Stanley Spencer’s First Airship, Sponsored by Mellins Foods, Became the First Airship to Fly Over London in 1902

Stanley Edward Spencer (1868–1906) was an early English aeronaut, famous for ballooning and parachuting in several countries, and later for building and flying an airship over London in 1902.

The success of the airships designed and flown by Alberto Santos Dumont in Paris led Spencer to believe that he could build an improved version. To fund the construction costs, he entered into a sponsorship contract with Mellin and Company of Peckham, the manufacturer of “Mellin’s Food”, a leading brand of infant formula “for babies and invalids”. The sum of £1,500 was payable in return for twenty-five return flights carrying an advertisement for “Mellin’s Food”.

The airship was assembled in Spencer’s balloon shed at Crystal Palace, London, then a popular site for balloon ascents. The envelope of the airship measured some 75 feet (23 m) in length and had a capacity of 20,000 cubic feet (570 m3) of hydrogen. The gondola was an open framework of bamboo poles, on which was mounted a 3.5-horsepower (2.6 kW) Simms petrol engine. There was only space for a single person. The engine drove a wooden propeller which worked in tractor configuration; previous airships had used a pusher configuration, which, being mounted at the back, ran the risk of igniting any escaping gas. A fan pump and valve designed by Spencer replaced any lost gas with air, to prevent the envelope from deforming. A further safety feature was that in the event of a catastrophic failure of the envelope, Spencer claimed that it was designed to collapse into the shape of a parachute.

The completed airship was reported to have made its first flight some time in late June 1902. There followed a series of trial flights at the Crystal Palace polo ground. On 14 July, the airship was piloted by Spencer’s wife, Rose, on a powered flight in a circuit around the ground, “under perfect control” according to one newspaper report.

If the various press reports of the event are correct, this makes Mrs Spencer the first woman to pilot a powered aircraft. Although designed to be a single-seater, Spencer flew with his three-month-old baby daughter Gladys on at least one occasion, claiming that she was the first female to have flown in an airship.

Members of the Japanese Women’s Suffrage League Requesting Women’s Suffrage, 1924

A vintage photo shows members of the Japanese Women’s Suffrage League carrying 20,000 petitions to the Imperial Diet requesting women’s suffrage in 1924.

In 1921, women were allowed to attend political meetings, and the Japanese Women’s Suffrage League (Fusen Kakutoku Domei) was formed in 1924. Japan was a highly patriarchal society, and the League fought for inclusion in the areas of society, government, education, labor, and employment.

Japan’s parliament, the Diet, turned down the request for suffrage in the 1920s as they believed that women should attend to their families. The suffrage movement gained strength, but lost momentum during the buildup to World War II. Japanese women won the right to vote on the same terms as men in 1947.

(Denise Hight/ Historical Photos of Women’s Stories)

On-Board a Boeing 747: Amazing Photographs Show How It Was Like to Travel With a Jumbo Jet in the 1970s

Boeing 747, also known as the jumbo jet was first introduced in 1970. With Pan American airlines as one of its major investors they had the possibility to influence the design and development of the aircraft. It was deemed that the world needed a jet plane of massive size that could transport hundreds of passengers fast, efficient and with style.

On January 15, 1970, First Lady of the United States Pat Nixon christened Pan Am’s first 747 at Dulles International Airport (later Washington Dulles International Airport) in the presence of Pan Am chairman Najeeb Halaby. Instead of champagne, red, white, and blue water was sprayed on the aircraft. The 747 entered service on January 22, 1970, on Pan Am’s New York–London route.

The 747 enjoyed a fairly smooth introduction into service, overcoming concerns that some airports would not be able to accommodate an aircraft that large. Although technical problems occurred, they were relatively minor and quickly solved. After the aircraft’s introduction with Pan Am, other airlines that had bought the 747 to stay competitive began to put their own 747s into service. Boeing estimated that half of the early 747 sales were to airlines desiring the aircraft’s long range rather than its payload capacity. While the 747 had the lowest potential operating cost per seat, this could only be achieved when the aircraft was fully loaded; costs per seat increased rapidly as occupancy declined.

