Described as a "new animated red that revels in pure joy," Viva Magenta was just named Pantone's Color of the Year for 2023.
According to The Pantone Color Institute, Viva Magenta is inspired by cochineal, a red dye derived from the dried bodies of female cochineal insects. Cochineal dye was used as early as the second century BC by the Aztecs and Mayans. Incidentally, it takes 70,000 cochineal insects to make one pound of dye.
"In this age of technology, we look to draw inspiration from nature and what is real," said Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director, Pantone Color Institute. "PANTONE 18-1750 Viva Magenta descends from the red family, and is inspired by the red of cochineal, one of the most precious dyes belonging to the natural dye family as well as one of the strongest and brightest the world has known."
Pantone said its 2023 Color of the Year is powerful and empowering — a new animated red that revels in pure joy, encouraging experimentation and self-expression without restraint. It's an electrifying and boundary-less shade that is manifesting as a stand-out statement.
Consumers who embrace Viva Magenta-inspired fashion items will be accessorizing with fine jewelry featuring ruby, garnet, tourmaline, spinel and red beryl.
Viva Magenta takes the reins from 2022's Very Peri, a dynamic periwinkle blue hue with an intense violet-red undertone. Veri Peri was a brand new Pantone color, and its selection marked the first time the international color authority cooked up a color and then instantly designated it as the Color of the Year.
To arrive at the selection each year, this global team of color experts at the Pantone Color Institute comb the world looking for new color influences. This can include the entertainment industry and films in production, traveling art collections and new artists, fashion, all areas of design, aspirational travel destinations, new lifestyles, play styles or enjoyable escapes as well as socio-economic conditions. Influences may also stem from new technologies, materials, textures and effects that impact color, relevant social media platforms and even upcoming sporting events that capture worldwide attention.
The Pantone Color Institute originally created the Pantone Color of the Year educational program in 1999 to engage the design community and color enthusiasts around the world in a conversation around color.
"We wanted to draw attention to the relationship between culture and color," said Laurie Pressman, Vice President of the Pantone Color Institute. "We wanted to highlight to our audience how what is taking place in our global culture is expressed and reflected through the language of color. This thought process rings just as true today just as it did back in 1999."
Typically, Pantone’s yearly selection influences product development and purchasing decisions in multiple industries, including fashion, home furnishings and industrial design, as well as product packaging and graphic design.
Here are the Pantone Colors of the Year dating back to 2010…
PANTONE 17-3938 Veri Peri (2022)
PANTONE 17-5104 Ultimate Gray (2021)
PANTONE 13-0647 Illuminating (2021)
PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue (2020)
PANTONE 16-1546 Living Coral (2019)
PANTONE 18-3838 Ultra Violet (2018)
PANTONE 15-0343 Greenery (2017)
PANTONE 13-1520 Rose Quartz (2016)
PANTONE 15-3919 Serenity (2016)
PANTONE 18-1438 Marsala (2015)
PANTONE 18-3224 Radiant Orchid (2014)
PANTONE 17-5641 Emerald (2013)
PANTONE 17-1463 Tangerine Tango (2012)
PANTONE 18-2120 Honeysuckle (2011)
PANTONE 15-5519 Turquoise (2010)
Credits: Images courtesy of Pantone.
Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you fabulous songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, we feature Fleetwood Mac's iconic 1977 hit, "The Chain," a song that represents the band's strength, love and resilience despite five decades of personal and professional obstacles.
For Christine McVie, who passed away this week at the age of 79, “The Chain” was more than a song. It was a very special silver chain bracelet given to her by fellow band member Stevie Nicks.
“Stevie gave me this chain,” she told The New Yorker in 2015. “It used to have a diamond feather on it. It’s a metaphor, you know. That the chain of the band will never be broken. Not by me, anyways. Not again by me.”
Even though Fleetwood Mac enjoyed enormous success, McVie had left the band in 1998 after being overwhelmed by a fear of flying. The other band members, including Nicks, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie and Lindsey Buckingham, continued to tour, but the band did not seem complete without Christine McVie.
