From our archives:

85 years ago

Teachers locally and throughout the North of England had been informed of the death of Miss Mary Louisa McIntosh, of Sycamore Terrace, York. Miss McIntosh a former head teacher and president of the York and District Teachers’ Association, had worked primarily at Tang Hall School from its opening until her retirement. The service was due to take place at St Olave’s Church and was expected to be packed to the rafters with past students and colleagues all wanting to say a last farewell to a very popular lady. After a short holiday Mr Anthony Eden MP, Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs, was now back at the Foreign Office, to take charge until Sir John had returned from Brazil at the end of the month. And whilst serving a 10-year sentence in Atlanta Gaol for income tax evasion “Scarface” aka Al Capone had been ordered to appear in court in Chicago on charges of racket and conspiracy.

50 years ago

Former President Dwight Eisenhower was in a serious condition in the Walter Reed Army Hospital, Washington, after suffering a new heart attack, his second in less than two weeks. The 77-year-old soldier-statesman had been making good progress after a major heart attack on August 6. The attack was his fourth heart seizure that year, and his sixth since 1955. And owing to the illness of a recently elected Dairy Queen, who had to give up her visit to Canada and the United States, Joan Harland, of Wetherby, runner-up in the competition, and Dairy Princess of England and Wales was now first in line to take her place. According to the Princess, the highlight of the visit would be meeting Canada’s handsome bachelor Premier, Mr Pierre Trudeau.

20 years ago

Staff at several top York tourist attractions had voted unanimously to go on strike over proposals to cut their pay. The decision which would affect the Castle Museum, Yorkshire Museum, York Story and City Art all over the key August Bank Holiday was decided by a whopping 55 out of 58 votes. And archaeologists helping to clear the way for a new housing development at Stamford Bridge had made a new discovery about the area’s Roman past. The special dig on land earmarked for development by Barratt Homes had found that the village was a much more important settlement 1,500 years ago than previously thought.