International flights bypassing traditional hub airports and landing at smaller cities became more common throughout the 1980s, thus eroding the 747’s original market.Many international carriers continued to use the 747 on Pacific routes. In Japan, 747s on domestic routes were configured to carry nearly the maximum passenger capacity. Below is a collection of various photos depicting how it was like to travel with a jumbo jet in the 1970s:

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Bird Millman – Queen of the High Wire

Bird Millman O’Day (October 20, 1890 – August 5, 1940) was one of the most celebrated high-wire performers of all time. In the early decades of the 20th century, she won stardom and attracted audiences with her exploits that she performed with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus.

Born Jennadean Engleman in Canon City, Colorado, during her childhood “Bird” would string a wire between fence posts and entertain the neighborhood children by walking on the wire.

Her parents were circus artists, and known as “The Millman Trio” she started performing with them at the age of three. Her first stunts were performed on a pony. She then graduated to a trapeze. Bird gave her first solo wire performance at the age of 10 after her father had fallen 40 feet from a wire and was being treated for his injuries at a hospital. She soon realized that her calling was that of a wire walker.

A 1913 Barnum & Bailey circus flyer for the “Greatest Show on Earth” said of Bird, “Wirewalker is a misnomer — she does not walk, she runs upon it, dances and swings in so fearless a fashion.”

In 1917, Bird gave a daring performance on a wire strung between the 25th stories of opposite buildings on Broadway in New York City. She did the stunt hundreds of feet above the audience as part of U. S. War Bonds drive.

Not only did Millman perform on circuses, she also appeared in silent films, including the movies The Deep Purple (1920) and The Law of the Yukon (1920). She appeared on stage in The Ziegfeld Follies of 1916, Ziegfeld Midnight Frolic of 1920, and The Greenwich Village Follies of 1921.

Bird married Boston millionaire Joseph O’Day in 1924. But wedded bliss did not last long. He lost his investments in the stock market crash of 1929 and died in 1931. Bird, who had suffered a number of injuries during her career was no longer able to perform. Penniless, she returned home to Cañon City and lived with her mother on a chicken farm. Bird Millman O’Day died in Cañon City, Colorado on August 5, 1940, at age 49 of cancer.

Bird’s legacy has not been forgotten in her home town. A bronze statue of her, created by Cañon City artist Robert Henderson, is displayed at Coldwell Banker at Seventh and U.S. 50 in Cañon City, while a painting of her, created by local artist Edward Adamic, is on display at the Cañon City Public Library. In 2002, local writer August Mergleman wrote, directed and starred in the play “Bird Millman.”

Shortly after Bird’s death, her mother donated one of her shoes to the Royal Gorge Regional Museum, where it is still on display. A March 14, 1941, newspaper article called it the “shoe that danced around the world.”

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Miss Muscle Beach of 1952

Winner Beverly Jocher, two finalists and two participants in the Miss Muscle Beach of 1952 contest before spectators on Muscle Beach, south of the Santa Monica Pier. The Hotel Chase, located along Ocean Front, is in the background.

(Santa Monica History Museum Collection)

According to the Los Angeles Times, “Beverly Jocher, drawn to Muscle Beach from Philadelphia, could support 590 pounds of acrobats on her 110-pound frame.”

February 2, 1852: The First Public Flushing Toilets Open in London

Sited at 95 Fleet Street, next to the Society of Arts, the toilets were exclusively for gents. However, a public toilet for use by ladies was opened just over a week later on February 11 at 51 Bedford Street – a mile away.

Of all the technological feats and wondrous designs to come out of The Great Exhibition of 1851, there is one invention that we still use regularly today without even thinking about its ingenuity, to many, this will, at some stage or other, have been a life-saver – particularly after a lunch time drink.

At the Exhibition, a man named George Jennings, a Brighton plumber, installed his so-called ‘Monkey Closets’ in the Retiring Rooms of The Crystal Palace. These ‘Monkey Closets’ caused great excitement as they were the first public toilets anyone had ever seen, and during the exhibition 827,280 visitors paid one penny each to use them. For ‘spending a penny’, they received a clean seat, a towel, a comb and a shoe shine.

When the exhibition finished and the Crystal Palace was moved to Sydenham, the toilets were set to be closed down. Jennings, however, persuaded the organizers to keep them open. They agreed, and the penny toilets went on to generate revenue of over £1000 a year.

After the success of Jennings’ Crystal Palace lavatories, public toilets started to appear in the streets, the first of these being at 95, Fleet Street, London, next to the Society of Art on February 2, 1852; with one for women opening a little later, on the February 11 at 51 Bedford Street, Strand, London. These ‘Public Waiting Rooms’ contained water closets in wooden surrounds.

