Brazilian soccer star Pelé
Credit: © Nelson Antoine, Shutterstock

World-renowned soccer star, Pelé passed away in São Paulo, Brazil, on Thursday, December 29th. Despite retiring in 1974, Pelé still held world records for the sport. Pelé a Brazilian athlete, won fame as the greatest soccer player of his time and the most recognized athlete in world sports.

A forward, Pelé electrified crowds with his daring dribbling, perfect passing, and accurate shooting. He holds every major scoring record in Brazil, and scored 1,281 goals in 1,363 games during his professional career. Pelé is the only professional soccer player to score 1,000 goals in a career.

Pelé, a Brazilian athlete, won fame as the greatest soccer player of his time and became one of the most recognized athletes in the world. A forward, Pelé thrilled crowds with his daring dribbling, perfect passing, and accurate shooting.
Credit: © AFP/Getty Images

Pelé was born on Oct. 23, 1940, in Tres Coracoes, Brazil. His real name is Edson Arantes do Nascimento. Pelé joined the Santos (Brazil) Football Club in 1956 and led Santos to world club titles in 1962 and 1963. He is the only soccer player to have played on three world championship teams, leading the Brazilian national team to World Cup championships in 1958, 1962, and 1970. Pelé is the only player in the world who has won three World Cup championships.

In the 1958 World Cup, Pelé was 17 years old. He scored six goals in the tournament, including two in the final to defeat Sweden. His skill landed Brazil their first of five World Cups.

Pelé retired as a player in 1974 but returned to competition in 1975 with the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League (N.A.S.L.). Pelé retired again after leading the Cosmos to the N.A.S.L. championship in 1977. He is known for popularizing soccer in the United States. He wrote a children’s book about his life in soccer, For the Love of Soccer! (2010).

Benedict XVI, Pope of the Roman Catholic Church from 2005 to 2013
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On Saturday, December 31st, former Pope Benedict XVI passed away at the age of 95. Many people worldwide will gather and tune in to watch his funeral on Thursday, January 5th, at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. Nearly 40,000 people visited the Basilica to pay respects to the late pope on Monday. Benedict was pope of the Roman Catholic Church from 2005 to 2013, when he resigned. Benedict succeeded Pope John Paul II. Benedict, a German, was only the second non-Italian pope since Adrian VI of the Netherlands, who held the office from 1522 to 1523. John Paul II of Poland was the first non-Italian pope since Adrian.

Benedict XVI was born Joseph Alois Ratzinger on April 16, 1927, in Marktl am Inn in the German state of Bavaria. He began his religious life at the age of 12 by entering St. Michael’s Seminary in the Bavarian city of Traunstein. During World War II (1939-1945), he was drafted into the German army, serving from 1943 until he deserted in the spring of 1945. He was held for a short time by American forces as a prisoner of war. He began preparing for the priesthood in November 1945.

Ratzinger was ordained a priest in 1951. He earned a Ph.D. in theology at Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich in 1953. As a young theologian, Ratzinger contributed to the work of Vatican Council II (1962-1965). He taught for several years at the universities of Bonn, Munster, and Tubingen, before serving as professor of dogmatic theology and the history of dogma at the University of Regensburg from 1969 to 1977. In March 1977, he became archbishop of Munich and Freising, and three months later, Pope Paul VI appointed him a cardinal.

The daily life of the pope includes meeting with groups of Roman Catholics who visit Rome. In this picture, Benedict XVI greets a gathering of people in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City.
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Ratzinger resigned as archbishop in 1982 after John Paul II appointed him prefect of the Congregation for Doctrine of the Faith in 1981. In this position, the cardinal was responsible for reinforcing Catholic orthodoxy—that is, upholding accepted beliefs. In 2002, Ratzinger was elected dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals.

By choosing the name Benedict, the pope placed his pontificate under the inspiration of Saint Benedict of Nursia, the founder of the Benedictine Order. The Benedictines played a major role in the religious and cultural revival of Europe after the West Roman Empire ended in the late 400′s.

Benedict wrote numerous books on theology. They include Introduction to Christianity (1968, new edition 2000), In the Beginning (1990), Called to Communion (1996), Many Religions, One Covenant (1999), The Spirit of the Liturgy (2000), and Values in Times of Upheaval (2005). He discussed his views on the church and related topics in two volumes of interviews, The Ratzinger Report (1985) and Salt of the Earth (1997). He also wrote an autobiography, Milestones: Memoirs 1927-1977 (1998).

Benedict resigned as pope in 2013, stating that because of his age, he no longer had the strength to fulfill his duties. He was the first pope to resign in nearly 600 years. He kept the name Benedict XVI and became pope emeritus.

American country music star Loretta Lynn
Credit: © Waring Abbott, Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Loretta Lynn was one of the most popular singers in the history of American country music. Lynn grew up in poverty in the Appalachian Mountains region of Kentucky. She began her singing career in her early 20′s and was known as “the Country Queen” by the mid-1960′s. Her younger sister Crystal Gayle also became a popular country singer. The two often toured together. Lynn passed away on Oct. 4, 2022.

