Who indeed. Following great success in our first ‘Quis?’, here is the second personality from the past. If you know who he is, let us know through the…
Disasters waiting to happen: Getúlio Vargas
Vargas was born in 1883. A small, chubby and discreet man, he grew to become a rich cattle man in Brazil, and in 1928 became the Governor…
Switzerland: where Italians, Frenchmen & Germans don’t bother with nationalism
A half-dozen of the planet’s most important countries are now infected by the nationalist mosquito. Europe (after the Second War) invented a large country called Yugoslavia…
Quis? Who was this man?
Here you see an ancient photograph of a very 20th century man who was actually born in the 19th. Can you figure out who he is? Let…
Disasters waiting to happen: Marcus Licinius Crassus
Crassus was not the first man to combine business with politics and, through lack of foresight, or because he was too proud to think, come a terrible cropper….
Humour on Friday: what British public schoolboys think (and say) about each other
The public (i.e. private) schools of Great Britain are not so full of toffs these days. Britain’s democracy since the two world wars has led to a…
Disasters waiting to happen: Salazar (disaster for some – not all)
Antonio de Oliveira Salazar was one of those Iberian dictators who stayed dictating for a long time. General Franco ruled Spain for nearly forty years, and General…
Disasters waiting to happen: General Gordon
Charles George Gordon was born in 1833. When his father discovered that the boy was wilful, obstinate, brave, selfish and over-fond of himself, he decided to send…
What the English language owes to Shakespeare
English owes more than you know to William Shakespeare. Yes, that playwright from four hundred years ago now considered so unimportant by British educational authorities that not a…
Disasters waiting to happen: Nuffield
William Richard Morris Nuffield started off well, but ended as the man who almost singlehandedly destroyed the British car industry. I don’t suppose this was his intention,…