Finally, at the age of 71, McVie came to the realization that she missed the audience. She wanted to tour again and asked each of her former mates, individually, if she could rejoin the band. Each was thrilled to have her back, although Buckingham maintained one caveat: She couldn’t waltz in and waltz back out again. She had to be in it “for the whole nine yards.”
McVie agreed, worked with a psychiatrist to get her past her phobia, and rejoined the band just in time for their 33-city North American tour, which opened in September of 2014.
Every Fleetwood Mac concert starts off with the steady, thumping, rhythmic instrumental lead-in to “The Chain,” the only song on the 1977 Rumours album to be credited to all five band members. The song was literally spliced together from combinations of several previously rejected elements.
The song originally represented the internal fractures — both romantically and professionally — of the band members, but eventually came to symbolize their triumph in staying together.
The Rumours album sold more than 45 million copies and is one of the best selling albums of all time. In total, the band has sold more than 120 million albums worldwide.
Born in Lancashire, England, in 1943, McVie developed her love for music at the age of 11 and continued her classical training until she was 15. She originally studied sculpture at the Moseley School of Art in Birmingham and had aspirations of becoming a teacher.
But her professional interests started to change when she was asked by two friends to join a band called Sounds of Blue. After college, she played keyboards and sang background vocals for the blues band Chicken Shack under the name Christine Perfect.
Christine married Fleetwood Mac bassist John McVie in 1968 and joined his band in 1970 as a singer and keyboardist. Despite divorcing in 1976, the couple continued to maintain a close friendship and professional partnership.
Her Fleetwood Mac bandmates were collectively heartbroken after learning that McVie died on November 30 after a brief illness.
Mick Fleetwood wrote on Instagram, "Part of my heart has flown away today. I will miss everything about you Christine McVie. Memories abound… they fly to me."
Please check out the video of Christine McVie and Fleetwood Mac performing “The Chain.” The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along.
“The Chain”
Written by Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie, John McVie and Lindsey Buckingham. Performed by Fleetwood Mac.
Listen to the wind blow
Watch the sun rise
Run in the shadows
Damn your love, damn your lies
And if you don’t love me now
You will never love me again
I can still hear you sayin’
You would never break the chain
(Never break the chain)
And if you don’t love me now
(You don’t love me now)
You will never love me again
I can still hear you sayin’
(Still hear you sayin’)
You would never break the chain
(Never break the chain)
Listen to the wind blow
Down comes the night
Run in the shadows
Damn your love, damn your lies
Break the silence
Damn the dark, damn the light
And if you don’t love me now
You will never love me again
I can still hear you sayin’
You would never break the chain
(Never break the chain)
And if you don’t love me now
(You don’t love me now)
You will never love me again
I can still hear you sayin’
(Still hear you sayin’)
You would never break the chain
(Never break the chain)
And if you don’t love me now
(You don’t love me now)
You will never love me again
I can still hear you sayin’
(Still hear you sayin’)
You would never break the chain
(Never break the chain)
(Yea, keep us together)
Run in the shadows
(Yea, keep us together)
Run into the shadows
(Yea, keep us together)
Run into the shadows
(Yea, keep us together)
Run in the shadows
(Yea, keep us together)
Credit: Photo by Raph_PH, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fifty-five years ago, a Maasai tribesman named Jumanne Ngoma happened upon a cluster of intense blue-violet crystals in the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. At first glance, they appeared to be sapphires, but it was later revealed that the stones were a never-before-seen variation of zoisite.
The mesmerizing mineral quickly caught the attention of Tiffany & Co., which launched a campaign to promote the new gem. The marketing team at Tiffany was concerned the name “zoisite” sounded very much like “suicide,” so it came up with “tanzanite,” a name that would honor Tanzania, the only place on earth where tanzanite can be found.
Tiffany’s 1960s-era marketing campaign earned tanzanite the noble title of “gem of the 20th century” and, in 2002, the American Gem Trade Association added tanzanite to the jewelry industry’s official birthstone list. Tanzanite joined turquoise and zircon as the official birthstones for December.
Tanzanite is said to be 1,000 times more rare than diamonds due the fact that tanzanite is mined in an area that measures 2km wide by 4km long and that the remaining lifespan of the mine is said to be less than 25 years.
