NICK EICHER, Host: Today is Monday, August 29th. good morning!this is the world and everything in it From the WORLD Radio that the listener supports. I’m Nick Iker.
Mary Reichard, Host: I’m Mary Reichard. Next is the WORLD History Book. This week marks her 25th anniversary from a death that shocked the world and a birth that changed the world.
EICHER: But first, let’s look back at the publication of American classics. I’m Colin Garbarino, arts and media editor.
Colin Garbarino: old man and sea It came out 70 years ago this week, but high school reading lists haven’t been the same since. Charlton Heston reads the beginning of Ernest Hemingway’s classic novel.
Heston: He was an old man fishing alone in a small boat on the Gulf Stream and he hadn’t caught a fish in 84 days. A boy was with him for the first 40 days. However, after 40 days without eating fish, the boy’s parents told him that the old man was now definitely and finally Salao, and that this was the worst form of bad luck, and that the boy had been sent to another boat on their orders. Caught 3 good fish for the first time in a week. The boy was sad to see the old man come every day with an empty skiff. The old man always came down to help carry the coiled fishing line or the gaff and the harpoon and the sail wrapped around the mast. The sails were patched with sacks of flour and rolled up to look like a flag of permanent defeat.
The story follows the adventures of Santiago, an old Cuban fisherman. His ill-fated streak seems to end when he hooks a giant marlin, but bringing in a giant fish becomes a life-and-death struggle that teaches readers to persevere.
Heston: He can’t do this forever. But after four hours the fish was steadily swimming out to sea, towing the boat.
The Scribners published the book in hardcover, but the full text was published the same week. life magazine. old man and sea It may have been the story of a failed fisherman, but the story soon proved to be a success. life It sold 5 million copies in just two days.
Hemingway won the Pulitzer Prize for this work the following year. old man and sea It was the last major work of fiction published by Hemingway during his lifetime.
And now, at the end of August 1997, we turn to a week that had both a tragic ending and an improbable beginning.
In the early hours of August 31st, Princess Diana died in a car accident in Paris. She and boyfriend Dodi Al Fayed were in the backseat of a black Mercedes as they raced through town trying to avoid the paparazzi. As the car was traveling twice his legal speed limit, the drunk French driver lost control and collided with a pillar in the tunnel.
Robin Cook: We know the princess is in the hospital. We are very shocked by this news. And the first thing we think about at the moment is the princess and her family, our ambassadors are in the hospital and will provide all the help they can. In the meantime, I would like to add that I think it would be a double tragedy if it became clear that part of this accident was caused by the princess’s persistent pursuit and her privacy by photographers. Thank you very much.
Fayde died at the crash site, but Diana was taken to a nearby hospital and died of her injuries hours later.
Announcer: This is BBC Television in London. Not long ago, Buckingham Palace confirmed the death of Princess Diana. The princess died in a car accident in Paris. she was 36 years old. The Queen and Prince of Wales are deeply shocked and distressed by this horrific news, according to a statement released by the palace.
Diana’s death caused nationwide grief. She received her royal funeral at Westminster Abbey a week after the accident.
audio: [Elton John singing]
And finally, today is Netflix’s 25th anniversary. The whole business took off as company founder Reed Hastings was stuck with his $40 late payment fee.he forgot to return the movie Apollo 13 to his local blockbuster.
REED HASTINGS: It made me think that I must not be the only one suffering from this late fee problem. I’m just starting to think about the Internet and DVDs.
He came up with the idea of mailing out a little red envelope that would allow him to distribute the film without spending too much.
Reed Hastings: So I packed up a bunch of CDs (I couldn’t afford DVDs at the time) and mailed them to myself. Bit along with my ideas. And the next day, the postman arrives at her at 3:00. When I tear open the envelope, the 1st is good, the 2nd is good, and the 3rd is good.
Hastings was confident at this point that his idea would work, but says Netflix wasn’t an overnight success. In the late 90s, few Americans owned DVD players, and the company lost tens of millions of dollars early on. But as DVD players got cheaper, Netflix subscriptions skyrocketed. However, the company continued to adapt, first pioneering the streaming revolution and then producing its own original content.
And a blockbuster? Well, let’s say nobody pays late fees anymore.
That is this week’s WORLD History Book. My name is Colin Garbarino.
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