SWINDON...

1947: Swindon Rotarians held their first meeting at the new headquarters, Park View Hotel, Marlbrough Road, with wives and other Rotarians as guests. Baritone Alfred Salter and tenor Raymond Hatherall entertained.

1957: Representatives of women’s organisations in Swindon Methodist Church Circuit were at Lydiard Park, Lydiard Tregoze, for the annual Missionary Rally. The speaker was Rev L Temple Jarvis who spoke on missionary work in West Africa.

1977: Swindon Brunel Shopping Centre won a coveted architectural award. One of the regional prizes awarded by the Royal Institute of British Architects had been handed out to this ‘simply and boldly conceived’ complex.

2013: Swindon swimmer Tilly Gray said qualifying for the Commonwealth Games made all her sacrifices worthwhile. The Loughborough student dipped below the 2:10.00 qualifying time as she won the 200m butterfly title at the US Open in 2:09.83, booking her place at the Games in Glasgow.

THE WORLD...

30 BC: Octavian (later known as Augustus) entered Alexandria, Egypt, bringing it under the control of the Roman Republic.

1834: Slavery was abolished in the British Empire as the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 came into force.

1907: The start of the first Scout camp on Brownsea Island, the origin of the worldwide Scouting movement.

1981: MTV aired its first video, ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’ by The Buggles.

2008: Eleven mountaineers from international expeditions died in the worst single accident in the history of K2 mountaineering.

BORN...

10 BC: Claudius, Roman emperor
1545: Andrew Melville, Scottish theologian and scholar
1819: Herman Melville, American author
1893: Alexander of Greece
1907: Eric Shipton, Sri Lankan-English mountaineer
1933: Dom DeLuise, American actor, singer, director, and producer
1936: Yves Saint Laurent, French fashion designer
1942: Jerry Garcia, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1963: Coolio, American rapper, producer, and actor
1965: Sam Mendes, English director and producer
1971: Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez, Mexican drug lord

DIED...

30 BC: Mark Antony, Roman general and politician
1714: Anne, Queen of Great Britain
1903: Calamity Jane, American frontierswoman and scout
1963: Theodore Roethke, American author and poet
1989: John Ogdon, English pianist and composer
1998: Eva Bartok, Hungarian actress
2005: Fahd of Saudi Arabia
2009: Corazon Aquino, Filipino politician, 11th President of the Philippines
2013: John Amis, English journalist and critic