Despite tanzanite’s immediate commercial success, Ngoma didn't reap any financial gain from his discovery until April of 2018, when Tanzanian President John Magufuli presented the then-78-year-old with a reward of 100 million shillings (about $44,000) from the Tanzanian government. That amount was nearly twice the annual salary of an average Tanzanian. Ngoma, in ill health and partially paralyzed, passed away in January of 2019. Obituaries celebrated him as a national hero.
Tanzanite’s exquisite color is an intoxicating mix of blue and purple, unlike any other gemstone. Tanzanite comes in a wide range of hues, from light blues or lilacs, to deep indigos and violets. The most valuable tanzanite gemstones display a deep sapphire blue color with highlights of intense violet. The Smithsonian’s website explains that tanzanite exhibits the optical phenomenon of pleochroism, appearing intense blue, violet or red, depending on the direction through which the crystal is viewed.
The platinum ring shown, above, is an award-winning piece by designer Mark Schneider. It features a 9.43-carat trillion tanzanite, accented by 1 carat of white diamonds. The ring captured an AGTA Spectrum Award 2003 in the Evening Wear category.
Credit: Image by Mark Schneider, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
The video of Scott Clyne's comical headlong dive into Sarasota Bay to retrieve a fumbled engagement ring box earned the Florida resident an appearance on the Today show, 1.6 million Likes on TikTok and viral online coverage by numerous outlets, including the Daily Mail, People and Brides.
On his Facebook page, Clyne used this caption to summarize the video of his marriage-proposal-gone-awry: "This is 100% real. 100% my luck. 100% will never forget…"
On Saturday, November 12, everything was in place for Clyne to deliver an epic proposal to his girlfriend of eight years, Suzie Tucker. The sunset was stunning, the bay was picturesque and rose petals littered the bow of the boat, where Clyne and his girlfriend posed with their arms spread wide as if they were reenacting the iconic scene from Titanic.
But, seconds later, the perfect moment turned into an implausible disaster when Clyne reached into his back pocket and fumbled the box containing Tucker's engagement ring. The box bounced off the deck and into the bay.
Instantly, Clyne followed the box into the water with a dive that was so comical that he later captured a frame of the exact moment his head and torso disappeared into the water, leaving his legs sticking straight up. That pic is his new Facebook profile picture.
Fortunately, the ring box had some buoyancy, so Clyne was able to grab it before it sunk. You can see the full video here…
Clyne's friend helped him get back into the boat, where the soaking wet suitor continued with his bended knee proposal and, despite the mishap, Tucker said, "Yes."
Clyne told the Daily Mail that the corner of the ring box got caught up on top of his pocket, causing it to slip out of his hands.
"Everything was a blur after that," he told the outlet. "I panicked and reacted by lunging for the ring box before it could sink, not caring if I fell into the water. Luckily, I was able to recover the ring!"
Even though it's always risky to pop the question on a body of water, Clyne was determined to go ahead with the boating proposal.
"We absolutely love boating and I couldn't imagine proposing any other way," he said.
Clyne told the Today show that he originally intended to propose to Tucker in September while the couple was on vacation in the Florida Keys. Hurricane Ian put the kibosh on that plan, so Clyne moved the proposal to November.
After the successful Sarasota proposal, Clyne decided to stick with his plans to take Tucker out for a celebratory dinner.
"I didn’t bring an extra pair of clothes," he told the Today show audience, "so I attended dinner soaking wet.”
Credit: Illustrative image by Bigstockphoto.com.
British actress Lily James, the Natural Diamond Council's newly appointed Global Ambassador, recently visited Botswana to experience the positive impacts the natural diamond industry is having on the country, and to see these precious gems at their point of origin.
Famous for her starring roles in Cinderella (2015) and Downton Abbey (2012-2015), the 33-year-old James recently received her first Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series for her performance as Pamela Anderson in Pam & Tommy (2022). She is also the star of the NDC's global advertising campaign titled "To Treasure, Now and Forever."