Lynn was born on April 14, 1932, in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky. Her name at birth was Loretta Webb. She married Oliver Vanetta Lynn, Jr., at the age of 15 and had four children by the time she was 20. She began writing songs and teaching herself to play the guitar while raising her family. Her husband became her business manager and guided her singing career.

Lynn began her recording career with “I’m a Honky Tonk Girl” in 1960. She also made her first appearance on the “Grand Ole Opry” radio program that year. She composed and recorded several hits during the next 10 years, which included “Success” (1961), “Don’t Come Home A’Drinkin’” (1966), “Fist City” (1968), and “Coal Miner’s Daughter” (1969).

The Country Music Association voted Lynn Female Vocalist of the Year several times. She was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 1962 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1988. Her autobiographical book Loretta Lynn: Coal Miner’s Daughter (1976) became a best seller and was made into a popular motion picture in 1980. A second volume of her autobiography, Still Woman Enough, was published in 2002. Lynn also wrote the memoir Me & Patsy Kickin’ Up Dust (2020), about her friendship with the country music singer Patsy Cline. In 2013, Lynn received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, one of the country’s highest civilian honors.

In June 2012, Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her Diamond Jubilee (60th anniversary as queen) at Chelsea Pier in London.
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People around the world are mourning the loss of Elizabeth II, the queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. She became queen when her father, King George VI, died in 1952. Her reign was the longest in British history. She passed away at the age of 96 on Thursday, September 8, after ruling for seventy years. She spent her last weeks at Balmoral Castle in Grampian Region, Scotland, and died surrounded by family members. Thousands of people from all over the world lined the streets of London to pay respects at the Queen’s funeral today, September 19. The state funeral was held at Westminster Abbey. The Queen was married and crowned at Westminster Abbey. The ceremony was followed by a procession through London to a chapel in Windsor Castle, the Queen’s final resting place near her husband Prince Philip.

As a constitutional monarch, Queen Elizabeth was formally head of state in the United Kingdom. But she had no power over what the British government does. Laws are formally enacted in the name of the queen, but their content is the responsibility of the government.

Elizabeth Alexandra Mary was born in London on April 21, 1926. Her father was the Duke of York, second son of King George V. Her mother—Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother—was the former Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the daughter of a Scottish earl.

Elizabeth’s father became king in 1936 after his older brother, King Edward VIII, gave up the throne to marry a divorced American woman. This event greatly changed the course of 10-year-old Elizabeth’s life. It made her the heir to the throne, since George VI had no sons and she was the older of his two daughters.

Princess Elizabeth spent most of her childhood at Windsor Castle, in Windsor, near London. The castle is the British royal family’s main residence outside of London. Buckingham Palace, in London, is the family’s main residence. Princess Elizabeth and her sister, Princess Margaret (1930-2002), were educated at home by governesses. In March 1945, during World War II, Elizabeth joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service, a support branch of the military. She joined to train as a mechanic to repair military vehicles for the war effort. But Elizabeth served only until May, when the war in Europe ended.

Princess Elizabeth married Philip Mountbatten, a British naval lieutenant and member of the Greek royal family, on Nov. 20, 1947. Her husband became Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (1921-2021). When King George’s health began to fail, Princess Elizabeth and her husband began to undertake more public duties. The king died on Feb. 6, 1952, and Princess Elizabeth succeeded him as the British monarch that day. The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II took place on June 2, 1953, in Westminster Abbey, London.

Queen Elizabeth II poses during her coronation at London’s Westminster Abbey in 1953.
Credit: © Cecil Beaton, Camera Press/Redux Pictures

After a general election, the queen formally appoints the prime minister. In practice, this person is the leader of the majority party in the democratically elected House of Commons. The queen has a weekly meeting with the prime minister to discuss public affairs. The prime minister is not obligated to act on her advice, but may find it useful because of her many years of experience. The Queen welcomed 15 prime ministers in her career, including Prime Minister Liz Truss who assumed the role this Tuesday.

The queen’s chief public role was to attend ceremonial state occasions and to represent the United Kingdom in visits throughout the country and the world. Queen Elizabeth traveled extensively. In the United Kingdom, the queen sometimes puts ceremony aside and meets informally with subjects. She hosts luncheons at Buckingham Palace, which are attended by people of many different walks of life.

The queen is also head of the Commonwealth of Nations, an association of independent countries and other political units that have lived under British law and government. Queen Elizabeth has no authority in Commonwealth nations. She serves mainly as a symbol of historical ties.

The queen and Prince Philip had four children. The children are Charles, Prince of Wales (1948-…); Anne, Princess Royal (1950-…); Andrew, Duke of York (1960-…); and Prince Edward (1964-…). Prince Charles became king after Queen Elizabeth passed away. The older of his sons, Prince William (1982-…), is next in line after his father as the heir. The royal family’s surname is Windsor. However, in 1960, Queen Elizabeth announced that her descendants, except for princes and princesses, will bear the surname Mountbatten-Windsor.

The royal family has two country residences. One is Balmoral Castle in Grampian Region, Scotland. The other is Sandringham, an estate in Norfolk County, England. Queen Elizabeth enjoyed country life and bred dogs and horses. She owned successful race horses.