which were being developed at the site.

THE WORLD

1803: Composer Hector Berlioz was born near Grenoble.

1894: The first motor show opened in Paris, with nine exhibitors.

1903: The first wildlife preservation society in Britain was founded under the name The Society for the Preservation of the Wild Fauna of the Empire.

1936: Edward VIII abdicated as king after a reign of 325 days, in favour of his brother, the Duke of York, who became King George VI. The announcement was made on BBC radio at 10pm.

1945: London’s second Waterloo Bridge, designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, opened.

1967: The prototype of the world’s first supersonic airliner, Concorde, was revealed.

1988: An Ariane-4 rocket, carrying the Astra 1A satellite to bring 16 television channels to Britain, was launched from Kourou, French Guiana.

2017: More fatal motorbike crashes take place on nights where there is a full moon, research revealed.

BIRTHDAYS

Anna Carteret, actress, 76; Brenda Lee, singer, 74; Jermaine Jackson, singer/songwriter, 64; John Lukic, former footballer, 58; Nigel Winterburn, former footballer, 55; Stig Inge Bjornebye, former footballer, 49; Ben Shephard, television presenter, 44.