From our archives:

85 years ago

Thirty-six hours of dense fog had caused havoc on the East Coast.

In Bridlington the fog was so thick that no vessels left the harbour at all.

In London a thick belt of fog had shrouded many of the outlying districts and a LNER passenger vessel had collided with a US steamer in the Wielingen Channel, both vessels being outward bound from Antwerp.

In Berlin there was an unexpected announcement that Herr Adolf Hitler, the Nazi Party leader, was to see the President again “within the next few days”.

Following the interview there would certainly be two questions being asked throughout Germany: “Is a third Reich coming?”; and “Will Adolf Hitler be the Chancellor of the Republic within the next few days?”

Sometimes asked with hopeful eagerness, but more often with anxiety and fear.

50 years ago

The home of Mr Ted Fletcher, Labour MP for Darlington, was daubed with slogans in yellow, red and grey paint by vandals overnight.

Windows, walls, the front door, garage door, the driveway-no part of the outside of the house at 46 Neville Road, Darlington, escaped attention.

Even the number plate on the front garden wall was smeared in yellow paint.

Top British Railway officials, pressmen and television camera crews travelled from the North East to London on a special train to test the latest type of passenger coach.

Three coaches, each costing nearly £20,000, were incorporated into the train and a quick examination of them soon showed that Britain Railways had gone all out to find the last word in second-class passenger comfort.

And girls from the bar Convent Grammar School, York, who had to travel to school standing in the guard’s van of Harrogate to York train every morning, were petitioning Mrs Barbara Castle, Minister of Transport to put extra carriages on the train.

20 years ago

Police had arrested two men in connection with a fire which had swept through Kingsway Junior School.

The two men, both from the Clifton area of York, were arrested following a police ‘intelligence’ operation and had been released on bail pending further inquiries.

Former pop legend Gary Glitter remained in hiding after police investigating child porn allegations raided a luxury yacht owned by the star.

And members of the Friendly Film Society for the Disabled, which met at Huntington Road Day Centre, York celebrated their 20th anniversary.