On this day in 1413

The University of St Andrews is the third oldest university in the English-speaking world (only Oxford and Cambridge are older). This also makes it the oldest of Scotland’s four ancient universities, the others being the University of Glasgow, University of Aberdeen and University of Edinburgh.

University status

It was established by Augustinian clergy, although not initially as a university, in 1410, and granted university status three years later when Pope Benedict XIII issued a Bull, or decree, upon the request of Bishop Henry Wardlaw. Over the next several centuries, the university grew considerably as additional schools and colleges were opened to accommodate an increasingly diverse range of subject areas.

It was initially a male-only institution and accepted women for the first time in 1876, although only to a limited degree: female students had to wait until 1889 before they were accepted on the same terms as men.

 

...and on this day in 1993

Watch-maker Timex had a factory in Dundee for almost 50 years. It closed in 1993 after six months of strikes against lay-offs, and calls for better pay.

The lay-offs were first announced on Christmas Eve 1992 and, at the end of the following month, more than 300 workers voted in favour of striking. They downed tools on 29 January, until 17 February, but after resuming work it became clear that management still intended to let a tenth of the workforce go. The strike resumed, the factory fired its workforce, and demonstrations turned violent.

Factory gate arrests

Almost 40 people were arrested during violent clashes outside the factory in late May, and two appeared in court charged with the attempted murder of a police officer. The Newcastle Journal of 18 May called it “Britain’s most acrimonious industrial dispute since the 1980s” as “the factory was besieged all morning by 3000 protesters in the biggest demonstration since the Timex dispute began with the sacking of the workforce and their replacement by fresh recruits bussed in daily.”

Management and unions held talks and management suggested a 27% pay cut. Workers rejected this and, in mid-June, union leaders said they’d been told by management that it was almost certain the factory would be closed by Christmas.

“Bully-boy tactics”

The Aberdeen Press and Journal of 15 June quoted SNP leader Alex Salmond, who called the closure threat “a typical case of bully-boy tactics from a company that is intent on cutting off its nose to spite its face… it is time to wipe the slate clean and start afresh. It is not too late for the Dundee plant to be saved.”

By mid-August, the factory was winding down. Just 100 workers were still employed there on 21 August and, on the 30th, The Mirror reported that “the embattled Timex factory finally closed yesterday – after eight months of bitter disputes. Bosses secretly timed the Dundee plant shutdown for Bank Holiday weekend while sacked workers were abroad – picketing the Timex factory in France. A spokesman for the firm said it deeply regretted leaving Dundee after 47 years.”

 

...and on this day in 1980

“The world’s first full-body MRI scanner was cobbled together with copper pipe from a local plumber and a tube from a children’s play park, according to a member of the pioneering team behind it,” reported BBC Scotland on 4 July 2018 in a piece commemorating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the NHS.

MRI – Magnetic Resonance Imaging – scanners use strong magnetic fields to produce cross-section images of tissue. They are commonly used to scan human bodies without the use of x-rays.

The first full-body scanner, the MRI Scanner Mark One, was designed by the University of Aberdeen’s Professor James Hutchinson and used at the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary to scan a cancer patient from Fraserburgh. It revealed primary and secondary cancers in his chest, bones and liver.