From our archives:

85 years ago

The theatre world had suffered a great loss by the death of Mr William Peacock, chairman and managing director of both the Opera House and Empire. Born in Scarborough, his active interest in theatre began in Harrogate in 1900, after he became one of the promoters of the company which built the Opera House. His next venture was the forming of a company to buy the old Corn Exchange in York, converting it into a theatre, opening on January 20,1902, with the presentation of Florrie Ford’s pantomime. In Knaresborough, Lord Harewood had officially opened a new extension at the King James’s Grammar School before being snapped by a Yorkshire Herald photographer whilst showing a great interest in the Physics Laboratory. And in London gold had reached its highest price to date, with a bullion fetching 131s 9d per ounce.

50 years ago

The Delta rocket, carrying a two and a half million communications satellite, which had relayed colour television reports from the Olympic Games in Mexico City to Europe had blown up in the air immediately after its launch. Hurtling back to earth, the satellite had started to malfunction 20 seconds after its take-off from Cape Kennedy. In Shropshire, an armoured car had failed to get a wife and four children out of a house where they were being held hostage by her husband. Police had decided that the best course of action was the wait-and-see policy, with the occasional loudspeaker appeals during the night. And spectators thought they were seeing not double, but treble, as toddlers lined up for a race at Cliffe county primary school, near Selby. The three sets of twin girls, who were all set to start the school in Easter, already had teachers scratching their heads wondering how they would tell them apart.

20 years ago

Pig farmers from across the region had descended on York to protest at the official opening of York’s new £90 million Monks Cross Shopping Park. Hundreds of North Yorkshire farmers had gathered to publicise their plight in the face of foreign imports and to put pressure on Sainsbury’s to stock only British pork and bacon. Animal rights group York Animal Aid had also taken the opportunity to use the media coverage to put a case against factory farming. And a strike which was set to paralyse four of York’s tourist attractions had finally been called off.