The charge was 2 pence entrance fee and extra for washing or clothes brushes. These new facilities were advertised The Times and on handbills, distributed around the city. These ‘Public Waiting Rooms’ however, did not become successful, and were eventually abandoned due to their unpopularity with the public, and the awkward design of the lavatory and flushing technique.

Public toilets only really became popular after Mr. Thomas Crapper developed some improvements to Jennings’ initial flushing mechanism, which promised “a certain flush with every pull”, these improvements did a lot to increase the popularity of the public toilet. Crapper also developed some other important toilet - related inventions, such as the ballcock.

George Jennings died on April 17, 1882 in a traffic accident, when the horse pulling his cart shied, and threw him across the road into a dust cart. He sustained minor injuries and a broken collar bone. Later, he appeared to be healing well until he suffered a congestion of the lungs and died. He was aged 72.

His company continued its work, now being run by his son, and by 1895, with a new improved method of flushing in place, it had provided the public toilets for 36 British towns, and they could also be found in Paris, Florence, Berlin, Madrid, and Sydney as well as far-flung destinations in South America and the Far East. 

The designers, architects and engineers of the Victorian age built public conveniences to a very high standard. When conveniences were to be above ground, they were built to be aesthetically pleasing, and built with high quality materials such as marble and copper, and furnished with fine ceramics and tiles.

Not many original Victorian public toilets survive today, in London they are recognizable by the fine and fancy railing work above ground, with steps leading under street-level.

(via The Victorianist)

February 1, 1960: Four Black College Students Start the Greensboro Sit-ins

At 4:30 in the afternoon on February 1, 1960, four black college students — Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain, David Richmond and Ezell Blair Jr. — sat down at a whites-only lunch counter at an F.W. Woolworth’s in Greensboro, N.C., and politely asked for service. They weren’t served. They nevertheless stayed there until the store closed that evening.

Earlier, the four freshmen, who were enrolled at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, had purchased toothpaste and various school supplies. One of them told UPI: “We believe, since we buy books and papers in the other part of the store, we should get served in this part.”

Clarence L. Harris, the store’s manager, said, “They can just sit there. It’s nothing to me.” But when a larger group of students returned the next day, wire services picked up the story. Civil rights groups began to spread the effort to other college campuses. In the next two weeks, students in 11 cities held lunch counter sit-ins. Additional students joined them over the succeeding weeks and months as sit-in protests spread from North Carolina to other Southern states.

By August 1961, the sit-ins had involved more than 70,000 interracial participants and generated some 3,000 arrests. They continued until the 1964 Civil Rights Act outlawed segregation at lunch counters and other public facilities such as movie theaters.

On July 25, 1960, after sustaining nearly $200,000 in losses ($1.8 million today), store manager Harris asked three black employees to change out of their work clothes and to order a meal at the counter. They were the first African-Americans to be served at the Greensboro Woolworth lunch counter. Most of the chain’s stores in the South were soon desegregated, though in some Tennessee cities, notably Nashville and Jackson, Woolworth’s continued to be segregated until 1965, despite multiple protests.

The Greensboro Four: (left to right) David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Ezell A. Blair, Jr., and Joseph McNeil.

While the Greensboro sit-in proved to be the most influential and significant sit-in of the civil rights movement, it was not the first. In August 1939, black attorney Samuel Wilbert Tucker organized a sit-in at the then-segregated Alexandria, Va., library. In 1942, the Congress of Racial Equality sponsored sit-ins in Chicago, as they did in St. Louis in 1949 and Baltimore in 1952. Also, a 1958 sit-in in Wichita, Kan., successfully ended segregation at every Dockum Drug Store in the state.

(via Politico)

On January 31, 1961 Ham Became the First Chimpanzee in Space

On the morning of January 31, 1961, in south Florida, a 5-year-old chimpanzee dubbed “Ham” by his handlers ate a breakfast of baby cereal, condensed milk, vitamins and half an egg. Then the unassuming 37-pound primate went out and made aeronautic history: Aboard a NASA space capsule, traveling thousands of miles an hour almost 160 miles above the Earth, he became the first chimp in space. The success of Ham’s flight helped ratchet up even further the already frantic contest for scientific and space supremacy between the U.S. and the Soviet Union and briefly made Ham something of a star.

Ham the chimp poses with a newspaper announcing his successful trip to space, 1961.

