5 years ago
Chris Froome, pictured, has become the first Briton to secure two Tour De France titles after winning the gruelling 2015 race. The Team Sky rider was ahead before the final 21st stage of the race in Paris on Sunday and when organisers decided to “neutralise” the clock due to wet weather, all he had to do was finish the course. Team Sky principal Sir David Brailsford, who handed Froome a glass of champagne as he rode out the closing stages, said: “I’m very very happy, very satisfied.”
10 years ago
Leaked US military files about the conflict in Afghanistan could contain details of thousands of war crimes, the man behind their release said. Whistleblowing website Wikileaks published tens of thousands of secret records about Nato forces’ operations for six years to December 2009. Wikileaks founder Julian Assange said: “It is up to a court to decide clearly whether something is in the end a crime. That said, on the face of it, there does appear to be evidence of war crimes in this material.”
25 years ago
A former rag and bone man, whose hard work made him a millionaire, became a National Lottery jackpot winner yesterday when he and his business partner collected a cheque for £2.5 million.
Mr Mel Eddison, 47, and his partner, Mr John Biesty, who built up their pallet-building and garage business from nothing, toasted their success in Liverpool yesterday. Mr Eddison told how he had to start up his own business because when he left the Army he was unable to read or write.
50 years ago
The Commonwealth Games, which ended in Edinburgh on Saturday, have been voted the best yet by athletes, spectators, and officials. As competitors left the Games Village all were loud in their praise of the organisation, the accommodation, and the food. The atmosphere that has pervaded the Games reached a climax at the closing ceremony. Instead of keeping to the traditional march-past, athletes broke ranks and danced round the track, staged wheelbarrow races, and threw flowers into the crowd.
100 years ago
At Greenock Police Court yesterday a man was remitted on a charge of attempting to break into a public house in Greenock. Accused was arrested on Sunday morning after an exciting chase. He was seen by a policeman on the roof of the shop and when the constable went on to the roof the alleged burglar dropped to the roadway and clambered to the roof of Messrs Scott’s shipyard and eventually dived into Cartsdyke Harbour. He was found in an exhausted condition hanging on to a rope that was over the side.