SWINDON

1952: Lightning struck a rick of baled hay at Stock Close Farm, Aldbourne, belonging to Mr F Curnick of Burney Farm, Ramsbury. Firemen from Aldbourne and Ramsey made a fire break by pulling out bales and isolating the burning parts of the rick. Streets and roads at Marlborough were transferred into shallow rivers during the thunderstorm, bringing traffic to a standstill.

1962: Use of safety belts in cars and other vehicles, which had received support from many national motoring organisations, was opposed by Swindon Accident Prevention Council. The council decided by six votes to four not to send a resolution to the South Western Federation of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents asking it to advocate for compulsory use of safety belts in all enclosed vehicles. Some members thought safety belts would lead to more carelessness.

1972: The RAF Red Arrows acrobatics team was to carry on for at least two years and they would remain operating from RAF Kemble. The news was given by Group Capt Robert Baraden, station commander at the Central Flying School, Little Rissington. The Arrows were on detachment at Kemble from Little Rissington. At the press preview Polly James from television comedy show The Liver Birds accepted an invitation to fly in a Jet Provost.

THE WORLD

1483: The date on which the two young princes, the uncrowned Edward V and his brother Richard, Duke of York, are believed to have been murdered in the Tower of London.

1786: Davy Crockett, king of the wild frontier, was born in Limestone, Tennessee.

1892: Mae West, actress, was born in Brooklyn. A hat-check girl once said of her jewellery: “Goodness, what beautiful diamonds.” “Goodness”, replied West, “had nothing to do with it”.

1896: Gold was discovered at Bonanza Creek on the Klondike River in Canada’s Yukon Territory. This led to the great gold rush of 1898 when the settlement of Dawson would grow into a city of some 25,000 inhabitants.

1896: The first pedestrian to be knocked down and killed by a motor vehicle in Britain was Mrs Bridget Driscoll of Croydon. The car was travelling at 4mph - the lady apparently froze in panic at the oncoming vehicle.

1938: Henry Armstrong won the lightweight boxing title and became the only man in the ring’s history to hold three world titles at different weights at the same time.

1939: The film The Wizard Of Oz, starring Judy Garland, opened in New York.

1978: The first transatlantic balloon crossing was successfully completed when the huge black and silver balloon Double Eagle II sank gracefully to the ground in a wheatfield in Normandy.

1983: Ira Gershwin, lyricist to his brother George, died. Together they penned some of the world’s greatest popular songs.

1987: Former senior Nazi Rudolf Hess committed suicide in Spandau Prison at the age of 93.

2017: Research found that teenage schoolchildren who use e-cigarettes dramatically increased their chances of graduating to tobacco.

BIRTHDAYS

Robert De Niro, actor, 75; Nelson Piquet, former racing driver, 66; Kevin Rowland, rock singer, 65; Robin Cousins, former skater/Olympic gold medallist, 61; Belinda Carlisle, singer, 60; Sean Penn, actor and film director, 58; Maria McKee, singer, 54; Jim Courier, former tennis player, 48; Thierry Henry, former footballer, 41; Claire Richards,

singer, 41.