ON THIS DAY

42 years ago (1979)

We reported on how Margaret Thatcher would tackle the power of the unions as she set out what a Conservative government would do to trim back their powers as the Winter of Discontent rumbled on unabated.

21 years ago (2000)

We told how “Dr Death” Harold Shipman had been sentenced to life behind bars after he was convicted of murdering 15 of his patients.

The two-year Shipman inquiry, chaired by Dame Janet Smith, found the general practitioner from Hyde, Greater Manchester, could have killed an estimated 250 victims over 30 years, about 80 per cent of whom were elderly women. He committed suicide in Wakefield Prison on January 31, 2004, and remains Britain’s worst serial killer.

18 years ago (2003)

Tragedy struck as the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated as it re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere killing all seven astronauts aboard.

The shuttle had seen 22 years of service and completed 27 missions.

An investigation found a breach of its heat shield on take-off caused the incident.