100 years ago

GREAT disappointment had been caused throughout the whole of the pigeon racing circles of the country by the action of the railway companies in refusing to carry fanciers’ birds to the race marking station at Birmingham, in view of the national event which was to be flown from Swindon.

Something like 15,000 birds had been entered, and every arrangement had been made for the race. The railway companies, however, had taken sudden concerted action, with the result that thousands of fanciers had been turned away from the railway stations with the panniers containing their birds. This national race would have provided one of the biggest liberations ever seen in this country.

As a matter of fact, many baskets of birds had reached the marking station earlier, but owing to the unexpected action of the railway companies in stopping the conveyance of the vast majority of the racers to the marking station, the great event had perforce to be declared off.

 

50 years ago

A 29-MINUTE scream had reverberated through the 7,500-seat convention centre in Las Vegas when the Beatles appeared before a delirious crowd of teenagers.

The Liverpool pop group, who had opened their American tour at the Cow Palace in San Francisco appeared at the first of two performances. But they could hardly be heard. For the 29 minutes they were on stage, the teenage audience let out continuous high-pitched shrieks and screams which drowned the Beatles.

In a closely planned operation, 180 sheriffs’ deputies, Las Vegas police and special guards had escorted the Beatles from their hotel to the convention centre. When they arrived on stage, the audience had erupted in hysteria. Five young girls were taken to a local hospital, one with what was described as “hysterical deafness.”

 

25 years ago

AN URGENT inquiry into the sinking of a Thames pleasure cruiser was under way. Police warned it could be weeks before the full extent of the tragedy was known.

The Marchioness had been packed with young birthday partygoers when it was hit in the rear and “run over” by a huge 1474 ton sand and gravel dredger, one of the largest registered vessels on the Thames, under Southwark bridge in central London. The confirmed death toll had risen to 27 after divers who resumed the search for bodies at daybreak found another close to the wreck. Police said the final total could be as high as 60.

Department of Transport investigators and forensic teams would examine the hull section of the 90 ton Marchioness after it had been removed to a dry dock. The collision had been likened to a tank running over a mini.