SEPTEMBER 17, 2021 ON THIS DAY
FROM THE ARCHIVE
SEPTEMBER 17, 1971 THE cost of the two-pound loaf of bread is to rise by one penny. The increase comes after the Minister for Industry and Commerce, Patrick Lalor, accepted advice from the Flour and Bread Prices Advisory Body. The rise will come in two phases: an immediate 1p increase on the two-pound loaf and a 1/2p hike on New Year’s Day. These are the second rises on bread and wheat this year. The announcement was met with general annoyance and resignation among the public yesterday, with one customer at H Williams on Lower Baggot Street, Dublin, saying: ‘It’s a disgrace. As usual, the ordinary people have to take the hit, while rich people like Lalor can afford to eat bread until the cows come home.’ SEPTEMBER 17, 1977 SINGER Marc Bolan has died in a car crash. The glam rock star was a passenger in a Mini 1275GT driven by Gloria Jones as they headed home from Mortons club and restaurant in Berkeley Square, London. It is believed that, after crossing a humpback bridge near Gipsy Lane, the Mini hit a fence post and then a tree. Bolan was killed instantly, while Jones suffered a broken arm and jaw. It has been said that Bolan never learned to drive, as he feared a premature death.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
BAZ LUHRMANN, 59. The Australian director, right, of Strictly Ballroom, Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge! says he grew up on a ‘farm and a tiny gas station in the middle of absolutely nowhere’. He was born Mark Anthony but changed his name to ‘Bazmark’ after being called Basil Brush by other kids, due to his hair. DAMON HILL, 61. The former racing driver, who lived in Killiney, Co. Dublin, during the late Nineties, is the son of another world champion, Graham Hill, who died in a plane crash when Damon was 15. He admitted this year he had been sent on a speed awareness course, in which participants could put any name on their badges. ‘I couldn’t help it. I put “The Champ”, which was probably a bit cheeky,’ he said.
BORN ON THIS DAY
HANK WILLIAMS (1923-1953). The US country and western singer-songwriter’s hits include Hey, Good Lookin’ and I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry, the latter of which was described by Elvis Presley as ‘probably the saddest song I’ve ever heard’. Williams, right, died at 29 of a heart attack in the back of a blue Cadillac on the way to a show.
ON SEPTEMBER 17 . . .
In 1798, 3,000 French soldiers depart for Ireland from Brest. In 1903, Frank O’Connor, author of Guests Of The Nation, is born in Cork. In 1920, Chaim Herzog, a former president of Israel, is born in Ireland. In 1976, Peace Movement founders Mairead Corrigan and Betty Williams are awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace In 2000, Bob Geldof’s former wife Paula Yates is found dead aged 41.
WORD WIZARDRY GUESS THE DEFINITION:
Propinquity (coined late 14th century)
A) Support. B) The attraction of the opposite sex at breeding time C) Nearness in time or space.
Answer below.
PHRASE EXPLAINED
Russian roulette: Refers to a game where players put a bullet in one of a revolver’s six chambers, spin it, then press the trigger with the gun at their head. It is said to have come from Tsarist Russian army officers who gambled this way.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
I’d rather be dead than cool. Kurt Cobain (1967-1994)
JOKE OF THE DAY
WHAT’S an astronaut’s favourite part of the computer? The space bar. Guess The Definition answer: C.