James's trip to Botswana began with four days on Safari at The Selinda Reserve, a picturesque wildlife sanctuary that is home to thousands of elephants and the famous Selinda lion pride. From there, she visited the Orapa Game Park — part of the De Beers Diamond Route — which illustrated firsthand the positive results of the natural diamond industry's conservation efforts.
James also met with students and teachers at the Livingstone House Primary School, one of four schools in the community that are run by Debswana — a diamond mining company owned by De Beers and the government of Botswana.
This was followed by a visit to Lucara Diamond Corp's Karowe Diamond Mine, as well as the De Beers Global Sightholder Sales facility in Gaborone, the capital of Botswana. Her last stop was the KGK Diamonds cutting and polishing facility in Gaborone, where she met with some of their employees. A majority of them are native citizens whose livelihoods are supported by the natural diamond industry.
"I've been awestruck by the natural beauty and the vibrant communities I've seen in Botswana," said James. "To know so much of this land — over 1,000 square miles globally — is protected by the natural diamond industry makes me incredibly proud to be the NDC's Global Ambassador."
Natural diamonds support the livelihood of more than 10 million people worldwide and nowhere is the positive impact felt more than in Botswana, where they accounted for 33% of Botswana's GDP in 2021. Botswana also has the highest percentage of women-owned businesses in the world.
"The natural diamond industry is an example to others as to how collaborations between governments and business can transform the lives of so many people and the communities in which they live," said David Kellie, CEO of NDC.
The diamond industry's partnership with the government of Botswana sustains a school system educating approximately 522,000 children a year. In 1966, there were just three secondary schools. Today there are 300 and every Botswanan child receives free primary and secondary education.
Additional benefits of the natural diamond industry include providing healthcare for more than four million people globally and funding critical infrastructure development, including schools, hospitals, and roads.
NDC's advertising campaign starring James showcases a range of diamond jewelry styles, from staples, such as tennis bracelets and necklaces, studs and hoops, to original creations including statement earrings or spiral bracelets.
Credits: Images courtesy of Natural Diamond Council.
An obscure third-century Roman emperor, once written out of the history books as a fictional character, was likely the real deal, according to researchers at University College London.
By using microscopes, ultraviolet imaging and infrared spectroscopy, researchers led by Professor Paul Pearson determined that the fine scratch marks on the surface of coins bearing Emperor Sponsian's likeness proved that they were in circulation 2,000 years ago and couldn't be modern forgeries. The findings were recently published in the journal PLOS 1.
The only historical reference to Emperor Sponsian is a portrait of him that appeared on a small cache of gold coins discovered in Transylvania 309 years ago. At first, the coins were believed to be genuine, but by the mid-1800s that opinion had flipped 180 degrees.
Henry Cohen, a scholar at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, declared in 1863 that the Sponsian coins were "very poor quality modern forgeries." Cohen described the obverse of the coin as "barbaric and strange" and pointed out that the coins were cast instead of struck. (Casting was a method used by forgers.) The Sponsian coins were also unusually heavy compared to similar Roman coins of that period.
At the time, historians surmised that if the coins were fake, Sponsian was likely a fake character, as well.
The Sponsian coins discovered in 1713 eventually found their way to the Hunterian Museum at Glasgow University, where they remained locked away in a cupboard.
That's until Professor Pearson decided to revisit the mystery of Emperor Sponsian and the crudely designed coins.
Pearson and his team discovered that the Sponsian coins all bore similar patterns of microscopic wear apparent on authentic coins of the third century. A chemical analysis of the dirt caked on the coins confirmed they had been buried for a prolonged period of time.
The wear marks confirmed that the coins were handled in countless transactions over an extended time period and that they were used as a part of a monetary economy, Pearson reported.
"What we have found is an emperor," Pearson told the BBC. "He was a figure thought to have been a fake and written off by the experts. But we think he was real and that he had a role in history."
So, if Sponsian really existed, why don't we know more about him?
Researchers believe that Sponsian was a Roman army officer who was in charge of a remote province called Dacia, in what is now Romania. It was the year 260 AD, and Dacia was physically cut off from Rome during a period of chaos, civil war and a pandemic.
