SWINDON...

1947: A party in Swindon Town Gardens was an innovation for the 120 old folk and children of Stratton St Margaret Institution. It was the first time they had been to the gardens, and the cost of the outing – the first since 1939 – was met by the County Council Public Assistance Committee. The day ended with a performance from the Salvation Army Band.

1957: The Mayor and Mayoress of Swindon, Coun and Mrs H Diment, had a busy day welcoming a group of Swedish Scouts to the Town Hall in Swindon and then went on to visit old friends at a garden party in the Wiltshire Regiment Depot in Devizes.

1977: The first birthday party Phyllis and Peter King threw for their youngest son, Paul, was an against all odds celebration. Paul failed to breathe normally when he was first born at Swindon’s Princess Margaret Hospital’s Maternity Unit. He was kept in an incubator for nearly a month until he was completely out of the woods.

2013: Swindon Rugby Club held its annual sevens festival with 12 teams at Swindon’s Greenbridge Road. Teams travelled from Dorset, Hertfordshire, Loughborough and Somerset to compete against sides from the Swindon area. The free event was being run in partnership with the Stratton Festival.

THE WORLD...

1603: James VI of Scotland was crowned James I of England, bringing the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland into personal union. Political union occurred in 1707.

1797: Horatio Nelson lost more than 300 men and his right arm during the failed conquest attempt of Tenerife.

1909: Louis Blériot made the first flight across the English Channel in a heavier-than-air machine from Calais to Dover in 37 minutes.

1934: The Nazis assassinated Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss in a failed coup attempt.

1965: Bob Dylan went electric as he plugged in at the Newport Folk Festival, signaling a major change in music.

2000: Air France Flight 4590 crashed just after takeoff from Paris, killing all 109 aboard and four on the ground.

2010: WikiLeaks published classified documents about the War in Afghanistan, one of the largest leaks in US military history.

BORN...

1848: Arthur Balfour, Scottish politician, 33rd Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
1894: Gavrilo Princip, Bosnian assassin of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. 
1896: Josephine Tey, Scottish author.
1955: Iman, Somalian-English model and actress.
1978: Louise Brown, English test tube baby.

 

DIED...

1984: Big Mama Thornton, American singer-songwriter.
1986: Vincente Minnelli, American director.
1995: Charlie Rich, American singer-songwriter. 
2009: Stanley Middleton, English author.
2009: Harry Patch, English soldier (b. 1898).
2012: Shelby Harris, American super-centenarian (b. 1901).