Muhammad Ali offering to help free Iran hostages, a contest pitting an abacus against a calculator and an Indian hospital using patients as guinea pigs made the headlines 40 years ago this week.
May 4, 1980
● The Macau ferry Fatshan, which capsized during Typhoon Rose in August 1971, was brought to the surface by a Chinese salvage team. Three skeletons, believed to be the remains of three of the victims trapped in the vessel when it sank near northeastern Lantau Island, were discovered inside the wreck. Of the 92 people on board, only four survived the disaster.
May 5, 1980
● Researchers were using patients at a well-known New Delhi medical institute as guinea pigs for experiments needed to back their doctoral theses, the Press Trust of India reported. The agency said unsuspecting patients at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences were being administered experimental drugs.
● A gunman opened fire on a bus carrying soccer fans in London, in what police said was a clash between supporters of rival clubs. The incident happened after the bus was smashed by bricks and three people were injured. Scotland Yard said the attacks occurred in the northern neighbourhood of Edmonton, after two teams, Leicester City and Bristol City, finished away games in the city.
May 6, 1980
● Four Chinese people with electronic calculators raced with three others using abacuses to see which tool solved arithmetic problems faster, a Shanghai newspaper reported. The abacus was 20 per cent faster at adding and subtracting, but the calculator was 50 to 67 per cent faster in multiplying and dividing.
● Some local police officers feared they would no longer be able to maintain law and order following new orders from acting commissioner of police Peter Moor. The new guidelines prevented officers from using firearms in crowded streets or other places where innocent passers-by might be injured.
May 7, 1980
● A West German soldier ordered to guard a bridge in the state of Bavaria during military manoeuvres stood firm in wind and rain for three days because his unit had forgotten him. The 20-year-old was left at a bridge crossing the River Amper at Inkofen, a village north of Munich. Villagers gave the man food and drink before informing the army.
May 8, 1980
● A third world war was closer than at any time since the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, said a House of Commons motion signed by British MPs of all three major parties. The motion said events in Afghanistan and Iran could prepare the way for global war and called on the British government to take initiatives towards achieving a US-Soviet summit.
● About 50 people were feared drowned after a boat carrying a marriage party capsized on a river in India’s western Gujarat state.
May 9, 1980
● Three young Italians were sentenced to 15 years in jail and another to 16 years, for burning alive a Somali national whom they found sleeping in a church porch in Rome. The grisly death of Ali Giama shocked the nation. The accused were convicted of causing death by recklessness.
● China refused to grant Cathay Pacific Airways permission to continue its charter flights from Hong Kong to Shanghai. It accused Cathay of not conforming with the charter rules. The refusal came as a shock to the travel industry and to Cathay, whose charter flights to Shanghai had been popular since they started two months earlier.
May 10, 1980
● Boxing legend Muhammad Ali said he would fight Larry Holmes for the World Boxing Council heavyweight championship in Tehran if the Iranian government returned 52 American hostages. He said: “If they let the hostages go, me and Holmes will fight for the title in Iran.” Ali was optimistic a deal could be made with the Iranians because he said the militants holding the hostages were fans of his.
● A British writer, 53, was shot dead in Bangkok during a fight with three men who mistook his long-haired 14-year-old son for a girl and taunted the boy, police said.
Remember A Day looks at significant news and events reported by the Post during this week in history
