Latest news with #Churchill
Spectator
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Spectator
The wit and beauty of bank notes
William Shakespeare was the first to feature, in 1970. Alan Turing was most recent, in 2021. But the Bank of England is now asking whether anyone else should appear, ever. The Bank's redesigning our bank notes and wants the public's thoughts on replacing the famous people who currently grace them with buildings, animals, films, historical events or even food. However the redesign ends up, let's hope the notes continue to display the wit and beauty they've traditionally had. The Churchill fiver, for instance. Look closely and you'll see that Big Ben stands at 3 p.m., the hour that Winston made his first speech to the Commons as Prime Minister. One of the security measures on Jane Austen's tenner (she's the latest person to replace Shakespeare on that note) is a quill that changes from purple to orange as you tilt it. The clear window on J.M.W. Turner's £20 is the shape of the fountains in Trafalgar Square, referencing 'The Fighting Temeraire'. And Alan Turing's birthday on the £50 is shown in binary, that being the way that his (indeed all) computers count. As it happens, every member of the quartet either died at 41 (Austen, Turing) or has been played on screen by Timothy Spall (Churchill, Turner). The same wit is shown by the public who use the notes. The £10 note is sometimes known as an Ayrton (Senna), while the smallest denomination's nickname of Lady Godiva led to City boys calling £15 a Commodore, as it was three times a lady. The Rainbow vegetarian café in Cambridge was less amused, however, when the plastic fiver was introduced in 2016. They refused to take it, as it contains traces of tallow. Blind people tell which note they're holding by raised dots in the top left corner (the fiver has none, the £10 two, the £20 three and the £50 four). Another clue is that the notes get bigger as you go through the values, unlike in the US where they're all the same size. The young Ray Charles insisted on being paid entirely in single dollar bills, to prevent cheating. Eric Clapton used to snort his drugs through rolled-up £20 notes, which he would then throw away. His gardener Arthur Eggby would retrieve them, dust them off and spend them on his holidays on the Isle of Wight. Meanwhile when Elton John played in the Soviet Union in 1979, he was paid £4,000 in notes so old that they had to be taken to the Bank of England to be changed for new ones. This is a service the Bank provides for anyone, and there's no time limit. Old notes used to be burned at the Essex factory that prints new ones, supplementing the site's heating. Until 1853 each note was personally signed by one of the Bank's cashiers. The monarch, who you might have thought had always been on them, has only appeared since 1960, meaning Elizabeth II was the first to see her own likeness. As if to celebrate the fact, she always carried a fiver (very occasionally a tenner) in her handbag, ready for next week's church collection. The note was ironed by a butler into a little square, folded so that you could only see the Queen's face.
Daily Record
2 days ago
- Science
- Daily Record
The uninhabited Scottish island that was once one of the UK's most dangerous places
During the war, Churchill had ordered British scientists to develop biological weapons fearing the Nazis were doing the same Once considered one of the most dangerous places in Britain, a remote Scottish island nicknamed 'Anthrax Island' was off-limits to the public for decades after becoming the secret site of a wartime biological weapons experiment. Gruinard Island, located off the north-west coast of Scotland, was chosen by the British government during the Second World War as the test site for a top-secret programme aimed at weaponising anthrax. At the height of global conflict, Prime Minister Winston Churchill feared Nazi Germany was developing biological weapons and ordered British scientists to do the same, Express reports. Remote, uninhabited and close enough to the mainland for access, Gruinard fitted the bill. But locals in nearby villages such as Laide had no idea what was unfolding across the bay. Rumours began to circulate as sheep, cows and horses mysteriously began dying. The government tried to silence speculation by compensating for the loss of livestock, blaming the deaths on a Greek ship's poor animal disposal. The island's long and complex past stretches well beyond the 20th century. It was mentioned as far back as the mid-16th century by traveller Dean Munro, who noted it was under the control of Clan MacKenzie. Historically, both Ross-shire and Cromartyshire laid claim to the island due to its location between Gairloch and Ullapool. By the late 1700s, with surrounding villages growing into fishing and sheep-farming communities, Gruinard was used for grazing sheep and as a makeshift dock for local fishing activity. Though the 1881 census recorded six residents, no permanent population has existed since. The true extent of the secret tests during World War II remained hidden until a Ministry of Defence film was declassified more than 50 years later. The footage revealed the shocking details: around 80 sheep were placed in exposure crates and positioned to inhale a cloud of anthrax spores released by a small controlled explosion. Scientists wearing cloth overalls, gloves and respirators oversaw the operation as a white powder drifted in the wind towards the animals. Within days, the sheep were dead. Though Churchill's anthrax bomb was never deployed in war, the island was left contaminated, scorched and abandoned. In a desperate attempt to rid it of the toxin, two men from Porton Down, the UK's top chemical and biological research facility, were sent to burn large sections of the heather. That evening, villagers watched thick plumes of smoke rise from the island, unaware of what had been unleashed. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. Anthrax, a deadly bacterial disease, especially when inhaled, can be fatal even with medical treatment. Yet for 24 years after the tests, no signage on the island even mentioned the word. It wasn't until the 1980s that public pressure mounted to clean up the site. In 1981, a group of environmental activists calling themselves Dark Harvest launched a bold campaign to force the government to act. The island remained a biological hazard until 1986, when a decontamination team, all vaccinated against anthrax and dressed in protective gear, finally began efforts to cleanse the land. The clean-up took four years, and on 24 April 1990, Gruinard Island was officially declared free of anthrax. In 2022, Gruinard Island made headlines once again when a dramatic blaze engulfed the uninhabited land, sending plumes of smoke into the night sky.
