Since 1668 the church has been part of the benefice of St Martin and St Paul Canterbury. Both St Martin's and nearby St Paul's churches are used for weekly services. The current rector of the parish is the Reverend Mark Richard Griffin.
St Martin's was the private chapel of Queen Bertha of Kent (died in or after 601). Queen Bertha was a Christian Frankish princess who arrived in England with her chaplain, Bishop Liudhard. Her pagan husband, King Æthelberht of Kent, let her to continue to practise her religion by renovating (ca. AD 580) an existing church. As Bede named it, this church was dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. It is the city located near where Bertha grew up.
Upon Augustine's arrival, he used St Martin's as his mission headquarters. King Æthelberht was baptised here. When Canterbury Cathedral and St Augustine's Abbey were established, St Martin's lost its initial prestige. However, it still remains of historical importance.
Local finds prove that Christianity did exist in this area of the city at the time. The church contains many reused Roman bricks or spolia. It also has complete sections of walls of Roman tiles. At the core of the church the brick remains of a Roman tomb were integrated into the structure. Several sections of walls are clearly very early. It is possible that a blocked square-headed doorway in the chancel was the entrance to Bertha's church. Meanwhile, other sections of wall come from the period after the Gregorian mission in the 7th or 8th centuries. The apse that was originally at the east end has been removed. The tower came much later, in Perpendicular style. The church is a Grade I listed building.
Many notable local families and well-known graves were buried in its churchyard. These people include:
The church has a continuing musical tradition from the monks of St Augustine to the present day. The choral director for the parish is Dom del Nevo.
The tower has three bells set for swing-chiming using levers.
Euronews
Euronews is a pan-European TV news channel, with headquarters in Lyon, France. Right now, it broadcasts in 13 languages. 88% of the channel is owned by Media Globe Networks, a company which belongs to Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris. The other 12% belongs to a group of EBU (European Broadcasting Union) members.
CNN helped make 24-hour TV news important after the Gulf War. The European Broadcasting Union answered this with the creation of their own news channel. Euronews started broadcasting on 1 January 1993, from Lyon, in five languages (English, French, German, Spanish and Italian). The channel was special in the news market because it had no presenters or studios, just videos showing the news. The channel's most important segment is "No Comment", which shows videos with no voiceover.
Later, the channel started broadcasting in Portuguese in 1999, in Russian in 2001, in Arabic in 2008, in Turkish and in Persian in 2010, in Ukrainian in 2011, in Greek in 2012, and in Hungarian in 2013.
The channel is controlled by a company called Euronews SA. When the channel started, it belonged to 10 EBU members. Today, it belongs to 20 EBU members. Organisations which have controlled Euronews when it started are marked with an asterisk.
EBU members owning Euronews SA
Three EBU members also used to own a share in the channel, but do not anymore today. These are:
On 4 June 2008, Euronews got a new circle logo and a new slogan: "pure". This was meant to market itself as "pure news" distancing from other competing channels (BBC, CNN, etc.) in the 24-hour news market.
In February 2015, Media Globe Networks got a 53% share of Euronews SA in a deal with the company. In January 2016, the channel started a sister network called Africanews, which is aimed at an African news market, with a pan-African view. Euronews got a new logo on 17 May 2016.
In November 2016, NBCUniversal said they wanted to buy a share in the Euronews network. They also said they would share news reports with the channel. The deal was agreed upon in February 2017, and NBC bought a 25% share.
In May 2017, Euronews went from having one TV channel with 13 audio tracks, to 10 separate TV channels and 12 websites. This is part of a ’"glocal"’ idea. Now, certain language editions can offer their own selections of local and global news. By doing this, the Arabic and Persian services stopped TV broadcasting, and they are now only on social media and the Euronews website. The Ukrainian service was closed because the Ukrainian government was not giving it money.
In 2018, the English Euronews channel started its first news shows with live presenters. Then, other Euronews language editions did the same and started their own presented evening news shows too.
In April 2020, NBC left the channel and sold its share to Media Globe Networks. MGN now owns 88% of Euronews.
Euronews was banned (stopped to be broadcast) in Belarus by its government's decision since April 12, 2021.
Fips Asmussen
Fips Asmussen (born Rainer Pries; 30 April 1938 – 9 August 2020) was a German comedian and entertainer. He was known for his quick delivery of puns and bad jokes. Asmussen was born in Hamburg. His later comedy performances became known for unfunny and mostly politically incorrect.
Asmussen died on 9 August 2020 in Querfurt, Saxony-Anhalt at the age of 82.
Rose of Washington Square
Rose of Washington Square is a 1939 American musical drama movie directed by Gregory Ratoff and stars Tyrone Power, Alice Faye, Al Jolson, Moroni Olsen, Winifred Harris, Joyce Compton, William Frawley, Ralph Dunn, Louis Prima. It was distributed by 20th Century Fox.
Vinka Lucas
Vinka Dragica Lucas (née Ravlich/Ravlić; 1931/1932 – 10 August 2020) was a Croatian-born New Zealand fashion and bridalwear designer and business owner. She was co-founder of "New Zealand Bride" magazine. In 1959 Lucas and her husband David Lucas bought a fashion and dressmaking business in Hamilton. In 1963, the couple published a booklet of bridal designs, which later grew into the magazine "New Zealand Bride".
In 2009, Lucas suffered a stroke.
In the 2019 New Year Honours, Lucas was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit.
She died in Auckland on 10 August 2020, aged 88.
Trini Lopez
Trinidad "Trini" López III (May 13, 1937August 11, 2020) was an American singer, guitarist, and actor.
His first album included a version of "If I Had a Hammer", which earned a Golden Disc for him. His other hits included "Lemon Tree", "I'm Comin' Home, Cindy" and "Sally Was a Good Old Girl".
He designed two guitars for the Gibson Guitar Corporation.
He starred as Pedro Jimenez in the 1967 war movie "The Dirty Dozen".
Lopez never married and had no children.
Lopez died on August 11, 2020 at a hospital in Palm Springs, California from COVID-19, aged 83.
Juan Pastor Marco
Juan Pastor Marco (24 November 1951 – 11 August 2020) was a Spanish politician. He was a member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). In 1977, he was elected to the Spanish Congress of Deputies representing Valencia Province.
He then was Secretary General of the PSOE in the Valencian Community from 1978 to 1979. He retired in 1982. He was born in Orba, Alicante.
Pastor Marco died on 11 August 2020, aged 68.
The Dirty Dozen
The Dirty Dozen is a 1967 war movie starring Lee Marvin and featuring an ensemble supporting cast including Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, George Kennedy, Robert Ryan, Telly Savalas, Robert Webber and Donald Sutherland with Trini Lopez. It was directed by Robert Aldrich.
The screenplay is based on the 1965 bestseller by E. M. Nathanson.
Robert Ryan
Robert Bushnell Ryan (November 11, 1909July 11, 1973) was an American actor and activist. He was known for playing tough cops and ruthless villains. He worked in theater and movies. Ryan was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his rolein "Crossfire" (1947)".
Ryan died of lung cancer in New York City on July 11, 1973 at the age of 63.