In film the big hits were Three Men and a Baby, The Untouchables, Angel Heart, Lethal Weapon, Fatal Attraction and The Last Emperor, with the latter winning the best picture Oscar.

In music the top selling singles were La Bamba by Los Lobos, Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley, I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) by Whitney Houston and With or Without You by U2.

On TV Inspector Morse made its debut, as did the hapless Chuckle brothers in the children’s TV classic Chucklevision, which is still being produced to this day.

Notable births included High School Musical star Zac Efron, Juno actress Ellen Page, musician Kate Nash, Russian tennis ace Maria Sharapova and Argentinian footballer Lionel Messi.

Notable deaths included artist Andy Warhol, musician Liberace, actors Lee Marvin and Rita Hayworth, and Rudolph Hess, a senior member of the Nazi party during the Second World War.

On July 3, Greater Manchester Police recovered the body of 16-year-old Pauline Reade from Saddleworth Moor after her killers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley helped them in their search. This was almost exactly 24 years since Pauline was last seen alive.