Remember A Day | British royal’s Hong Kong gaffe, Beatles legend Paul McCartney arrested and Concorde flights for Asia: headlines making the news 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
The British royal family getting tangled up in a sartorial gaffe, pop legend Paul McCartney’s arrest, and the prospect of more supersonic flights for Asia made the headlines 40 years ago this week.
January 13, 1980
● The enigmatic Carrian Group, which had signed a HK$998 million (US$128 million) deal with Hongkong Land to buy Gammon House, controlled about 350,000 sq ft of land in the city. This followed its move two weeks earlier to buy into local property company Mai Hon on terms which would eventually cost another HK$923 million. Carrian had in total bought 20 local sites to develop residential, commercial and industrial property for sale since 1978.
January 14, 1980
● The Duke of Kent, who spent much of his time promoting British exports, had bought cut-price suits from Hong Kong. But a close aide denied the Duke was neglecting his own “Buy British” advice. The Duke, who received an equivalent of HK$660,000 in annual allowance from the British government, was vice-chairman of the British Overseas Trade Board to help promote foreign trade.