100 years ago - February 19, 1910
A motion was passed to install electric lighting on Ventnor Pier.
To cover the cost, councillors agreed to treble the pier toll to 3d for return boat ticket holders and 2d for pedestrians.
-----
Following urgent action taken by the farming community to eradicate an outbreak of swine fever in 1907, the Island was given a clean bill of health.
Farmers were ordered to feed their pigs good, wholesome food and not allow them to feed from refuse tips.
-----
More stringent fire safety regulations at Island cinemas were introduced.
Highly flammable film stock was to be stored in an iron box and inlets and exits always kept clear.
The move followed reports of horrific accidents at cinemas elsewhere in the country.
75 years ago - February 23, 1935
Island clergyman, the Rev C. Patterson, gave a commentary on a film about Palestine and its many lands, which toured some of the Island’s principal cinemas.
The film, entitled Beginning at Jerusalem, was screened at the Freshwater Palace, the Cowes Royalty and the Newport Grand.
-----
Having gained an order to produce bigger flying boats, East Cowes-based firm Saunders-Roe announced it was to carry out major building works to its factory.
The company, which had won an important Air Ministry order to build the latest in flying boat design, announced it would erect larger sheds and workshops to meet the increase in the size of the aircraft.
-----
There was a poor attendance at a meeting of the Island branch of the British Union of Fascists, held at the Queen’s Hall, Newport.
At it, Mr A. Chesterton, of the union’s London headquarters, explained its policy of aiming to boost international trade and employment by forcing the entry of British goods into markets that had been closed to Britain.
-----
Women drivers were warned by police that a man, posing as a mechanic, had tricked others into believing they had defects with their cars and had charged them exorbitant fees when he claimed to have fixed them.
Several women had fallen victim to the deception on the Freshwater Road, near Wellow, and in the Cowes area.
50 years ago - Feburary 20, 1960
World-renowned Island boatbuilder and sailor Uffa Fox put in an appeal against his conviction for careless driving to the appeal committee of Newport magistrates quarter sessions, which had been due to be heard at County Hall.
-----
The cash-strapped Island Opera Company had a substantial chunk of its debt wiped off thanks to the fundraising efforts of its support group.
The Island Opera Club raised and presented £175 to the company at its AGM, held at the Royal York Hotel, Ryde.
The club came to the company’s aid following the cancellation of its money-spinning opera week.
-----
Negotiations between Cowes Council’s works committee and a private buyer interested in taking over and renovating the derelict Victoria Pier, broke down.
Plans tabled by the Leeds-based buyer were dismissed by the committee because he was unable to honour them due to him suffering from a serious illness.
-----
Ryde Town Council hoped to clean up beaches, which had been polluted by thick oil slicks, before the tourist season.
The oil patches were described by the borough surveyor as 'a considerable nuisance’ because town council-employed cleaners had to wait for the oil on the sand to harden before it could be dug out and taken away in lorries.
25 years ago - February 22, 1985
There was an underlying fear among staff at Camp Hill prison an AIDS scare at the jail would be repeated.
The prison came under the spotlight after one of its prisoners, suspected of having the virus, had arrived there.
-----
Medina Borough Council sanctioned grants of £6,987.50 for a Cowes Week/Admiral’s Cup fireworks display and a further £4,987 for one at the Cowes International Powerboat Race.
-----
An Island clergyman spoke out against artifical insemination.
The Rev R. Thompson, Wroxall’s Methodist minister, said there had been a great deal of local anxiety over such issues.
"To unite the seed of two people by some alternative method is no different to creating an illegitimate child. Artificial insemination to create life is indefensible," he said.
10 years ago - February 18, 2000
A health boss expressed his concern over a nationwide shortage of the BCG vaccine, which forced the postponement of an inoculation programme among Island teenagers.
The cancellation came at a time when tuberculosis was on the increase in this country and worldwide.
-----
The Island was to receive a £400,000 award from the government to mark the IW Council’s performance in how it dealt with homelessness.
After two years of the authority’s housing investment programme assessment being described as below average, it had climbed to average.
The council’s housing strategy panel agreed to divert £400,000 to provide accommodation, through housing associations, on the Island.
-----
Wootton Primary School pupils learnt all about the reality of being sent away from home as a wartime evacuee, at a special assembly (see picture).
George Osborn, who was evacuated from Portsmouth to Wootton during the Second World War, told the pupils how the fear of bombs meant thousands of youngsters like him had to go and live with strangers — often for some years.
Mr Osborn, who was evacuated when he was aged five, lived in Wootton for five years and had many happy memories of living there, he said.