THE ARCHIVES

100 years ago

A sensation was created in Dublin yesterday by the sound of firing from the sea. Shortly afterwards two British destroyers steamed in, and immediately it became known that they carried close on 1000 persons, the survivors of the London and North-western steamer Rathmore, which had been abandoned in a sinking condition off the Irish coast. About 40 of them had received more or less serious injuries, and in response to messages a large fleet of motor ambulances proceeded to the scene.

50 years ago

A drive-in window at the undertaker’s so that people can drive past in their cars and view the bodies of their friends is the latest innovation in Atlanta, Georgia. Undertaker Hirschel Thornton says the idea came to him in a dream. His establishment features five windows in a row, each six feet wide and capable of displaying up to five bodies, provided families of the deceased give their permission. “This way they can drive by to see their relatives and just keep on going,” Mr Thornton said.

25 years ago

Staff on the Tay Road Bridge finally vacated the old tollbooths and moved into their custom-built toll collection points yesterday. The only problem was, no one told the drivers! As collectors leaned out of their plush new booths in anticipation of taking in 80ps from approaching cars, dozens of motorists drove straight past and headed for the old booths, unaware of the staff frantically waving them down. Collectors doubled up with one man in the booth and another at the back to stop cars.

One year ago

Identity fraud cases have reached record levels, new figures have shown. Almost 173,000 frauds were recorded in 2016 – with a 34% increase in the number of victims under 21 compared to the previous year. The number of cases has more than doubled in the past eight years and has increased by almost 2% compared to 2015. The data were compiled from the fraud prevention service Cifas’ database of banks and businesses, showing that almost 25,000 people under 30 had fallen victim to ID fraud.