THE ARCHIVES

100 years ago

North Fife has done well in war work. The latest contribution was £100, raised on Saturday for Ceres Red Cross Hospital. It came from the fete at Luthrie organised by the Rev John Ritchie, parish minister and Mr DC Clark, schoolmaster, and held in the park behind the farmhouse of Lower Luthrie, kindly granted by Mr Arbuckle. In a large marquee the various stalls were tastefully set out and tea dispensed, while outside music was discoursed by the pipe band of the HCB.

50 years ago

The Britannia airliner which crashed near Ljubljana, northwest Yugoslavia, early on Thursday, killing 95 of the 117 people on board, veered off course shortly before the accident, an official announcement said last night. The pilot corrected course after being warned by the airport control tower, but afterwards struck trees. At this time the plane was flying at a height of about 80 feet instead of the prescribed 650 feet. Further investigation is required to pinpoint the exact cause of the crash.

25 years ago

Dundee man Raymond Lawrie, 28, has set himself the task of shedding more than 100 pounds by next April. Raymond, who stands 6ft 6in, has decided to diet for the sake of his health, but has found an extra reason to complete his aim – by raising money for the Dundee YMCA. He is hoping to receive sponsorship from individuals and companies as part of a long-term campaign by the YMCA board management, of which he is a member, to find a permanent base for the organisation in the city.

One year ago

The number of trees on Earth has almost halved since the beginning of human civilisation, a new assessment has found. There are more than three trillion trees worldwide – around eight times more than some previous estimates – according to a study led by researchers at Yale University in the US. But around 15 billion trees are being lost each year as a result of changes in land use, deforestation and forest management, the research published in the journal Nature showed.