25 YEARS AGO

From the Evening News, April 17, 1972

GORDON Banks is the 1972 Footballer of the Year. The 33-years-old England goalkeeper, who helped Stoke City win the Football League Cup and reach the FA Cup semi-finals, collected 75 per cent of the votes from members of the Football Writers' Association. He is only the second goalkeeper to get the award. Bert Trautman was first in 1956.

50 YEARS AGO

CIGARETTES may be scarce, they may be dear, but those men who have been cleaning up the course of the Holcombe Hunt point-to-point this week found enough empty packets to make them doubtful. They also found about 4,000 empty bottles, a collection of hair ribbons and a child's undervest.

This cleaning up has been a big task, though by no means as hard as fitting up the course for these men, under the direction of Mr T.M. Hesketh, had to dig away drifts of snow to put up the jumps.

125 YEARS AGO

From the Evening News, April 17, 1872

THE Philadelphia Leader has the following: 'For some time past, a young man, named Joseph Whittle, has been engaged in handling and taming lions and other animals belonging to Mr O'Brien's menagerie. Yesterday afternoon the cage containing a large performing lion was wheeled into the yard, and Mr Whittle entered to cage for the purpose of practising the animal, one that had been performed with for many years. After a part of the performance had successfully been gone through, Mr Whittle put his head into the lion's mouth, but just at the time the animal closed his jaws upon the unfortunate man's head, the teeth entering the chin and throat. The men standing in the yard immediately commenced an attack upon the lion with iron bars, sticks, etc., but his hold could not be broken until an iron scraper, used for cleaning the cage, was forced between the lion's jaws. Whittle was then released, and removed in an insensible state to the hotel and is in a very critical condition.

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