DIARY OF THE YEAR
Wednesday August 18: In Ulster a deafmute waving a pistol was shot by 'British soldiers; and a newly-born child was
flushed down the lavatory of an Italian train travelling at speed between Milan
and Genoa. Neither survived. Thirty seven American soldiers were killed in a helicopter accident in Germany. Firmer refereeing led to thirty-two bookings of players and a wave of panic through the football world and the sports pages of evening newspapers.
Thursday August 19: Two British soldiers and a civilian were wounded in a shooting incident in Ulster when masked men burst into a Belfast house. The emergency meeting of the Common Market Finance ministers ended today without agreement on any joint action to be taken about the dollar crisis. BOAC announced a slump in their profits of nearly £16m, and the August total of unemployed rose above 900,000.
Friday August 20: After a sharp exchange of telegrams, relations between Britain and the Republic of Ireland con tinued to deteriorate; but the Prime Minister rejected a Labour plea to re call Parliament for an emergency debate.
Kangaroo tail soup joined the list of panned imports, and a Swiss couple suirered a mild nervous collapse when their pet poocne was accidentally cooked ana served up to them in a Chinese restaurant.
Saturday August 21: After repeated allegations of brutality towards men de tained in Ulster under internment re gulations, Mr Heath accepted a request by General Tuzo to open an independent enquiry. In a series of raids, Special Branch detectives picked up for questioning two girls and four men in connection with the Angry Brigade, and also seized a large haul of arms.
Sunday August 22: A bomb explosion wrecked the 'front gates of Belfast's Crumlin Road goal and injured two prisoners and two prison officers. In California's San Quentin prison mean while, three guards and three convicts,
including George Jackson, author of the Soledad Letters, were killed during
an attempted cscape. After days of fighting, right-wing rebels ousted the President of Bolivia, Juan Torres, and proclaimed Colonel Hugo Banzer in his stead. Torres was reported to have retired to the Peruvian Embassy.
Monday August 23: When the Foreign Exchange market opened today, the pound was allowed to float against the dollar and all other currencies. At the end of the thirty-third negotiating session between the Four Powers, the USSR finally agreed to a breach in the Berlin wall by permitting unhampered access to the city from West Germany. Another British soldier was shot dead in Belfast by a sniper; and a superin tendent of police in Blackpool died after being shot in the stomach during a jewellery raid by a London gang. Tuesday August 24: The United States imposed a 10% surcharge on import duties. Britain meanwhile won the big gest civil aviation order to come out of China, worth £20m. The new right-wing Bolivian regime, in a traditional gesture, sought the support of the Indian peasantry and the urban poor. Wednesday August 25: A bomb explosion at the offices of the Northern Ireland Electricity Board killed one man and injured thirty-five others.
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