Summer of 1976 and Climate Change
The Summer of 1976 saw an exceptional drought and heat but today’s summers are far worse
1970s
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School summer holidays in the 1970s
2025 marked an astonishing 50 years since I went on a school holiday to Chamonix in France. So, I returned to Chamonix, not having been there since 1975. I don’t know what I expected to find or experience. But the memories came flooding back of a very eventful school summer break. In the mid-1970s, I…
Plane hijacked by samurai wielding terrorists
Imagine your plane being hijacked by nine fanatical ninjas wielding Samurai swords. That was the nasty surprise that lay in store for passengers on Japan Airlines Flight 351 in March, 1970. Members of the Japanese Red Army Faction suddenly leaped from their seats wielding the deadly swords and demanding control of the plane. You may…
British Extreme Right, violence and riots
The British Extreme Right has a long history of violence and riots going back to the early twentieth century when Jewish communities were its main target. But it was the 1970s, that saw groups like the National Front and British Movement become a menace on the streets of Britain. Many of those who have shaped…
Clackers – moral panic over 1970s toy
Two plastic balls linked by a skinny rope caused the most ridiculous moral panic at at the start of the 1970s. Clackers was a toy that, it was claimed, could leave you blinded or seriously injured. Very rapidly it went from being the must-have item in the school playground to a shunned and dangerous creation….
How 1970s parents rescued their children from cults
In the 1970s, parents increasingly tried to rescue their children from cults but ACLU objected on civil liberties grounds
True Crime insight: Truck hijacking in the 1970s
The start of the 1970s saw a huge surge in truck hijacking with billions of dollars worth of cargo stolen by organised crime
The menace of British fascism in the 1970s
British fascism experienced a surge in the 1970s led in the main by the National Front
School gym horror in the 1970s
In the 1970s, the school gym was a torture chamber as TV historian Tony McMahon recalls less than fondly from his time at grammar school
Build up to the Anti-Nazi League carnival
The Anti-Nazi League Carnival in 1978 was a unique demonstration led by bands like The Clash and TRB against the rising power of the National Front
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