Wednesday 17 April 1963
A “millionaire-class” mini-car conversion with electrically-operated windows and a chromium-plated gear lever, is announced today by Harold Radford, the London coach-building firm. It is based on the £567 mini-car with the Cooper engine, and will cost £1,088.
American scientists have promised to design within six months a robot spaceman that can be landed on Mars or Venus to explore the planets. The Americans hope that a robot spaceman aboard their Voyager long-range spacecraft will blast-off for Mars in 1966.
Many murders remain undetected because a thorough examination is not made of the victims. Poisoners in particular may be walking around without fear of arrest because there is no expert pathological check. To combat this, Dr Polson, a professor of forensic medicine, suggested that all coroners’ examinations should be made by a national team of pathologists.
Four times a gang blasted a safe with gelignite, but no one reported the explosions. The gang got away with £50,000. Police believe that they may be amateurs, and injured, because they used too much gelignite.
Nine days after arriving in London, the West Indies touring cricketers still await the chance to “thud” their bats against a ball on a grass wicket. They went to Lords yesterday, but normal net practice on the soaked grass was out of the question. In England’s bleak spring, sweaters remain the order of the day.
Television highlights: Wednesday Magazine – women’s art. The Sky at Night – exploding stars. I’m Going to Be…a dentist.
Radio highlights: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Rave-On.
Weather: showers at first, brighter later. Outlook – similar. 12c, 54f.
Thursday 18 April 1963
The population of the world, 3,000 million people, will double by the end of the century predict America’s National Academy of Sciences. The scientists call for a world-wide birth control programme.
Erich Rajakovic, 58-year-old alleged henchman of Adolph Eichmann, walked into the office of a Viennese investigating judge and surrendered himself “to prove his innocence”. However, the judge ordered that Rajakovic should be arrested on a charge of suspected complicity in murder. Since the war Rajakovic has been on the run in Argentina, Italy, Switzerland and Austria.
Up and up goes our intake of frozen food. New figures just published show that in 1962 we ate our way through 79,800 tons of the stuff. This was 11,800 tons more than the previous year. Our favourite frozen food? Peas, which account for over 30% of the total sales.
Two nine-mile stretches of barriers will be put up along the centre of the M1 in an attempt to cut accidents – particularly through cars crossing on to the oncoming lanes.
ITV clams that in the first three months of the year it attracted 57% of the viewing audience. However, the BBC claims that the viewing audience was equally shared, 50% – 50%.
Television highlights: Perspective on the Bath – Are We a Clean Nation? Music For Guitar. Father of the Bride.
Radio highlights: French Flute Music. Requests.
Weather: sunny spells and showers. Outlook – sunny spells and showers. 12c, 54f.
Friday 19 April 1963
The government plans to spend £117,000,000 on old people’s homes during the next ten years. By 1972 it is hoped that more than 1,000 new residential homes for elderly people will have been built. The number of people aged over 65 is expected to increase by one third in the next twenty years.
The Big Freeze cut the number of road deaths in February. There were 365 road deaths in that month – ninety-four fewer than in February 1962. Traffic was down nine percent because of the bad weather.
Masked bandits got away with about £800 when they ambushed a car on hire to the Westminster Bank yesterday. The bank car was stopped when a green Jaguar pulled up in front of it and a van rammed it from behind. The three bandits escaped with the money in the Jaguar.
There are now 68 typhoid cases in Britain, all linked to the outbreak in Zermatt, Switzerland.
Westland are now offering three Hovercrafts for delivery within nine months, and expect to announce first order details at any time. The craft are: the SRN2, 27 tons, 70 passengers, 90mph, £325,700; the SRN Mark 2, 37 tons, 150 passengers, 83mph, £450,600; the SRN 5, seven tons, 20 passengers, 80mph, £75,600.
Television highlights: It’s a Square World with Michael Bentine. Indoor Athletics. Wuthering Heights – a repeat of the 1962 play.
Radio highlights: The Navy Lark. Climbing Kilimanjaro.
Weather: sunny periods, heavy rain, hail and thunder. Outlook – wet and warm. 13c, 55f.
Saturday 20 April 1963
Britain’s biggest ever trade show – the London International Engineering Exhibition – opens next week. The ten-day exhibition will be housed at Olympia and Earls Court. The number of exhibitors will total 1,000 with more than 200 from Europe.
Richard Beeching, the man who axed Britain’s railways, said, “The British public are so filthy.” He was responding to a question about dirty trains and stations. Sir Ronald Garrett, former chairman of the Central Transport Consultative Committee replied, “British railways are filthy, but the British public are no dirtier than any other nation.”
Britain’s exports smashed all previous records last month. They soared £26,000,000 above the February total to reach an all-time high of £361,000,000.
A Christmas pudding thrown by a spectator hit a wrestler in the face and stopped the contest at Malvern, Worcestershire, yesterday.
Football: International Youth Tournament Semi-Finals: England 1 Scotland 0. Northern Ireland 3 Bulgaria 3. Northern Ireland won the tie on a draw of lots.
The gates will be closed at Goodison Park where Everton will meet Tottenham Hotspur in a fixture that could decide the league title. Leicester City, who are also in contention, are home to Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Television highlights: Grandstand. The Third Man – series. That Was The Week That Was.
Radio highlights: Sports Parade. Bandstand.
Weather: rain at times. Outlook – sunny spells and showers. 13c, 55f.
Sunday 21 April 1963
Girls are reading up on judo since Honor Blackman showed how easily men can be thrown around in The Avengers TV series. Collins, the publishers, have sold more than 12,000 copies of their book “Judo” in two weeks. It costs 5s.
Gentlemen don’t prefer blondes anymore. Women know it and the stampede to the hairdressers to get their hair dyed a darker shade is something to see. Edward, a top stylist said, “The most popular shade at the moment is a rich dark browny-black. What has finally killed-off the blonde, according to a psychiatrist, is the “whole-hog” blonde like Jayne Mansfield. He said, “She’s the wrong image for today.”
Women spies with mops and pails might mop up secrets from government offices unless there is a proper check on cleaners, a union official warned.
Last year we spent £1,121,000,000 on drink – nearly equal to what the whole country paid out in rents and rates. In 1961 there were 82,000 drink convictions – a 40 year record. Of these nearly 8,000 were for drunken driving – a fifteen percent increase on the previous year.
Wales is to become the land of wine as well as song. A scheme has been launched to turn the slopes of Pembrokeshire into a vast vineyard. The newly planted vines will be producing the first 1,500 litres of Welsh wine in 1965. In 30 years Wales could become a big name in the wine markets.
Television highlights: The Nation Tomorrow – ideas that might shape our future. About Religion. Jane Eyre – episode three.
Radio highlights: Melody on Strings. Top Twenty.
Weather: sunny spells with heavy showers.
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