Wobbly sets, missed cues, and a certain woolly hat brightened up the lives of millions as cult soap Crossroads got its first national airing.

David Bowie lost his monopoly on bizarre eye colour as Estee Lauder launched the first tinted contact lenses. At last men had an excuse for forgetting the colour of their girlfriends' eyes.

Film fans everywhere stuffed their cheeks with cotton wool to recreate Marlon Brando's immortal wedding speech from The Godfather, released this year.

John Lennon's "communist" views got him into a spot of bother with US Immigration, who initially refused to renew his visa.

A man wearing only a scary beard ushered in the sexual revolution as Dr Alex Comfort�s illustrated Joy of Sex manual was published for the first time. Polaroid cameras were another of the year�s biggest sellers

Candles made a comeback as electricity blackouts caused by the miners� strike left Britain in darkness.

Peter Falk donned a battered trenchcoat for the first time, as cigar-chewing detective Columbo.