It is believed that Sponsian was "on an island" and had no way of communicating with the supreme command, so he did what he had to do in order to protect the civilian and military populations. One of those things was to declare himself emperor and another was to mint coins so the province could have a functioning economy.
This would theoretically explain why the Sponsian coins were so unlike other coins minted by the Romans at that time.
Credit: Image © 2022 Pearson et al. Sponsianus, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Thanksgiving Day marks the start of “engagement season,” the romantic time of the year that stretches from tomorrow until Valentine’s Day. The period accounts for just 23% of the calendar, but claims nearly 40% of all marriage proposals.
Facebook has famously reported that about 2.5 million of its 240 million US users change their status to “engaged” in an average year. And that number aligns neatly with The Knot's estimate that 2.6 million weddings would take place in 2022.
The average length of an engagement is about 14 months, so the couples getting engaged in the current season (2022-2023) will likely exchange their vows in 2024.
For many years, Christmas Day has been the most popular day to get engaged, followed by a wintry mix of favorites that included Christmas Eve, Valentine’s Day, New Year’s Day and New Year’s Eve.
Due to COVID-related travel restrictions in the winter of 2020, Christmas Day lost its long-standing top spot to Valentine's Day, according to WeddingWire’s 2021 Newlywed Report, which covered engagement-related activities throughout the full year of 2020.
In that report, Cupid’s Day was followed by New Year’s Day, Christmas Day, Christmas Eve and the Fourth of July (Independence Day). Interestingly, a bunch of warmer weather weekend dates, such as June 20th, September 12th, October 10th and May 16th cracked the Top 10 list in 2020, presumably because of the prevalence of COVID-inspired fresh air proposals.
But now with most restriction lifted, it's safe to assume that the long-standing favorites should climb back to the top of the list.
About 19% of all proposals take place during the month of December, which is more than twice as popular as any other month. The reason for December's dominance is the fact that couples love to get engaged on the days leading up to Christmas all the way through New Year's Eve, which is still officially December 31 until the ball drops.
Here's a rundown of the traditional Top 10 days to pop the question…
Christmas Day. Christmas is a time when families and friends come together from far and wide to celebrate the spirit of the season. It's the perfect time to pop the question because loved ones are present to participate in the festivities.
Christmas Eve. A joyful time to share a festive meal, sit in front of a fireplace and open a package or two ahead of Christmas Day.
Valentine’s Day. The one day each year set aside for lovers is also an ideal time to pop the question.
New Year’s Day. Is there a better way to start off the New Year?
New Year’s Eve. Say goodbye to 2022 and hello to 2023 with the one you love - and a ring.
Day Before Valentine’s Day. When getting engaged on Valentine’s Day may be too obvious, jumping the gun by 24 hours is a strategy to preserve the element of surprise.
Saturday Before Christmas Eve.
Two Saturdays Before Christmas Eve.
December 23rd (Day Before Christmas Eve).
Fourth of July (Independence Day). It’s fun, festive, patriotic and the only date in the Top 10 list that finds itself outside of “engagement season.”
An “Engagement Expectations” study conducted by The Knot and De Beers Group exactly one year ago revealed that 96% of pre-engaged women wanted to have some involvement in the selection of the engagement ring and would not want the proposal to be a total surprise.
Three-fourths of pre-engaged women have thought a lot or some about their engagement ring and most noted they would prefer personalized and unique engagement rings.
A Wedding Wire study confirmed that 72% of respondents worked as a couple to choose an engagement ring and a third of respondents shopped for the ring together.
Credit: Image by Bigstockphoto.com
Armed with a powerful XP Deus metal detector, 69-year-old David Board took another stab at a long-forgotten hobby. It had been nearly 50 years since Board scoured the beaches of Dorset on England's southwest coast in the hopes of recovering valuable treasure. He hadn't found much back then, but a family friend encouraged him to try his luck again since he was newly retired.
Board got permission to search the pasture of a local farm near Thorncombe. The farmer was an employer and friend for many years. Board had driven a milk tanker for his operation.