Beginning in July 1959, the two-year-old chimpanzee was trained under the direction of neuroscientist Joseph V. Brady at Holloman Air Force Base Aero Medical Field Laboratory to do simple, timed tasks in response to electric lights and sounds. During his pre-flight training, Ham was taught to push a lever within five seconds of seeing a flashing blue light; failure to do so resulted in an application of a light electric shock to the soles of his feet, while a correct response earned him a banana pellet.

The results from his test flight led directly to the mission Alan Shepard made on May 5, 1961, aboard Freedom 7.

On January 31, 1961, Ham was secured in a Project Mercury mission designated MR-2 and launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on a suborbital flight. Ham’s vital signs and tasks were monitored by sensors and computers on Earth. The capsule suffered a partial loss of pressure during the flight, but Ham’s space suit prevented him from suffering any harm.  Ham’s lever-pushing performance in space was only a fraction of a second slower than on Earth, demonstrating that tasks could be performed in space.  Ham’s capsule splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean and was recovered by the USS Donner later that day.  His only physical injury was a bruised nose. His flight was 16 minutes and 39 seconds long.

On April 5, 1963, Ham was transferred to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. where he lived for 17 years  before joining a small group of chimps at North Carolina Zoo on September 25, 1980.

After his death on January 19, 1983, Ham’s body was given to the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology for necropsy. Following the necropsy, the plan was to have him stuffed and placed on display at the Smithsonian Institution, following Soviet precedent with pioneering space dogs Belka and Strelka. However, this plan was abandoned after a negative public reaction. Ham’s remains, minus the skeleton, were buried at the International Space Hall of Fame in Alamogordo, New Mexico. Colonel John Stapp gave the eulogy at the memorial service. Ham’s skeleton is held in the collection of the National Museum of Health and Medicine.

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Queen of Montmartre: 18 Amazing Portraits of Louise Weber, aka La Goulue, From the Late 19th Century

The Moulin Rouge in Paris was a dance hall, brothel, and theater full of pleasurable extravagancy. It was a place where people of all different backgrounds came together to experience the revolutions of society. The morals and boundaries of everyday society were blatantly ignored, as an undeniable elasticity ruled the dance floor. At the Moulin Rouge, youthful dancers moved across the floor with an aura of seduction and inspiration. These dancers came to life among the can-can rhythms and revealing high-kicks. They came to life in the rapidly transformative atmosphere. And one of these dancers was the famous, shameless “Queen of Montmartre,” La Goulue.

Louise Weber (July 12, 1866 – January 29, 1929), aka La Goulue, was one of the most celebrated dancers at the Moulin Rouge. She had an outrageous spirit that was daring and outspoken. She had a personality that was captivating in its promiscuous charm. She had a strong passion for dance. Starting at a young age, Weber worked in a laundry with her mother, cleaning the garments of those more fortunate. However, Weber did not allow her laundress occupation stop her from dancing and fantasizing a life for herself in the dance halls of no rules, of transforming roles in society. Behind her mother’s back, Weber borrowed the garments left at the laundry by customers and went at night to the world where she truly belonged, the world of movement and dance. Dancing on tables in small clubs around Paris, flipping off mens hats with her toes, charming audiences with her fearless power and stance, lifting her skirts to reveal a heart embroidered on her underwear, gaining the attractions of the painter Auguste Renoir, and downing the contents of nearby customers drinks, Louise Weber became “the Glutton,” La Goulue.

When the Moulin Rouge first opened, La Goulue was there with her dance partner Jacques Renaudin, otherwise known as the very flexible “Valentin le Desosse,” ready to shine under the flashy dance floor. Performing the “chahut,” an early form of the can-can, La Goulue became a permanent headliner of the dance hall. She became a seductive sensation, a wild woman of fame. She was the highest paid entertainer of her day, gaining her earnings based on her captivating audaciousness and exciting movement. She was a dancer of much interest, becoming one of the favorites of Toulouse-Lautrec, the artist, who immortalized La Goulue in his many works of her.

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The Original Design of Mount Rushmore Before Funding Ran Out in 1941

A photograph shows the original design of Mount Rushmore — complete with each leader’s suited bust — before funding ran out in 1941.

Gutzon Borglum’s scale model that was used for carving the colossal sculpture ensemble at Mount Rushmore National Memorial, southwestern South Dakota, U.S.

