SWINDON...

1945: More than 300 people attended a party in the Junior School in Upper Stratton for the residents of Dores Road and Green Road. A fancy dress parade preceded a procession by the Prospect Silver Band which featured 75 local children.

1955: Madamoiselle Dotty gave a PT demonstration during the social hour of the Swindon Goddard Townswomen’s Guild meeting, followed by a skit on a fashion parade of nightwear and bathing costumes.

1975: Furious parents of children at Penhill Junior School had to walk their nine to 11-year-olds to their temporary new school at Headlands School as a result of a row over dirty classrooms resulting from a dispute between school cleaners and Wiltshire County Council.

2013: Police had to be called to move on a herd of cows after they broke out of their field and wandered into a country park. Worried passers-by called officers after the cattle broke out of their field near Mouldon Hill County Park, off Thamesdown Drive.

THE WORLD...

1839: In Humen, China, Lin Tse-hsü destroys 1.2 million kg of opium confiscated from British merchants, spurring Britain to start the First Opium War.

1862: A 3000-strong riot occurred at Wardsend Cemetery in the Sheffield, England, against rumours of bodysnatching from the grounds.

1937: The Duke of Windsor marries Wallis Simpson.

1979: A blowout at the Ixtoc I oil well in the southern Gulf of Mexico causes at least 3,000,000 barrels (480,000 m3) of oil to be spilled into the waters, the second-worst accidental oil spill ever recorded.

2006: The union of Serbia and Montenegro comes to an end with Montenegro's formal declaration of independence.

2013: The trial of United States Army private Bradley Manning for leaking classified material to WikiLeaks begins in Fort Meade, Maryland.

BORN...

1808: Jefferson Davis, American colonel and politician, President of the Confederate States of America (d. 1889).
1865: George V of the United Kingdom (d. 1936).
1910: Paulette Goddard, American actress and singer (d. 1990).
1925: Tony Curtis, American actor (d. 2010).
1974: Kelly Jones, Welsh. singer-songwriter and guitarist (Stereophonics).
1979: Christian Malcolm, British sprinter
1986: Rafael Nadal, Spanish tennis player.

DIED...

1657: William Harvey, English physician (b. 1578).
1899: Johann Strauss II, Austrian composer (b. 1825).
1875: Georges Bizet, French composer (b. 1838).
1900: Mary Kingsley, English explorer and author (b. 1862).
1924: Franz Kafka, Czech author (b. 1883).
1977: Roberto Rossellini, Italian director and screenwriter (b. 1906).
2009: David Carradine, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1936).
2011: Andrew Gold, American singer-songwriter and producer (Wax) (b. 1951)