On his third pass through the field, Board got a strong signal near a footpath. At a depth of 5 inches, he exposed what at first glance seemed to be a candy wrapper. But then looking more closely he realized it was a muddy piece of metal and stashed it in his top pocket.
"It was once I got home and washed it off that we realized it was a lot better than we thought," he told CNN.
The Finds Liaison Officer Lucy Shipley took the ring to the British Museum and confirmed that it was Medieval in date. The stunning piece is now known as "The Lady Brook Medieval Diamond Ring," a very rare example of what high-end bridal jewelry looked like in the late 1300s.
Board told BBC News that this was a "once in a lifetime" discovery.
“This ring is in almost perfect condition and has an inverted diamond set into the raised bezel so that it comes to a point," explained Nigel Mills, Consultant (Coins and Antiquities) at Noonans, where the ring will be auctioned later this month. "The hoop is composed of two neatly entwined bands symbolizing the union of the couple."
Inside the band is an inscription in French "ieo vos tien foi tenes le moy," translating as "I hold your faith, hold mine."
The property on which the ring was discovered had been acquired by Henry de Broc (or de la Brook) from Reginald de Mohun (1206–1258), Feudal baron of Dunster in Somerset. The baron had inherited this land from his first wife, Hawise Fleming, daughter and heiress of William Fleming. It then passed by descent through the Brook family, coming into the possession of the wealthy landowner Sir Thomas Brook (c.1355-1418).
The auction house noted that, due to the exceptionally fine quality of this ring, it was quite possibly the wedding ring given by Sir Thomas Brook to his wife Lady Joan Brook for their marriage in 1388.
Noonans noted that the ring reflects the medieval notions of chivalry and courtly love that were at their zenith at that time.
The ring is expected to fetch up to £40,000 ($47,000) when it's offered for sale by the London-based auction house Noonans Mayfair on November 29, 2022. The proceeds will be split between Board and the landowner, according to BBC News.
Board said he will use his share of the money to help his partner's daughter secure a mortgage.
Credits: Images courtesy of Noonans Mayfair.
On December 18, after four weeks of heart-thumping soccer matches, members of a single national team will emerge as champions and experience one of the ultimate thrills in professional sports — raising aloft the 18-karat gold FIFA World Cup Trophy. Four years ago in Russia, that honor went to the squad from France. This year in Qatar, 31 teams will be vying to unseat the defending champs.
The coveted trophy, which is 14.5 inches tall and depicts two human figures holding up the earth, is made of 11 pounds of 18-karat gold and features two rows of green malachite at the base. The trophy is estimated to be worth $20 million, although the actual precious metal value is closer to $231,000.
For years, FIFA, the governing body of soccer, had said the trophy was made of solid gold, but that claim hasn’t held up to scrutiny and it’s very likely that it has a hollow center.
Martyn Poliakoff of the United Kingdom’s Nottingham University did the math and determined that, based on its dimensions, a FIFA trophy made of solid gold would weigh an unwieldy 154 pounds. Gold is nearly 20 times as dense as water, and to get some perspective on just how heavy that is, consider this… A standard gold bar measures just 7 x 3 5/8 x 1 3/4 inches, but weighs more than 27 pounds.
The winning team will be taking home a gold-plated replica of the actual trophy. The real one will remain in the possession of FIFA. The bottom of the base bears the engraved year and name of each FIFA World Cup winner since 1974. The names are not visible when the cup is standing upright.
The tournament takes place every four years, usually during May, June or July in the northern hemisphere. The average high temperature in Qatar during the summer is 107 degrees, so the tournament was moved to the November - December timeframe when the average high temperature is a more comfortable 75 degrees.
It is estimated that five billion people will be tuning in for the World Cup this winter. That's up from 3.5 billion in 2018.
For the past 92 years, there have been only two designs for the FIFA trophy. The current one was conceived by Italian artist Silvio Gazzaniga and presented for the first time in 1974.
In describing his design, Gazzaniga said, “The lines spring out from the base, rising in spirals, stretching out to receive the world. From the remarkable dynamic tensions of the compact body of the sculpture rise the figures of two athletes at the stirring moment of victory.”
In 1970, the Brazilians got to keep the previous version of the trophy — the Jules Rimet Cup — when the team captured its third world title.
