SWINDON...

1947: ”This is a splendid example of public spirited co-operation,’ said Air Chief Marshall Sir Edgar Ludgow, President of the Southern Area of the British Legion when he opened the second annual flower show and fete at Wanborough. There was also a horse and pony gymkhana, fur and feather and cage bird sections.

1957: Boy cadets of the Purton Red Cross detachment marched behind the Cricklade Town Band through the streets to the Red House, Purton, for the Red Cross fete, which was raising funds to buy an ambulance.

1977: Top model Stefanie Marrian was a Page 3 girl in a national newspaper, but she was a page one girl in the Evening Advertiser as she was modelling a range of swimwear produced by Swindon-based Triumph International.

2013: Art lovers were being urged to support Swindon’s cultural diamond by joining the My Theatre Matters campaign. Sarah Cowley, who uses the Art Centre, said it makes the town a better place to live in. She wanted everyone to get behind a national My Theatre Matters Campaign to help raise awareness about the important role the service provides.

THE WORLD...

1100: Henry I was crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey.

1305: William Wallace, who led the Scottish resistance against England, was captured by the English near Glasgow and transported to London where he was put on trial and executed.

1884: The cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty was laid on Bedloe’s Island (now Liberty Island) in New York Harbour.

1914: World War I: The German minelayer Königin Luise laid a minefield about 40 miles (64 km) off the Thames Estuary (Lowestoft). She was intercepted and sunk by the British light-cruiser HMS Amphion.

1962: Apartheid in South Africa: Nelson Mandela was jailed. He would not be released until 1990.

2010: 2010 Copiapó mining accident occurred, trapping 33 Chilean miners approximately 2,300 ft (700 m) below the ground.

BORN...

1862: Joseph Merrick, “Elephant Man,” an English man with severe deformities (d. 1890)
1930: Neil Armstrong, American pilot, engineer, and astronaut (d. 2012)
1948: Ray Clemence, English footballer and manager
1952: Louis Walsh, Irish talent manager
1959: Pete Burns, English singer-songwriter (Dead or Alive)
1975: Antony Cotton, English actor
1988: Michael Jamieson, Scottish swimmer

DIED...

1901: Victoria, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom (b. 1840)
1955: Carmen Miranda, Portuguese-Brazilian actress and singer (b. 1909)
1962: Marilyn Monroe, American model, actress, and singer (b. 1926)
1984: Richard Burton, Welsh actor and producer (b. 1925)
2000: Alec Guinness, English actor (b. 1914)