News flash 1978: Grease was the word in a time of intrigue.

THE Vatican was the focus of the world's attentions in 1978 as Pope John Paul I - dubbed 'the Smiling Pope' - died after the shortest Papal reign in history. A surprise candidate when elected just 33 days earlier, he died of a heart attack while reading in bed on September 29.

But a whiff of conspiracy hung over his death with some Catholic groups calling for a full investigation into the circumstances. They believed the liberal working class Pope had been poisoned in a plot by the Papal See's traditionalist wing, although the accusations were never widely accepted.

Just over two weeks later, Catholics around the world were surprised when Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, the Archbishop of Krakov, was chosen.

He was the first non-Italian Pope for more than 400 years and barely known outside his native Poland. Pope John Paul II was also the youngest of the 20th century at just 58 years old.

Politically, 1978 was a turbulent year for one-time Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe, accused in court of plotting to kill his former gay lover and dispose of the body.

The 49-year-old politician was charged with three others with conspiracy to murder Norman Scott, with whom he was alleged to have had an affair in the 1960s.

The trial didn't actually take place until the following year, just after the 1979 general election in which Mr Thorpe lost his seat, and all four defendants were cleared.

Also making headlines was newborn Louise Brown, the world's first 'test tube baby'.

Using a technique pioneered by gynaecologist Patrick Steptoe, she was born at Oldham and District General Hospital on July 25. By 1999, when Louise celebrated her 21st birthday, 300,000 women worldwide had conceived through IVF.

On TV and film, youth was very much to the fore with the arrival of Britain's first kids' soap - Grange Hill - and the blockbuster movie of the year, Grease.

Grange Hill, which launched the careers of actors Todd Carty, Susan Tully and Michelle Gayle amongst others, was created by Mersey TV boss Phil Redmond and was adored by young viewers.

Grease, meanwhile, was the one everyone wanted. Queues formed outside cinemas as millions clamoured to see the movie musical which made huge stars of Olivia Newton John and John Travolta

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COMINGS AND GOINGS: Olivia Newton John and John Travolta, Louise Brown, Pope John Paul I, Pope John Paul II and Jeremy Thorpe