THE BIG STORY

A new era was ushered in behind the Iron Curtain as Russian President Konstantin Chernenko died.

Chernenko had been the third president of the USSR in as many years. He had also been a long time comrade of the former leader Leonid Brezhnev. When Brezhnev died in 1982, Chernenko vied for the leadership but failed to win, losing out to former head of the KGB Yuri Andropov.

However, Andropov died just 15 months later.

Chernenko succeeded him but his reign did not last much longer, he died just over a year later aged 73 on March 10, paving the way for Mikhail Gorbachev to succeeded him.

Former British Tory PM Margaret Thatcher noted at the time she would attend the funeral and said of Gorbachev he was a man she could "do business with."

Gorbachev introduced groundbreaking reforms known as 'perestroika' (restructuring, mainly economic) and 'glasnost', the later of which gave more freedoms to the media, both of which were welcomed by the West.

It brought about the end of the Cold War and led to the dissolution of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) and the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union.

Wider ramifications included the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, the re-unification of Germany a year later and to a rise in nationalism among former communist states, the legacy of which is still being felt today.

HEADLINES

l There was concern as petrol prices soared to a new high of £2 a gallon, or 44p a litre. Yorkshire regional director of the Motor Agents' Association Corden Gilbert accused petrol companies of "playing ducks and drakes with the motoring public."

A Panasonic VHS recorder would set you back £399.95; a 20 inch colour TV (with remote) £299.95; a microwave £299.95; and a Technics double-cassette tape deck, complete with record player and amplifier retailed at £279.95.

Leeds Coroner Philip Gill called for rear seat belts to be fitted to cars, following the horrific deaths of three women passengers on the M1.

Former YEP employee Barbara Taylor Bradford, who wrote the best-seller A Woman of Substance, was back in town for a flying visit.

The UK £1 note was in the process of being phased out but shoppers who bought two Scotch E-180 video cassettes could get themselves a crisp £1 note to keep for posterity.

Andy Appleton, then 21, entered the Guinness Book of World Records after he potted 13,469 pool balls in 24 hours at the Woodman Inn, Pontefract. Andy, of Love Lane raised £2,500 for charity.

House of Fraser gave board room approval for the take-over of their Harrods store by the Egyptian Al Fayed family, who offered a 400 pence per share cash offer.

Teenage hair and dress styles were causing raised eyebrows across the country, not least in Leeds where boys wore make-up and girls had their hair cut short.

A sales rep could earn £10,000 a year, plus commission, company car and fringe benefits.


THE GOSSIP

Cannon and Ball headlined at The Frontier nightclub, Batley, supported by The Dooleys. Admission? £1.50.

A 24-year-old Carol Vorderman, star of Channel 4's runaway success Countdown, was preparing to host a new childrens' talent contest called Sounds Good.













l Controversial pop band Frankie Goes To Hollywood brought out a book, And Suddenly There Came a Big Bang. The YEP said the book contained "a lot of deep thinking that will go right over the kiddywinks' heads... and a lot of swear words that you can hear in any school playground." WH Smith and Menzies banned the book.

THE WORLD

l Rock superstar Michael Jackson was getting ready to visit his idol Paul McCartney at his Sussex farmhouse... the singer had already recorded two duets with the former Beatles star.



l In the US, the Food and Drug Administration approved a test to screen all blood donations for the AIDS virus.



l Mike Tyson made his professional debut in Albany, New York and won with a first round knockout on March 6.



l Keira Knightley, star of Pirates of the Caribbean, was born in March 26.

AND FINALLY

l The first ever WrestleMania took place at Madison Square Garden, New York, with Hulk Hogan and Mr T facing off against Rowdy Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff.