From our archives:

85 years ago

About 2,000 underprivileged children from York had the time of their lives on Filey sands. The fortunate youngsters were participating in the annual York Poor Children’s Outing, and though there had been many enjoyable trips of this kind in the past, it was doubtful that the event had ever been favoured with better weather. A great deal of hard preparatory work had been done by the members of the organising committee and the event had gone without a hitch. And fears for the safety of Colonel Lindbergh were dispelled by the news that he was alive and well in Julianehab, Greenland. The Colonel and his wife who were on the last stages of their flight of uncharted, unpopulated territory had been reported as having crashed and died whilst studying possible Atlantic routes for commercial airlines. The remote flights had become a form of relief from the endless public scrutiny that had followed Charles Lindbergh since 1927.

50 years ago

Stock Exchange rumours that John Smith’s Tadcaster Brewery Company may have been taken over by the giant Whitbread concern were “absolutely without foundation.” According to a company spokesman John Smith’s who had been a takeover favourite “for some time,” was certainly not under the Whitbread ‘Umbrella’. Mrs Barbara Castle, Minister of Employment, was being urged to investigate the loss of productivity caused by the length of time people had to wait in out-patient departments for admission to hospitals. According to the Patients Association, with nearly 32 million out-patient appointments a year and a waiting list for surgery of more than 400,000, the number of man-hours lost could be enormous. And Howden Agricultural and Horticultural Society’s luck was in for its 89th annual show after brilliant sunshine had brought in a bumper attendance.

20 years ago

The most infuriating popular party song ever was winging its way back onto the dance floors. Agadoo – the tune that had the ability to turn the average person on the street into a gyrating mess had been re-released, much to the delight of all the party people who had been bombarding record shops with inquiries after the song was featured in a Peugeot 106 TV advert. And according to an announcement by US Vice President Al Gore, July 1998 had been the hottest month in the history of the earth.