Today in History-September 5
Mother Teresa - revered as a living saint1997: Mother Teresa dies
England have
Mother Teresa, the Nobel Peace Prize winner who devoted her life to helping
the sick and the poor, has died at the age of 87.
She died of a heart attack at the headquarters of the Missionaries of
Charity in Calcutta shortly before 1700 BST.
The Albanian nun had been battling ill health for some years, and in March
stepped down as head of the order of nuns she founded.
She was revered by many around the world as a living saint for her work
with the dispossessed.
The Pope often praised her work and a Vatican spokesman told reporters he
was "deeply hurt" by the news of her death.
"The Pope believes she is a woman who has left her mark on the history of
this century," he said.
The head of the Catholic church in England and Wales, Cardinal Hume, said
she was an "enormously significant figure - everyone knows who Mother Teresa
is".
Born Agnes Bojaxhiu in the village of Skopje, then in Albania, she took the
name Sister Teresa in Ireland, where she began her training as a nun with the
Loreto Sisters.
She founded her order in 1948 and went out to work in the slums of
Calcutta.
She was sometimes accused by Hindus in her adopted country of trying to
convert the poor to Catholicism by "stealth" and criticised by liberals who
disliked her conservative stance on abortion and contraception.
But her biographer and friend Navin Chana said she would be remembered as
someone who "gave the word compassion a new dimension".
The new direct-dial call boxes will make phone calls cheaper and easier
1959: UK's first trunk call from a pay phone
Artificially 1969: FilmTheTheAA The UK's first trunk dialling system from a
public call-box has been inaugurated in Bristol today.
It is the start of a countrywide service that will eventually replace the
current Button A and Button B pre-payment system.
The Deputy Lord Mayor phoned the Lord Mayor of London, dialling the number
himself.
The new streamlined coin phone boxes have slots for 3d, 6d and 1s pieces.
Money cannot be put in until the call is answered.
A series of pips indicates when the time paid for is running out and the
caller must insert more coins to carry on talking.
Subscriber Trunk Dialling was introduced in the Bristol area last December
which meant 18,000 subscribers are now able to make trunk calls without the aid
of the operator.
The system was launched by Her Majesty the Queen on 5 December 1958 during
a ceremony in which she made a direct long-distance call from Bristol Central
Telephone Exchange to the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, more than 300 miles (482km)
away.
Her call lasted two minutes five seconds and cost 10d (four pence).
This latest move to introduce coin boxes is part of Post Master General
Ernest Marples' 5m scheme to modernise the phone system in an effort to
popularise use of the telephone.
Mr Marples described the new system as "quite revolutionary" and "good
value for money".
However, automatic dialling will inevitably lead to job losses.
Vocabulary:
stance: the mental attitude, position, or approach a person adopts in
respect to something(姿态)
contraception:birth control by the use of devices (diaphragm or
intrauterine device or condom) or drugs or surgery(避孕)
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