THE ARCHIVES

100 years ago

Another member of The Courier staff has been decorated for conspicuous gallantry. Private W. Partridge, of the 19th Hussars who, prior to enlisting, was employed in the advertising department of the London office, has gained the Distinguished Conduct Medal for the deed. While acting as advanced scout he came under heavy machine gun fire. Immediately he, single-handedly, charged the team who put up their hands and surrendered. He undoubtedly saved his troops many casualties.

50 years ago

A 23-year-old village beauty from Teghara, Calcutta, has divorced her husband to help him honour a gambling debt in which she was the stake. Calcutta’s Bengali daily Anandabazar said the woman’s husband, a habitual gambler, who had lost “everything”, staked his last property – his wife – in a desperate bid to win it all back. Then the cards were dealt, and he lost his wife too. To honour the debt, the woman went to court and divorced her husband. It is not known what happened after that.

25 years ago

Pop singer Michael Jackson’s link with PepsiCo Inc was publicly cut when the soft-drinks company announced its sponsorship of the singer was ended after he abandoned his world tour. Jackson ended his “Dangerous” tour after admitting he was seeking medical treatment for an addiction to painkillers. It was reported that the company’s only agreement with Jackson was to sponsor the tour, “so we no longer have a relationship.” Mystery surrounds the whereabouts of Jackson.