From our archives:

85 years ago

Damage estimated at £50,000 was caused by a fire which had destroyed the extensive premises of Messrs Leak and Thorp, Drapers and Furnishers, Coney Street, York.

Four fire engines, three from York and one from Messrs Rowntree and Co, one trailer pump and the city’s turntable engine were brought into operation, but they made little impression, and all attempts to save the premises were in vain.

The fire had started in the tailoring showroom at 7.15pm.

The departmental managers had closed and left the premises a few minutes earlier, and all was reported to be in perfect order, until a “Yorkshire Herald” reporter, passing along the street, noticed smoke coming from the doorway.

In 90 minutes the four-storey building had been reduced to ruin.

And London had its coldest and frostiest morning in four years.

Catterick was the second coldest place in England with a minimum of 17 degrees.

Harrogate had a temperature of 21 degrees.

50 years ago

President Johnson had called a top level White House meeting as American diplomats swung into action to secure the release of the “spy” ship Pueblo.

Among the first moves in the American diplomatic offensive was an appeal for Russian help in securing the immediate return of the monitoring ship, packed with sophisticated electronic gear.

Four days of worry for dog owners in Cliffe-cum-Lund, near Selby, came to an end after their pets had returned… wagging their tails behind them.

Police and the Anti-Vivisection Society had been called in to the town after it was found that “half the dogs in the village were missing”.

And Howard Winstone, the polite little man from Merthyr, was at last king of the world’s featherweights, after his fourth attempt.

20 years ago

Vandals wielding spray cans had caused thousands of pounds worth of damage to one of York’s most cherished monuments.

The walls historic Clifford’s Tower had been daubed with 4ft high red letters during a midnight raid.

Messages, reading Emma J I love U DOE sprayed almost the whole way around the base.

And musicians Jerry Lee Lewis, and former Beatle George Harrison paid a visit to Jackson, Tennessee, USA, to pay tribute to the rockabilly music legend Carl Perkins, famous for penning the classic hit Blue Suede Shoes.