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February 3
1959: Buddy Holly killed in air crash
Holly was taking his career in a new direction, as a soloist, when he was
killed
1945: Auschwitz death camp liberated
England have
Three young rock 'n' roll stars have been killed in a plane crash in the
United States.
Buddy Holly, 22, Jiles P Richardson - known as the Big Bopper - 28, and
Ritchie Valens, 17, died in a crash shortly after take-off from Clear Lake, Iowa
at 0100 local time.
The pilot of the single-engined Beechcraft Bonanza plane was also
killed.
Early reports from the scene suggest the aircraft spun out of control
during a light snowstorm.
Only the pilot's body was found inside the wreckage as the performers were
thrown clear on impact.
Holly hired the plane after heating problems developed on his tourbus.
All three were travelling to Fargo, North Dakota, the next venue in their
Winter Dance Party Tour
Holly had set up thegruellingschedule of concerts - covering 24 cities in
three weeks - to make money after the break-up of his band, The Crickets, last
year.
Born Charles Hardin Holley - changed to Holly after a misspelling on a
contract - he had several hit records, including a number one, in the US and UK
with That'll be the Day in 1957.
A singer and guitarist, he was inspired by Elvis Presley after seeing him
at an early concert in his home town of Lubbock, Texas.
With Presley serving in the Army, some critics expected Holly to take over
his crown.
Richard Valenzuela was the first Mexican American to break into mainstream
music, after being discovered by record producer Bob Keane, who changed his name
to Ritchie Valens.
He had made three albums and achieved a number two chart position in the US
with his composition Donna - about his girlfriend - in 1958.
His rock 'n' roll re-working of the traditional Mexican song La Bamba - on
the B-side of Donna - has also received acclaim.
The Big Bopper had been a record-breaking radio DJ - with a 122-hour
marathon stint - and reached number six in the American charts with his record
Chantilly Lace.
Harold Macmillan's visit to South Africa was always controversial
1960: Macmillan speaks of 'wind of change' in Africa
Artificially 1969:
The The Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, has had a frosty reception from
politicians in South Africa politicians after speaking frankly against the
country's system ofapartheid.
In a speech to MPs in the Houses of Parliament in Cape Town, Mr Macmillan
spoke of the "wind of change" blowing through the continent of Africa, as more
and more majority black populations in the colonies claim the right to rule
themselves.
"Whether we like it or not," he said, "this growth of national
consciousness is a political fact."
The government's aim, he said, was to "create a society which respects the
rights of individuals - a society in which individual merit, and individual
merit alone, is the criterion for a man's advancement, whether political or
economic."
Nationalist Party politicians listened to him in silence, and a number
refused to applaud when he had finished.
Dr Verwoerd, the South African Prime Minister and the architect of the
apartheid system, thanked Mr Macmillan for his speech, but said he could not
agree.
"We are the people who brought civilisation to Africa," he said. "To do
justice in Africa means not only being just to the black man of Africa, but also
to the white man of Africa."
Mr Macmillan's speech is the first time a senior international figure has
given voice to the growing protest against South Africa's laws of strict racial
segregation.
The speech was widely anticipated throughout the country, as Mr Macmillan
had already said he would take the chance to say what he thought about the
situation in South Africa.
Even so, the plain-speaking nature of the speech took many in Cape Town by
surprise.
Mr Macmillan is in South Africa at the end of a month-long tour of the
African continent, in which he has travelled about 17,000 miles.
His visit was always controversial, and many accused him of giving the
Nationalist Party credibility by allowing himself to be a guest of the South
African government.
His speech today is likely to lay those criticisms to rest.
Vocabulary:
gruelling: characterized by toilsome effort to the point of exhaustion;
especially physical effort(极度紧张的;精疲力竭的)
apartheid: a social policy or racial segregation involving political and
economic and legal discrimination against non-whites(南非的种族隔离) |
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发表于 2016-7-9 23:58:11