On his death people were urged to “Burn a dollar bill in mourning” for the man alternately known as the king of steel, architect of the second Industrial Revolution, friend of capitalism, and scourge of workers. Andrew Carnegie was born November 25, 1835 in Dunfermline, Scotland. In 1848, his family moved to Allegheny City, Pennsylvania [...]
And it’s still running the length of Douglas Bay on the Isle of Man. The tramway was built and first operated by Thomas Lightfoot, a retired Sheffield civil engineer. In 1882, he sold the line to Isle of Man Tramways Ltd but 20 years later Douglas Corporation had to purchase the lines when the company [...]
The Virgin Islands were named by Christopher Columbus on his second voyage (1493) for Saint Ursula and her virgin followers. Over the next three hundred years, the islands were held by Spain, Britain, the Netherlands, France, and Denmark-Norway. The Danish West India Company settled on Saint Thomas in 1672, on Saint John in 1694, and [...]
In the early hours of 2nd August more than 100,000 Iraqi soldiers backed up by 700 tanks invaded the Gulf state of Kuwait. The Iraqi forces established a provisional government and President Saddam Hussein gave a speech in which he threatened to turn Kuwait city into a “graveyard” if any other country dared to challenge [...]
The phrase Act of Union 1800 actually refers to two acts: the Union with Ireland Act 1800 (an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain) and the Act of Union (Ireland) 1800 (an Act of the Parliament of Ireland). These two Acts merged the Kingdom of Ireland and the unified Kingdom of Great Britain, (being [...]
One of the great Spanish poets of the 20th century, Machado—along with Federico García Lorca and Juan Ramón Jiménez —is revered both in his homeland and internationally. Born in 1875 in Seville, Machado grew up in the lush Spanish landscape of Andalusia which became a major subject of his poetry. His grandfather was a doctor, [...]
However as he was aged only one at the time it was not until 1581 that he gained full control of his government. He was well aware of his heritage and of the sad circumstances of his mother’s life and death. Of her internecine war with her cousin Elizabeth I of England. To many people [...]
Today we take instant communication for granted but back in 1962 international on- demand telephone calls were unheard of. To make a long distance call you had to book it through the operator who would call you back. We did have American TV programs (the “Lone Ranger” was a favourite of mine) but none of [...]
The “This was their finest hour” speech was delivered by Sir Winston Churchill to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom on 18 July 1940. It was given shortly after he took over as Prime Minister on 10 May, in the first year of World War II. It was the third [...]
William E. Boeing, whose eponymous company has become the global giant of the aviation world was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1881. His father (Wilhelm) had arrived as a German immigrant arrived in 1868. Starting as a labourer he built up a successful timber and forestry business owning forest land from Ohio across into California. When [...]
The Marquee Club in London was the venue and I happened to be there at the time though I can’t remember why. Someone probably dragged me along and I remember thinging “these guys could make it big”. Indeed the Rolling Stones are now one of the world’s Business Super Brands – as well as being [...]
In the face of a declining market share and losing out heavily to Pepsi Cola the senior management of Coca Cola commissioned a major market research exercise. The results indicated that consumers wanted a sweeter flavour either sugar-based or using artificial sweetener. But the research didn’t suggest that a new recipe should totally replace the [...]
Having arrived in New Zealand from Vanuatu three days earlier, the “Rainbow Warrior” lay peacefully moored at Auckland’s Marsden Wharf. Greenpeace campaigners were preparing the former North Sea fishing trawler for the environmental group’s biggest-ever protest voyage to Moruroa Atoll, the site of French nuclear bomb testing. Unknown to them, two French secret agents had [...]
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) is an English-language international daily newspaper published by Dow Jones & Company in New York City with Asian and European editions. It has a worldwide daily circulation of more than 2 million and over 1 million paying online subscribers. Its main rival as a daily financial newspaper is the London-based [...]
On 7th July 2000 Amazon.com announced that they had pre-sold over 400,000 copies of “Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire,” making it the biggest selling book in e-tailing history. At exactly 12:01 a.m. on July 8, J.K. Rowling’s fourth installment of her Harry Potter series was released in the UK and in the United [...]
Established in 1990 as a subsidiary of the “Financial Reporting Council“, the panel seeks to ensure that the provision of financial information by public and large private companies complies with relevant accounting requirements. www.frc.org.uk
On 6th July 1854 the Republican Party was founded by a coalition of anti-slavery activists and modernizers. Its early membership consisted of dissatisfied members of the Whig, Free-Soil, and Know-Nothing parties and these were joined by the Northern Democrats who were deeply opposed to their national party’s line on slavery. The Republican Party quickly surpassed [...]
On July 5, 1946 French model Micheline Bernardini paraded onto the runway at a poolside fashion show in Paris wearing a two piece bathing costume. A number of American fashion correspondents were both shocked and titillated by the model’s skimpy attire. Although archaeologists had discovered wall paintings depicting women wearing two-piece costumes it is generally accepted [...]
“Give Peace a Chance” was recorded by John Lennon and Yoko Ono on the 1st June 1969 during their infamous Montreal “Bed-in”held in rooms 1738 and 1742 at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel. The couple had held first bed-in Amsterdam following their marriage. The intention was to promote the idea “make love, not war” and be [...]
On 3rd July 1924 Clarence Birdseye founded “the General Seafood Company” later to become “Birdseye Frozen Foods”. As a young scientist working in the Arctic on behalf of the US Government Clarence Birdseye wasn’t surprised to note that freshly caught fish placed on the ice and exposed to the wind, immediately froze solid. What [...]
