Recycled pacemakers, sales of a mind-bending drug and disco dancing in Beijing: headlines from four decades ago

West German medical staff “recycling” used pacemakers and a Brazilian man snipping off the tip of his wife’s nose made the headlines four decades ago this week. August 19, 1979 ● An American woman born with a defective spine was suing her parents for US$33 million (about HK$165 million at the time), claiming they abandoned her in a home for the mentally handicapped and told relatives she was dead. In a suit filed that week in the Federal Court in Detroit, the 27-year-old said she suffered from spina bifida, a condition in which the spinal cord is exposed without a bone enclosing it. If untreated, it can be fatal. ● A Hong Kong student threw acid in the face of a young woman because he “loved her”. A Manhattan Supreme Court justice sentenced Tsang Shek-kwan, 24, a student at MIT, to a prison term ranging from five to 15 years. The victim, 23, a student at Columbia University, lost her vision in one eye and suffered second and third degree burns to her face. ● Scandinavian Airline System requested a court in New York to prohibit a sexual encounter group from using its internationally known SAS insignia. The airline asked the Manhattan Supreme Court to grant an injunction barring Sexual Awareness Seminars Inc from using the SAS trademark. August 20, 1979 ● Doctors at a hospital in Serbia had saved the life of a youth who arrived at the emergency ward bleeding profusely after self-circumcision. They were unable to operate until the missing body part was found after a search in the young man’s garden. It was later stitched back on. A farmer with six ‘wives’ and Hong Kong preparing for a space station crash August 21, 1979 ● More than 20,000 members of the film industry’s most powerful union were voting on a strike mandate that could shut down major studios in Hollywood for the first time since 1946. The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees was made up of the industry’s rank and file, from cameramen to sound technicians. It was demanding a 45 per cent pay rise for a three-year period. ● The US government spent at least US$2.5 billion (about HK$12.5 billion at the time) a year trying to influence the decisions and actions of the American public, according to a survey of 47 Federal agencies. The amount spent was more than the total government expenditure allocated to disaster relief, foreign military assistance, energy conservation and cancer research. August 22, 1979 ● Britain’s trade minister John Nott, declared war on red tape to fight waste and ease the administrative burden of company executives. He said he had asked a management consultancy firm to look into the situation and reduce as much as possible the number of forms and questionnaires regularly issued by his ministry. ● Pacemakers had been removed from corpses by West German hospital staff who sold them to the original manufacturer for reconditioning and recycling, a public prosecutor said. The firm, which was not named, then sold them back to hospitals as new. About 100 doctors and medical staff from several hospitals were involved. August 23, 1979 ● Security services in Britain were investigating how a top secret formula for a dangerous mind-bending drug came to be on open sale in London. ● A Brazilian taxi driver cut off the tip of his wife’s nose because he thought their newborn baby did not look like him. He later told police that if all deceived husbands did the same, women would develop a stronger sense of morality. East German spy lovers and Prince Charles chased by a bikini model August 24, 1979 ● A retired clergyman lashed 792 deck chairs in a London park in a protest against litterbugs, a court heard. The Rev John Hodgkinson, 70, told police, “If I stopped them using the chairs, they cannot litter the park.” ● A deranged mechanic stole a Colombian Air Force transport plane and crashed into a Bogota suburb, killing himself and three people on the ground. ● China was to give the coastal provinces of Guangdong and Fujian greater autonomy in approving foreign investment from 1980, according to left-wing newspaper Ta Kung Pao. August 25, 1979 ● Western dancing including disco was becoming more and more of a hit with young people in Beijing. Several spots in Beihai Park had been turned into impromptu dance floors as hundreds of young people gathered every evening to watch dancers go through their paces. Officials had not moved in to stop the fun, even though it was against official policy. Remember A Day looks at significant news and events reported by the Post during this week in history

Recycled pacemakers, sales of a mind-bending drug and disco dancing in Beijing: headlines from four decades ago

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} A journey back through time to look at significant news and events reported by the South China Morning Post from this week in history

A journey back through time to look at significant news and events reported by the South China Morning Post from this week in history