Located in the Black Hills of South Dakota, Mount Rushmore was originally envisioned by Idaho-born sculptor Gutzon Borglum, who intended each figure to be its own standalone statue complete with detailed clothing from their respective time periods. 

But that’s not exactly how it played out. 

In 1927, President Calvin Coolidge promised federal funding for the project, and U.S. Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon secured full funding under the Mount Rushmore National Memorial Act, but Borglum declined, saying that he would only accept half and match the rest with private donations dollar for dollar. This, as it would later be revealed, was a major oversight. In total, the bill authorized funds up to $250,000 (equivalent to $4 million in 2022).

This is the final version of the plaster model used to carve Mount Rushmore located in the second studio at Mount Rushmore which was built in 1939 and finished in 1940.

As the Depression struck the U.S. in the 1930s, then-Sen. Peter Norbeck of North Dakota worked to maintain that construction would continue through emergency relief programs that were part of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, a program aimed at providing jobs to Americans through the construction of infrastructure, among other things. Funds from the New Deal were then matched with money allocated in the original bill. Funding was erratic and unpredictable and when the money ran dry, so did the work.

In the last two years of construction. Borglum traveled to secure funding while his son, Lincoln, would supervise construction. He died in Chicago following surgery on March 6, 1941. His death and the project’s lack of funds, coupled with logistical issues and the impending American involvement in World War II, ultimately led to the project being declared complete on Oct. 31, 1941.

(via Snopes)

January 26, 1905: The World’s Largest Diamond Is Found in South Africa

On 26 January, 1905 during his routine inspection Frederick made an unexpected discovery changing the world of diamonds. It was on this historical day that he discovered the world’s biggest diamond. The diamond was then named the Cullinan after the owner of the mine, Sir Thomas Cullinan, who was visiting the mine on that particular day. A replica of this marvel can be seen at the Cape Town Diamond Museum. But, what happened to this rough diamond?

Sir Thomas Cullinan at Premier Mine, South Africa in 1905.

After Frederick had made the discovery, the large Cullinan rough diamond was taken to the mine office to be weighed. To everyone’s surprise, the stone weighed in at a whopping 3,106.75 carats (621.35 g) (21.9 ounces), making it the largest diamond ever to be found. Many experts believe that the Cullinan diamond was only a fragment of an even bigger stone that still needed to be discovered. This rumor caused sparks amongst the mining community, who hoped to find the other half of the stone.

The magnificent diamond was insured for R17 million before it was carefully transported to England. Here a Premier London agent named, Sigismund Neumann kept the large diamond for safe keeping. When they transported the large diamond, they had to take extreme measures to keep it safe. The Cullinan was sent in a plain box via parcel post while detectives from London were asked to transport a replica as a decoy publicly. After the Anglo-Boer War, the Transvaal government bought the diamond for R2.4 million. The Cullinan was then presented to King Edward VII of the United Kingdom as a gift of goodwill on his 66th birthday in 1907.

The Cullinan diamond was presented to King Edward VII.

The diamond was then entrusted to I. J. Asscher and Co where it was divided in various large stones. When the famous diamond cutter received the large diamond, he studied it for months. At first, it was difficult to cut the Cullinan, but after months of careful planning, Asscher divided the diamond into nine major stones, ninety-six smaller stones and about 19.5 carats of unpolished diamonds. The two largest diamonds weighing 1,977 carats and 1,040 carats respectively in the rough.

The two larger diamonds, known as the Cullinan I and Cullinan II, were given to King Edward VII. The polished Cullinan I (530.20 carats) is the biggest stone of the nine diamonds and the polished Cullinan II (317.40 carats) the second most significant. Today the stone is also referred to as The Star of Africa (Cullinan I) and The Lesser Star of Africa (Cullinan II).

The Cullinan I diamond, also known as the Star of Africa.

The Cullinan III and Cullinan IV.

Both of these breathtakingly beautiful stones are on display in the Tower of London as part of the Crown Jewels. The Cullinan III is pear-shaped and weighs 94.40 carats. The diamond was originally an ornament on top of Queen Mary’s Crown. Today Queen Elizabeth II can be seen wearing the Cullinan IV as a pendant-brooch.

The Cullinan IV is a cushion shape diamond that weighs 63.60 carats. The stone was previously placed in the band of Queen Mary’s crown, but today it can be seen as the top part of Queen Elizabeth II’s pendant-brooch.

The Cullinan V worn as a brooch by Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth II.

The two largest Cullinan diamonds mounted in the Royal Regalia.

