173 years ago this month the first true postage stamps – the Penny Black and the Two-Penny Blue – were issued in Britain in May, 1840.
As they were not intended for overseas use, they did not carry the country’s name.
Unlike every other stamp-issuing nation, this is still the case.
The eminent scientist Professor Lord Robert Winston said this week that he refuses to employ people with the best degrees because of their narrow approach.
Some hugely successful, and wealthy, non-graduates include Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Michael Dell, Lady Gaga, Adele, Sir Richard Branson, John Lennon, Sir Mick Jagger, Roman Abramovich, Kelsey Grammer, Sir Philip Green, Tom Hanks, Anne Hathaway and many, many more.
On the other hand it is a statistical certainty that for most people, graduating in higher education is in economic terms, a better bet.
The 100th Anniversary of the start of World War One looms and controversy rages over how the occasion, in August 2014, should be marked.
Of the 557,618 Scots who enlisted in the British Army during the conflict, more than a quarter, 26.4 per cent, died; a mortality rate greater than all other combatant nations except Serbia and Turkey. Professor Niall Ferguson notes that “the Serbs and Turks probably lost more men to disease”.
Taking Great Britain and Ireland as a whole the percentage of men killed was 11.8 per cent.
Source: Niall Ferguson, The Pity of War
As Cyprus struggles over Euro-survival, Cypriots hang onto the thought that the nation’s capital, Nicosia, founded before the 7th Century, is named after Nike, the Greek goddess of victory.
As Baroness Thatcher is laid to rest today, here are two thoughts:
“To govern is to choose” – Pierre Mendes France – President of the Council of Ministers, French Republic, 1954-55.
“To decide is to divide” – Tony Blair, former British Prime Minister, April 2013.
Discuss.