07 September-Buddy Holly

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Buddy Holly was a musician, singer and songwriter who was a native of the USA. In his short lifetime he made a major and lasting impact on popular music. Holly was a member of a musical family and he wrote his own material. His music was influenced by country and rhythm and blues music.

Buddy Holly was born Charles Hardin Holley in 1936 in the city of Lubbock, north-western Texas. He learned to play musical instruments at an early age. By the age of 16 he and a friend had formed a group called Buddy and Bob. They regularly performed country and western music on a radio station in their home town and became an act in demand locally.

When Elvis Presley performed in Lubbock in 1955 Buddy and Bob were the opening act. Witnessing Elvis Presley perform was the beginning of the transition of Buddy Holly from ‘Country and Western’ music to ‘Rock and Roll’ music. He formed a band which eventually came to be called the Crickets and had his first hit with ‘That’ll Be the Day’ in 1957. By august 1958 Holly and The Crickets had had seven recordings in the Top 40 Charts.

Holly married Maria Elena Santiago in Lubbock on August 15, 1958. He split up with the Crickets and his manager in late 1958 and moved with Maria to live in Greenwich Village, New York. Due to legal problems over his split with his manager he was short of money. He agreed to go on a tour of 24 cities in the American Midwest beginning in January 1959.

Following a performance at Clear Lake, Iowa, Holly, accompanied by Richie Valens and J. P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson, hired a small plane to take them to their next venue. The venue was over 500km away in Moorhead, Minnesota. On February 3^rd 1959 the plane crashed shortly after take-off, killing all on board. Buddy Holly was only 22 years old but the 32 songs he recorded made a major impact on popular music. The phrase ‘The Day the Music Died’ in the Don McLean song ‘American Pie’, refers to the death of Buddy Holly.

Buddy Holly, musician, singer and songwriter, was born in the year 1936 On This Day

Photo by DrBob317

Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame Museum

Wedding Anniversary of Rita and Bernard

22 June-Kris Kristofferson

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Kris Kristofferson is an internationally renowned singer-songwriter, musician and actor who is a native of America. His most famous recordings include ‘Me and Bobby McGee’ and ‘Help Me Make It Through the Night’, songs which he wrote himself. Kristofferson has also had a successful acting career. He has appeared in films such as ‘Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore’ and ‘A Star Is Born’.

Kris Kristofferson was born Kristoffer Kristofferson in Brownsville, Texas in 1936. He excelled academically and was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University, England. Having graduated in 1960 he had a successful career in the U.S. Army. He left the Army in 1965 to pursue a career as a songwriter. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2004. He won a Golden Globe Award in 1976 for his role in the film ‘A Star is Born’.

Kris Kristofferson, internationally renowned singer-songwriter, musician and actor was born in the year 1936 On This Day.

Photo by Joerg Neuner

Kris Kristofferson

17 December-Pope Francis

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Pope Francis was elected to the Papacy on March 13^th 2013. He is the 266^th Pope of the Catholic Church. He is also the first Pope from the Americas and the first Jesuit to become Pontiff. Highly popular, Pope Francis is followed by almost 16 million people on Twitter.

Pope Francis was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1936. He was ordained to the priesthood on December 13^th 1969 and served as archbishop of Buenos Aires from 1998 to 2013. He was created as cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church of Argentina in 2001. He served as Cardinal until he was elected to the Papacy in 2013.

Pope Francis was born in Buenos Argentina in the year 1936 On This Day.

Photo by pietropiupparco

Pope Francis

18 July-Spanish Civil War

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General Francisco Franco was the leader of the Nationalist forces during the Spanish Civil War. The war, which lasted from 1936 to 1939, led to the overthrow of the elected government by the Nationalist forces. After the civil war Franco took control of Spain. For the following thirty 35 years he ruled Spain until his death in 1975.

Francisco Franco was born in the city of Ferrol, Galicia in north western Spain on December 4th 1892. He graduated from the Infantry Academy at Toledo in 1910 and volunteered to serve in Spanish Morocco. He distinguished himself as an officer and rose quickly through the ranks. He gained a reputation as a dedicated soldier who paid careful attention the well-being of the soldiers under his command. He was appointed to command the Spanish Foreign Legion in 1923.

The Republican Popular Front were victorious in the 1936 Spanish general election. By then Franco was chief of staff of the Spanish army. The new government was unable to establish economic stability and Franco appealed to the government to declare a state of emergency. His appeal was refused and he was removed from his post and sent to a command in the Canary Islands. He refused to join groups who were rebelling against the government at first but eventually joined the rebels. In July 1936 he issued a manifesto proclaiming a military rebellion and marched on Madrid.

The civil war which followed lasted for three years. Irish volunteers fought on both sides during the war. 320 Irish men fought with the International Brigade in support of government forces. Over 600 Irish men travelled to Spain in support of General Franco. Franco was victorious in a war that saw an estimated half a million people killed. Five months after the war ended in 1939, World War II began. Though Franco was inclined to support the Axis he declared that Spain would be neutral in the conflict.

Franco established an autocratic dictatorship. Following a referendum in 1947 to restore the monarchy he confirmed himself as lifetime regent. He remained in power until his death on November 20^th 1975 at the age of 82. He was succeeded by King Juan Carlos. The new king restored Spain to a system of democratic constitutional monarchy.

General Francisco Franco issued a manifesto proclaiming a military rebellion, which marked the beginning of the Spanish Civil War in the year 1936 On This Day.

Photo by Stockholm Transport Museum Commons

Soldiers on their way to the front during the Spanish Civil War

Photo by The National Archives UK

Spanish Civil War Medal

Photo by ell brown

The Mosque Cathedral of Cordoba – Spanish Civil War memorial 1936 – 1939

02 February-Tony Ryan

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Tony Ryan was an Irish aviation entrepreneur who became a successful businessman and philanthropist. He was the founder of Guinness Peat Aviation and a co-founder Ryanair.

Thomas Anthony “Tony” Ryan was born near Thurles, County Tipperary, Ireland where his father was a train-driver. When he finished school he began working at a Factory in Thurles. He later joined the staff of Aer Lingus working at Shannon Airport.

With Aer Lingus and the investment company Guinness Peat Group Tony Ryan founded the aircraft leasing company Guinness Peat Aviation (GPA) in 1975. Guinness Peat Aviation had its headquarters at Shannon Airport in the Shannon Tax Free Zone. It became the biggest aircraft leasing company in the world.

In 1985 Ryan co-founded an airline company called Ryanair. The company provided daily flights from Waterford Airport to London Gatwick using a 15-seater aircraft. The airline carried over 5,000 passengers in its first year. The following year Ryanair launched new services from Dublin to London Luton. Passenger numbers began to grow rapidly so that by 1992 Ryanair carried almost a million passengers.

In that same year (1992) Guinness Peat Aviation imploded when an Initial Public Offering failed and Tony Ryan lost almost everything. He concentrated on Ryanair and though he recovered some of his losses he made in GPA in 2,000 it was through the airline company that he became a wealthy man again. Ryan was a generous patron of the arts. He also funded various education initiatives. University College Galway and Dublin City University both benefited from his donations.

Tony Ryan, co-founder of Ryanair, was born near Thurles, County Tipperary in the year 1936 On This Day.

Photo by infomatique

Tony Ryan Academy Citywest Campus – Dublin