Into the Archives – The 1972 Wages

In this weeks into the archive feature, HEP Communications have spoken to an ex Hawker Siddley employee Fred Broughton who recently posted his wage slip from 14 March 1972 in the popular facebook page Bae. Brough. Fred is a regular contributor to the page and commented on this image by saying “a wage slip for 1972. Chargehand in B shed. ( I know I was over paid.)”.   Building 22 (B-Shed) is now tenanted by Howden Joinery Ltd.

But what else was happening in 1972?  We had a look into the archives and uncovered the following:

•     BO launched in US as the first subscription cable service
•     Richard Nixon orders the start for the space shuttle program
•     Apollo 16 lands on the moon where the Lunar Rover is tested by astronauts John W Young and Charles M Duke
•     Apollo 17 lands on the moon and the last men to walk on the moon are Harrison Schmitt and Eugene Cernan
•     Digital Watches are introduced
•     First scientific hand-held calculator (HP-35) introduced (price $395).
•     The Volkswagen Beetle becomes the most popular car ever sold with in excess of 15 million sold.
•     Atari kicks off the first generation of video games with the release of PONG, the first game to achieve commercial success