What a great year 1976 was – ABBA topped the charts with Dancing Queen, Starsky …

What a great year 1976 was – ABBA topped the charts with Dancing Queen, Starsky and Hutch debuted on Australian TV, Sylvester Stallone starred in Rocky I and a Perth Customs officer named Leon Tate developed the first X-ray machine capable of scanning the contents of sealed articles of mail.
Tate, an ex- RAAF radio navigation officer, built a primitive medical X-ray fluoroscope that could penetrate through mail and parcel items, giving a satisfactory image of hidden concealments.
The ‘fluoroscope’ was first used to screen mail for letter bombs but over the years the apparatus was used to detect other items including drugs and jewellery.
Within two years, Tate’s machines were in place at major Postal Control centres…