Rimet, the founding father of the FIFA World Cup, had stipulated 40 years earlier that any team that won three titles could have the cup permanently. FIFA made good on that promise in 1970, but in 1983 the cup was stolen in Rio de Janeiro and never seen again.
The Jules Rimet Cup, which was originally called “Coupe du Monde,” was designed by French sculptor Abel Lafleur and depicted the goddess of victory holding an octagonal vessel above her. It was 13.7 inches tall and weighed 8.4 pounds. It was made of gold-plated sterling silver, with a base of lapis lazuli.
In 1966, an earlier version of the Jules Rimet Cup was stolen from a public display in London just before the Brits were about to host the World Cup. It was discovered seven days later at the bottom of a suburban garden hedge by a clever canine named Pickles.
During World War II, the Jules Rimet Cup spent some time in a shoebox under the bed of FIFA vice president Dr. Ottorino Barassi, who feared it might fall into the hands of the Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.
Brazil currently holds the record for the most FIFA World Cup victories (5), followed by Italy and Germany with four wins each. Favored teams in the current tournament include Brazil, Argentina, France and England.
The North American triumvirate of the US, Canada and Mexico will co-host the next FIFA World Cup games in 2026.
Credits: Photo of 2018 FIFA World Cup champions photo by Kremlin.ru, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Photo of French footballer Djibril Sidibé holding the FIFA World Cup Trophy in 2018 by Антон Зайцев, CC BY-SA 3.0 GFDL, via Wikimedia Commons. Photo of FIFA World Cup Trophy by Revol Web, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you classic songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, Patsy Cline plays the role of a jilted lover who reminisces about a special class ring and other cherished mementos of a relationship gone bad in her 1962 chart-topper, "She's Got You."
She sings, “I’ve got your class ring that proved you cared / And it still looks the same as when you gave it, dear / The only thing different, the only thing new / I’ve got these little things, she’s got you.”
Songwriter Hank Cochran told Cline biographer Ellis Nassour that in 1961 he called the country star and told her he’d just written her next #1 hit. Cline invited Cochran to come over to her house and play the song on guitar.
She immediately fell in love with the song and learned it that same night. Excitedly, she called her producer, Owen Bradley, and sang it to him on the phone. At that point, Cline and Bradley were certain they had a winner — and they did.
Originally a #1 country hit for Cline in 1962, “She’s Got You” has been covered by an all-star group of music artists, including Rosanne Cash, LeAnn Rimes, Timi Yuro, Jimmy Buffet, Lee Ann Womack and Loretta Lynn.
And the song still has legs.
A 17-year-old Emily Ann Roberts sang "She's Got You" on The Voice in September of 2015. The Season 9 finalist's rousing rendition earned accolades from coach Blake Shelton and helped launch her career. “She’s Got You” was so well received by the viewers of The Voice that the song made it into the iTunes Top 10 and ascended to #21 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
Born Virginia Patterson Hensley in 1932, Cline is often cited as one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century and the first country music artist to cross over to pop. Just one year after "She's Got You" was released, Cline tragically died in an airplane crash near Camden, TN. She was 30 years old.
We know you will enjoy the audio track of Cline's performance of “She’s Got You.” The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…
“She’s Got You”
Written by Hank Cochran. Performed by Patsy Cline.
I’ve got your picture that you gave to me
And it’s signed with love, just like it used to be
The only thing different, the only thing new
I’ve got your picture, she’s got you
I’ve got the records that we used to share
And they still sound the same as when you were here
The only thing different, the only thing new
I’ve got the records, she’s got you
I’ve got your memory, or has it got me
I really don’t know, but I know it won’t let me be
I’ve got your class ring that proved you cared
And it still looks the same as when you gave it, dear
The only thing different, the only thing new
I’ve got these little things, she’s got you
I’ve got your memory, or has it got me
I really don’t know, but I know it won’t let me be
I’ve got your class ring that proved you cared
And it still looks the same as when you gave it, dear
The only thing different, the only thing new
I’ve got these little things, she’s got you
Credit: Image by Shanecollinswiki, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.