SWINDON...

1947: Swindon Wheelers’ veteran team of H Marsh and W Lewis, riding at Birmingham in the Veterans National 50 mile Road Championships, won the team race against strong opposition from the Midlands and the North of England.

1957: The application for the licence to install a jukebox in a cafe at Wellington Street was refused after police objected. Opposing the application Insp W G Stout said that when a similar instrument had been installed on a previous occasion the police had received complaints from neighbours.

1975: Fire Brigade trade unions wanted Swindon to have a full time fire service. They said part-time firemen did not have the training to cope with firefighting in a large, industrial town and they were seeking the support of other trade unions in their fight for a full time brigade.

2013: Hundreds of people across the town were set to celebrate the work and commitment of the armed forces at the weekend with a Flying the Flag ceremony and a family fun day orgainsed by inSwindon for Armed Forces Day.

THE WORLD...

1797: Admiral Nelson was wounded in the right arm by grapeshot. He had it amputated that afternoon.

1867: The first patent for barbed wire was taken out by Lucien Smith of Kent, Ohio.

1876: Custer’s Last Stand took place at Little Big Horn, Montana. The Sioux Indians, led by Crazy Horse, killed Custer and all 264 soldiers of his 7th US Cavalry.

1945: The United Nations was founded.

1990: 7,000 king penguins killed themselves on uninhabited sub-Antarctic Macquaine Island. Bodies were piled four deep in this bizarre mass suicide, and the reason remains a complete mystery.

BORN...

1903: George Orwell, author (d. 1950)
1942: Patricia Brake, actress
1961: Ricky Gervais, comedian, actor, director, and producer
1963: George Michael, singer-songwriter and producer
1971: Neil Lennon, Irish footballer and manager
1975: Albert Costa, Spanish tennis player

DIED...

1533: Mary Tudor, Queen of France (b. 1496)
1798: Thomas Sandby, English architect (b. 1721)
1958: Alfred Noyes, English poet (b. 1880)
2009: Farrah Fawcett, American actress (b. 1947)
2009: Michael Jackson, American singer-songwriter, producer, dancer and actor (b. 1958)