100 years ago

At a meeting of the Sanitary Committee of the Middlesbrough Corporation, Alderman Pattison wrote a letter from Mr James Downing on behalf of himself and others, stating that they had taken up rat catching as a hobby, and since the previous May had killed 679 rats.

They were willing to go anywhere to rid the town of the pests, but as the upkeep of the ferrets and dogs was expensive, they hoped the corporation would make them a grant towards the expenses. The committee decided to make a grant of £5.

 

50 years ago

Rex Harrison and Rachel Roberts had become the second married couple in film history to be nominated simultaneously for Academy awards. Harrison had been nominated for an Oscar for his role of Caesar in Cleopatra.

Miss Roberts had been nominated for her performance in This Sporting Life. At Portofina, Italy, Rex Harrison said, “Good. Marvellous,” when told of the nominations. The first husband-and-wife nominations had been Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne in 1932. Also nominated for best actor were Albert Finney (Tom Jones), Richard Harris (This Sporting Life), Paul Newman (Hud) and Sidney Poitier (Lilies Of The Field).

In addition to Miss Roberts, the nominees for best actress were: Leslie Caron (The L-Shaped Room), Shirley MacLaine (Irma La Douce), Patricia Neal (Hud), and Natalie Ward (Love With The Proper Stranger).

 

25 years ago

Health chiefs had announced a fourfold increase in Yorkshire’s AIDS budget for the year. The extra cash was welcomed by AIDS Concern North Yorkshire which ran a telephone help-line and counselling service in York and Harrogate and was soon to expand into Scarborough.

Chairman John Iddon said: “This is good news. As an agency working in the field of HIV and AIDS, we are delighted that money is being spent in this area. Obviously we hope this will mean that organisations like ours which have operated on a bit of a hand to mouth existence will receive the finance we so desperately need.”

More than £5.3 million had been allocated for treating and counselling AIDS victims and publicity and education campaigns to persuade people to take up ‘safe-sex’ techniques. The Yorkshire Regional Health Authority region had seen 49 cases, of which 29 people had died up to the end of January. This compared to seven cases and three deaths two years before. The Government was studying research showing homosexuals were adapting their sexual behaviour in the light of the threat. But heterosexuals still believed there was little risk.