Record-breaking hypnotism, a close-up of Saturn, and an ice lolly stickup: headlines from 40 years ago
- A journey back through time to look at significant news and events reported by the South China Morning Post from this week in history
An Italian man “robbing” a bank with an ice lolly and an Australian hypnotist setting a world record made the headlines four decades ago this week.
September 2, 1979
● The US Pioneer 11 spacecraft successfully flew past the outer edge of the Rings of Saturn to give man his first close-up view of the second-largest planet in the Solar System. American scientists, announcing the arrival of the 570lb (258kg) spacecraft on Saturn’s outskirts, said the spacecraft accomplished its mission without encountering any of the space dust they earlier feared could have destroyed the craft after its 2 billion mile (3.2bn km) flight from Earth.
September 3, 1979
● An Australian hypnotist set a world record when he put a Munich housewife to sleep for 200 hours. The feat was 32 hours longer than the previous record. During the record-breaking attempt, Ruth Ante was monitored by a doctor and fed a complete meal once a day.
