As we arrive in 2014, we have had a look through the Manchester Evening News archive and have come up with a weird story from the 'good old days'

In 1875, we reported on a very unusual death. A factory worker was minding her own business, getting on with her job when a mouse suddenly dashed across her work table.

Hearing her panicked screams, a gallant co-worker rushed forward and grabbed the mouse. His hero status soon dissolved as the mouse ran up his sleeve and out again through his open-neck shirt.

As he gasped in surprise, the little critter darted into his mouth – and he swallowed it.

The report in the M.E.N. stated.... "That a mouse can exist for a considerable time without much air has long been a popular belief and was unfortunately proved to be a fact in the present instance, for the mouse began to tear and bite inside the man's throat and chest, and the result was that the unfortunate fellow died after a little time in horrible agony."

If only we'd had a website in the 19th century. That story would have gone viral