Monday, July 4, 2005

100 years ago

At a meeting of York City Council, the Chairman related how after giving permission for a band to play in the Clarence Gardens on the previous Sunday evening he went down to see if it was appreciated by the citizens, and whether good order was maintained, and he was sorry to say that they would never get his permission again. The conduct of the children was simply disgraceful and brought discredit on the citizens of York. He said that he could hear the band better from Asylum Lane than he could in the gardens, so the council members could imagine the amount of noise and hubbub made by the children. There was no endeavour by the inhabitants to check them, and it took the police on duty and the caretaker all their time to maintain order around the bandstand. It was very discouraging to find that the citizens did not appreciate his efforts, which were done for their benefit. Councillor Mansfield endorsed these remarks and said: "That is what we get from our School Board teaching," to which there was laughter.

50 years ago

Reports in Bonn diplomatic circles said that the West would offer the Russians a European security system in exchange for a reunified Germany at the Geneva "Big Four" conference. Unless the Russians agreed to German unification on terms acceptable to the Western Allies, there would be no sweeping security agreement. Western Allied and West German officials had completed work in Bonn on a programme for German reunification. The reunification plan on which the Western Allied and West German experts finally agreed reportedly differed little from the one presented by Sir Anthony Eden in 1954 which Mr Molotov rejected, however he had changed his views sufficiently to accept it as a basis for discussions.

25 years ago

John McEnroe beat Jimmy Connors 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a tempestuous men's singles semi-final on the Centre Court at Wimbledon, and would meet defending champion Bjorn Borg in the forthcoming final. McEnroe, the second seed, was given a public warning in the first set for arguing with the umpire. He also argued with the tournament referee and later disputed another decision with a linesman. After further incidents, during which Connors said to McEnroe: "Why don't you shut your mouth? Let's just get on with the match," the Wimbledon switchboard was jammed with calls from television viewers protesting at McEnroe's behaviour.

Updated: 08:53 Monday, July 04, 2005