Christmas Mirror dated Tuesday December 24th 1968
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Apollo 8 was the first crewed space flight to orbit the
Moon. The 6-day mission was primarily to reconnoitre landing sites for the
Apollo 11 Moon Landing due the following year.
The crew were Frank Borman, William Anders and James Lovell who was to
go on to head the Apollo 13 flight, which nearly ended in disaster.
By the way: If you ever decide to save newspapers then the
condition of this front page will tell you that you should always store them flat
and not folded in half.
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The spy-ship USS Pueblo was attacked on January
23rd 1968 by the North Koreans and the 83-man crew were taken
prisoner and held for 11 months. After much puffing and blowing by the US
Government they were finally released on December 22nd when President Lyndon
Johnson agreed to publish both an admittance that the ship was spying and an
apology.
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In these politically correct times he would be called
‘gravitationally challenged’. Arthur Armstrong pictured here at 37 stone was
down to 26 stone by 1970 according to a local newspaper, but I’ve no idea what
happened to him after that.
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It seems that Michael Jackson wasn't the first pop star to go out in public looking like a sexual deviant.
Engelbert Humperdinck (formally Arnold Dorsey) was in the
news recently as the UK’s entry for the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest, but back
in 1968 he was known for his hits – ‘Release Me’, ‘There Goes My Everything’
and ‘The Last Waltz’. He has had at least one single released in almost every
year since, including the oddly titled ditty ‘Lesbian Seagull’ in 1996.
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Nigeria was ravaged by Civil War from 1967 when part of the
country split away to become Biafra, and 1970 when the Government forces
defeated the breakaway Biafra. Britain and the USSR supported the Government
while France and Israel supported the Biafra rebels.
Lord Fenner Brockway was born in 1888, was an anti-war
activist in WWI and was imprisoned, campaigned for Indian independence as early
as 1919, became a Labour MP, put aside his anti-war stance for the duration of
the Spanish Civil War, was a Conscientious Objector in WWII, founded the
charity War on Want, was a founding member of the anti-nuclear CND, campaigned
for peace in Vietnam, wrote 24 books and died at the age of 99 in 1988.
I
saw him speak at a CND meeting at the age of 94. His age not mine.
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Not the best publicity for an about-to-start West End
production, despite which ‘Mame’ ran for 14 months and Ginger Rogers was the
highest paid performer in the West End up to that time.
She was best known for her ten musical films with Fred
Astaire that included ‘Top Hat’ and ‘Flying Down to Rio’ and the possibly
apocryphal claim that she “not only did what Astaire did but did it backwards
and in high heels”.
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I don’t understand this at all. Why would H M
Customs have to have half the cost of the goods for 6 months? It sounds like a
scam. They’d get the interest on the money during the 6 months and do nothing
for it. No wonder the country’s going to the dogs.
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Christmas Day TV and it looks like ITV just gave
up when it came to the prime 8pm-10pm slot – a second rate 18 year-old Western
film up against Morcambe and Wise followed by Ken Dodd. Talking about political
correctness (see above) what ever happened to ‘The Black and White Minstrel
Show’?
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Before the Lottery, the Football Pools were the
only way to win a life-changing amount of money. £16,000 in 1968 would have the
equivalent spending power of about £170,000 now. Not quite your lottery
millions but better than a poke in the eye with a wet lettuce.
