This history of page 3 girls in The Sun newspaper dates back to November 17th 1969, when the paper was re-launched as a tabloid. Owner Rupert Murdoch made page 3 into a glamour page with model Ulla Lindstrom posing suggestively in an unbuttoned shirt. In the year that followed, 3 more glamour photos were published but none contained nudity.

On November 17th 1970 the editor of The Sun - Larry Lamb published the first birthday edition with a nude photo on page 3. Rupert Murdoch was out of the country at the time and was unaware of the change. German model Stephanie Rahn who was 20 at the time, became The Sun newspaper's first official page 3 girl. Rahn who was pictured sitting from a side view was captioned "In her birthday suit".

Over the next four years The Sun published topless page 3 photos intermittently, eventually going daily in 1975. Up until page 3 became a regular feature, there had been little controversy, but the floodgates opened once it became a permanent fixture.

Rupert Murdoch was livid to begin with when the topless shots appeared, but a sales increase from 1.5 million units to 2.1 million in a year, cemented that from a sales point of view, Larry Lamb had made the right decision.

Page 3 Facts:

• Page 3 girls have generally been aged between 16 - 24.
• In 2003 the legal age for topless modelling was raised to 18 by the Sexual Offences Act.
• In the 80's and 90's page 3 would contain topical photos such as girls with tennis apparel for Wimbledon and national flags for patriotic days.
• In the 80's and early 90's, page 3 girls were celebrities outside of glamour modelling. The top girls back then would appear on TV on a regular basis, mainly on chat and quiz shows.
  
• In the late 90's breast implants were banned by The Sun. All girls such as Jordan and Melinda Messenger who had them were 'retired' from page 3
• Page 7 Fella was introduced by a female editior in 1988 but it couldn't rival the poularity of the page 3 girl and was dropped in the early 90's.
• Since 2002 The Sun have run an annual Page 3 Idol contest, where amateur models send in photos to be judged by the public. The winner goes on to receive a page 3 contract.
• Carsten Edwards who owns International Model Management is the biggest supplier of page 3 models in Britian, with over 100 on his books. 70 girls a week apply to be signed up by the agency.
• A semi successful page 3 girl can earn £30,000 - £40,000 a year. The most successful are earning around £100,000.
  

Samantha Fox is probably the most famous of all page 3 girls. Debuting at 16 and retiring at 20, Sam who appeared on page 3 in the mid eighties went on to have a successful music career in many parts of the world. India in particular took to Sam and she was given a role in Bollywood movie Rock Dancer.

Samantha Fox's personal life has been turbulent at times. Her father, who managed her career up until 1991, embezzled money from her accounts and after this they didn't speak again. He died in 2000.

She was twice involved with Peter Foster, an Australian con man who has been convicted of offences involving property deals and 'miracle' weightloss products. They parted the last time in 1995. Samantha has also been in a relationship with Paul Stanley of Kiss fame.

In 1994 Samantha Fox was said to have become a born again christian, she maintains that she had always been one and that her modelling career reconciled with this.

It was rumoured in 1999 that Samantha Fox was having a relationship with her female manager.This was never confirmed but in 2003 she stated that she was having a relationship with her new manager Myra Stratton, the couple are still together.

Although not primarily famous for being a page 3 girl, Jordan was one of the top until The Sun banned girls with implants. She has since gone from glamour model to entrepreneur and has various successful lines of products, including books (both adult and children's), lingerie, homewares and equestrian apparel.

Katie Price is estimated to have amassed a 30 million pound fortune.

Her private life has been full of drama, mainly all caught on camera for her reality TV show. Katie was left by the father of her first child before it was born. The child was then born with severe heath problems and will continue to need a carer for life.

In 2003 she was treated for cancer after a tumor was discovered on her finger.

Very recently, her much publicised marriage to Peter Andre has ended, and her management team have parted company with her in favour of staying with Peter Andre, whom they managed before the couple got together.