Historical News Items
* The
first streak is alleged to have occurred at the University of South Carolina in
late January or early February, 1974. It
quickly spread to other campuses. At
the University of Maryland, mass streaks occurred, with up to 125 runners
flashing across the campus.
* The University of Maine held a meeting of the student senate to discuss how to handle streaking. It broke up when a naked man burst in a did a lap of the hall. - The Mirror, Sydney, 7 March, 1974
* A streaker ran
through a Kentucky Fried Chicken at St. Ives, Sydney. "'I just couldn't believe it for a while,' one customer, Mr J.
Cleary said. 'The guy was wearing
only a gold hat. In fact he reminded me of a plucked chicken. He almost put me off my dinner.'" -The Mirror, 9 March, 1974
* Phil Canard performed the first "sky streak" by parachuting into the West Georgia College parking lot before a cheering audience of 2000 students. He wore only tennis shoes and carried a flare during the 610 metre descent. - The Mirror, 8 March, 1974
* President Nixon was said to have acknowledged the new craze when asked by a journalist about his greying hair. "With a broad grin, the President shook his head and said: 'They call it streaking.'" - The Mirror, 8 March, 1974
*
During
a march to demand the impeachment of Richard Nixon, five streakers, wearing only
Nixon masks, ran through the good-natured crowd. This tactic cannot be underestimated since Nixon was eventually removed
from office. - The New York Times, April 28, 1974
* A streaker wearing tennis shoes, an orange cap and a home made cloth mask ran into the LBJ library auditorium in Austin, Texas as journalist Walter Cronkite was accepting an award for outstanding achievement. Security men dragged the man away, past a blushing Cronkite and a laughing Lady Bird Johnson. - The Sydney Morning Herald, 11 March, 1974
* A young man streaked up and down the aisle of a TWA jet bound for Pittsburg from Chicago after telling the stewardess "'You'd better get out of the way.' Police let the young man go, because none of the 127 passengers would file charges against him." - The Sun, 18 March, 1974
* On a train in Nevada, three men were polite enough to announce they intended to streak so that anyone who might be offended could leave. The passengers promptly put on bets that the streakers wouldn't go through with it, and of course, had to pay out. The men "gave the money to two young couples on the train to pay for their marriage licences." - Article headline: Streakers wore hats, The Mirror, 20 March, 1974
* A streaker ran along a Yorkshire
railway line, before running around Angela Eddon's house and knocking on her
door."' He was naked, except
for white sandshoes and a cornflakes box over his head with a couple of holes
cut for him to see out,' she said. 'He
was carrying a white bag. He said
he had not had love for two years, so I told him to clear off and get some.
"'I asked him to get dressed and leave but he said he wouldn't until I sang
I'm Sitting On Top of the World with him. So
I did... He climbed on a van roof,
I stood on the ground - and we sang.'
"Police said the streaker was fair-haired and well-spoken. 'We'd very much like to find him,'" - The Mirror, 14 April, 1974
* When a passenger took off his clothes on a British Airways jumbo, the pilot reduced the temperature, but when the man refused to put his clothes back on, travelling steadfastly naked from Frankfurt to London, the pilot radioed police, who handcuffed the offender on arrival and took him away. "It was better than the movie," one passenger said. - The Sun, 19 August, 1976
* During a one day international between Australia and England, 19 year old Sheila
Nicholls, described as "shapely" by newspapers, ran onto the Lords
pitch and cavorted before 25,000 fans. She
had not been drinking, and streaked because "someone said it would be funny
if there was a streaker, and suddenly I had this urge. I waited for the over to finish before going on to the pitch. It wouldn't be cricket to interrupt play." Having escaped a number of police officers, she "rounded it off with
a cartwheel."
Led from the field into the pavillion, the Australian players wanted to shake
her hand, and "a big fat chap with an MCC tie strode up to me and said
'Jolly well done.' That made me feel much better." She was merely cautioned for disorderly behaviour.
Newspaper commentators delighted in her appearance, one pointed out that a naked
female, as opposed to a nude one, was a refreshing sight, and "she was as
white and lumpy as the rest of us." -
The Mirror, 30-31 May, 1989, The Telegraph, 7 June, 1989
* The first female streaker at a snooker match shocked the hell out of everyone during a nationally televised final of the Benson and Hedges Masters series in Britain. Lianne Crofts, 22, did three laps around the table because she thought the "depressingly boring" game needed a lift. "Six times world champion Steve Davis later complained he only saw Crofts' back because he was concentrating so hard." - The Daily Telegraph, 11 February, 1997
* Mortuary body arrested for streaking
A man arrested for streaking down a Melbourne street was released without charge
after police heard his excuse. The man explained that he was in rather a hurry
to get away from the local mortuary, where a doctor had just pronounced him
officially dead.
Summarised from an item in the Guardian at www.globalideasbank.org/soonlat/
* Many of these news items were obtained from Australian newspapers, although the New York Times has proved very useful in my research.