The Cullinan V is a triangular-pear shaped diamond and weighs 18.80 carats. First, it was worn as a brooch by Queen Mary but was then later used in the circlet of her crown as a substitute for the Koh-i-Noor (a famous colorless diamond that was found near Guntur, India). The Koh-i-Noor was utilized in the new crown for Queen Elizabeth in 1937. Today Queen Elizabeth II can be seen wearing it as a brooch.

The large Cullinan diamond that was discovered back in the 1900s has indeed become part of history. Not only is it the largest gem-quality diamond ever discovered, but it’s also part of the world’s most classic jewelry pieces. The Cullinan, in essence, is remarkable and will continue to amaze throughout history.

(via Cape Town Diamond Museum)

20 Amazing Photographs From the First Winter Olympics in Chamonix, France in 1924

The 1924 Winter Olympics were a winter multi-sport event which was held in 1924 in Chamonix, France. Originally held in association with the 1924 Summer Olympics, the sports competitions were held at the foot of Mont Blanc in Chamonix, and Haute-Savoie, France between 25 January and 5 February 1924. The Games were organized by the French Olympic Committee, and were originally reckoned as the “International Winter Sports Week.” With the success of the event, it was retroactively designated by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as “the first Olympic Winter Games”.

The tradition of holding the Winter Olympics in the same year as the Summer Olympics would continue until 1992, after which the current practice of holding a Winter Olympics in the second year after each Summer Olympics began.

Although Figure Skating had been an Olympic event in both London and Antwerp, and Ice Hockey had been an event in Antwerp, the winter sports had always been limited by the season. In 1921, at the convention of the IOC in Lausanne, there was a call for equality for winter sports, and after much discussion it was decided to organize an “international week of winter sport” in 1924 in Chamonix.

Medals were awarded in 16 events contested in 5 sports (9 disciplines). Many sources do not list curling and the military patrol, or list them as demonstration events. However, no such designation was made in 1924. In February 2006, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) ruled that curling was a full part of the Olympic program, and have included the medals awarded in the official count.

The Olympic medalists in figure skating are seen at the Winter Olympics in Chamonix, France, in 1924. Herma Planck-Szabo (from left) of Austria won gold, Ethel Muckelt of Britain won bronze and Beatrix Loughran of the United States won silver.

Charles Jewtraw became the first competitor to win a gold medal in a Winter Olympics when he sped to victory in the 500 meter speedskating event in Chamonix, France, 1924.

The United States is represented during opening ceremonies for the 1924 Winter Olympics in Chamonix, France, on Jan. 25, 1924.

The flags of the participating countries are draped in a semi-circle at the opening ceremony of the first Winter Olympic Games at Chamonix, France, on Jan. 25, 1924.

The Olympic Stadium at Chamonix, France, is seen in 1924.

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January 25, 1980: Paul McCartney Is Released From a Tokyo Jail and Deported From Japan

Paul McCartney and his family arrived at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport on January 16, 1980. The occasion was a planned 11-city concert tour by his band Wings. Instead, Paul’s visit was limited to a nine-day stint in the Tokyo Narcotics Detention Center, which ended on January 25, 1980.

McCartney was found to be carrying nearly half a pound (200 grams) of marijuana in his baggage upon arrival at Narita—an amount that Paul would later assure Japanese authorities was intended solely for his personal use.

“I didn’t try to hide it,” he said  in an interview a few months later. “I had just come from America and still had the American attitude that marijuana isn’t that bad. I didn’t realize just how strict the Japanese attitude is.”

By 1980 was Paul McCartney so famous that he believed that he couldn’t get arrested? Those things just don’t happen to him. That while the laws were strict, the officials would turn a blind eye to him because he was Paul McCartney who was doing a huge tour in their country and therefore would bring a lot of money? Paul said about when the official found the pot (which wasn’t really hard to find since was laying right on top of his clothing).

“When the fellow pulled it out of the suitcase, he looked more embarrassed than me,” McCartney recalled. “I think he just wanted to put it back in and forget the whole thing, you know, but there it was.”

The amount was large enough, however, to warrant a smuggling charge and a potential seven-year prison sentence. Given Japan’s reputation for rigorous enforcement of its strict anti-drug laws, it was by no means a foregone conclusion that McCartney would escape trial and possible imprisonment, yet he was released and quickly deported from Japan on January 25, 1980, prior to making any appearance in court.