THE ARCHIVES

100 years ago

Mr Thomas McIntyre, Dundee, has been in communication with the Ministry of Food on the subject of a new distinct variety of potato raised by him, which, it is claimed, yields more than double the quantity of any variety at present known. He sowed the seed in a box in his garden frame in May 1915 and planted them out in the open about the middle of June 1915. In 1917 Mr McIntyre gathered from nine shaws of his best variety a crop of 70 pounds, which was declared extraordinary and a world record.

50 years ago

The navy may sell HMS Unicorn, the old wooden warship completed 144 years ago, for 20 silver shillings. The sale would be to a suitable body. This is the belief of Captain W. Rennie Stewart, commanding officer of Tay Division, RNR, who have been using the vessel as their headquarters for many years. The Unicorn, which lies at Victoria Dock, will become redundant when the RNR move to a shore base now under construction. The navy had previously bought Captain Scott’s Discovery.

25 years ago

A masked gang armed with shotguns attacked a security guard in the centre of Dundee in a daylight raid at teatime yesterday before escaping with bags containing a five-figure sum. Pedestrians in Meadowside/Ward Road were stunned as they watched two hooded men bundle a Securicor guard to the ground at the side of the General Post Office building, at the traffic lights by Constitution Road, and grab heavily-laden sacks of cash. The assailants roared off up the road in a stolen getaway car.

One year ago

A Dundee yoga instructor has earned worldwide acclaim after creating a video showing him practising “kilted yoga”. Finlay Wilson hit the headlines last month after sharing the story of his friendship with a Sri Lankan rescue dog. Videos of Finlay practising yoga with his beloved pet Amaloh touched the hearts of more than one million viewers. Not content with the success of his initial video, Finlay is now basking in the glory of 32 million views after starring in footage of “kilted yoga”.