Asahi Shimbun
2 days ago
- Politics
- Asahi Shimbun
VOX POPULI: Truman never expressed regret for unleashing the A-bomb
A stone monument stands at the Trinity Site where the first detonation of an atomic bomb was conducted in New Mexico on July 16, 1945. (Asahi Shimbun file photo) On July 16, 1945, in the New Mexico desert, the United States conducted the first-ever detonation of a nuclear weapon. With a blinding flash and a searing fireball, humanity entered a new era, having harnessed the terrifying destructive power of the atomic bomb. The success of the test—code-named 'Trinity'—was quietly conveyed as good news to the leaders of the United States and Britain. At the time, U.S. President Harry S. Truman and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill were in Germany for the Potsdam Conference, the final major meeting of Allied leaders during World War II. Recalling how he was informed of the news in 'Triumph and Tragedy,' the final volume of his six-part history series 'The Second World War,' Churchill wrote that a senior U.S. official 'laid before me a sheet of paper on which was written, 'Babies satisfactorily born.'' Some scientists warned that using nuclear weapons would mean opening the door to an era of devastation on an unimaginable scale, and urged Truman to proceed with caution. But their appeals failed to sway Truman or other key decision-makers. According to Churchill, the question of whether to use the atomic bomb to force Japan's surrender was never seriously debated. 'There was unanimous, automatic, unquestioned agreement around our table,' he wrote. After the war, a U.S. docudrama about the production and use of the bomb asked Truman whether the decision had been morally difficult. 'Hell no, I made it like that,' Truman replied, snapping his fingers. Just hearing those words is enough to make one tremble with anger. Even 80 years later, the world remains under the shadow of nuclear terror. According to estimates by Nagasaki University, the nine nuclear-armed nations now possess a combined total of 12,340 nuclear warheads. Although the number had been declining since the end of the Cold War, it is once again on the rise. In a nuclear war, there can be no winners. Reflecting on the aftermath of total destruction, Albert Einstein once remarked: 'I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.' —The Asahi Shimbun, July 16 * * * Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.
Sky News AU
2 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Former Home Affairs chief Mike Pezzullo tears into Albanese's 'unoriginal' tribute to John Curtin in 'mythical' portrait of legendary PM
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's recent portrait of John Curtin was an unoriginal and mythic repetition of the Curtin tropes. He painted Curtin as a canonised Labor hero who locked horns with Churchill over the return of Australian troops from the Middle East, and who maintained a ceaseless vigil as those troops made their way home by sea. Somehow this was a declaration of independence, when Australia, supposedly for the first time, thought and acted for itself. Never mind Alfred Deakin building our own navy before World War I, or Billy Hughes pursuing our security interests after that war at the Paris Peace Conference. The real Curtin was a courageous political leader who, after being appointed Prime Minister in October 1941, did his best to mobilise the Australian people for the coming war in the Pacific. In December 1941, he famously turned to the US. He had little choice but to appeal desperately for US military assistance, as Australia could not defend itself, and could not rely upon Britain, which was fighting for its life against Nazi Germany. Curtin knew that Australia would be a crucial base for future US operations against Imperial Japan. First, however, Australia would have to be defended. In early 1942, he and Churchill had a disagreement over the disposition of Australian forces. Curtin wanted them to return home; Churchill wanted them sent to Burma. The resultant flurry of cables between the two was a minor dance of allies arguing over war strategy. Churchill and Roosevelt had far more serious arguments, especially over the invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe. In 1944, as James Curran showed in Curtin's Empire (2011), after the danger to Australia had passed, Curtin tried to resuscitate the idea of 'imperial defence', whereby Britain and its self-governing British dominions would better coordinate their defence strategies and foreign policies. Curtin turned back to the British Empire, which is surely an inconvenient blindspot in the mythic origin story of an 'independent' Australian foreign policy. Forget such myths. A grittier and unsanctified version of Curtin would serve us better today. Indeed, that Curtin would be a leader for these dark days. With a largeness of mind and a strength of character, the Curtin of history grasped the terrible reality that global circumstances did not suit his agenda of socialistic reform. Instead, he had to focus on questions of war. After he became Leader of the Opposition in 1935, Curtin recognised that he would have to champion what was, for him and his party, an unnatural cause – namely, how best to independently defend Australia, at a time when the prevailing orthodoxy was to rely on Britain, and its naval base in Singapore. Had Curtin won the elections of 1937 and 1940, Australia would have been better prepared. The national panic of 1941-42 might have been avoided. Australia might have even re-armed in time to be able to deploy a powerful force in its sea-air approaches to confront Imperial Japan's southwards thrust. Perhaps, Australia might have 'looked to America' sooner - but demanding the final say in its own local defence. Those who would seek to appropriate Curtin's legacy should not be allowed to admire only what he did as a wartime leader. To honour him properly, we have to ask what a modern-day Curtin would do in the face of a looming war. While working tirelessly for peace through diplomacy, Curtin today would be vocal about the threat posed by China. He would argue for greater defence self-reliance and dramatically increased defence spending. He would be concerned about the threat of missile and air attack, offensive cyber strikes, raids in remote areas, attacks on shipping, and so on. He would be deeply engaged with his professional advisers on how best to deal with these military problems. He would show a deep interest in complex matters of war. He would recognise that, in a new 'look to America', ANZUS would need to become a warfighting alliance, with a standing headquarters (but this time headed by an Australian). He would authorise the development of war plans, including jointly with the United States. He would ask to see those war plans, and to approve them. He would also give priority to home defence, mobilisation, defence production, and the introduction of national service. The problem with meeting our heroes is that they always disappoint us. Meeting the real Curtin – the one who was focused on technical military issues, even if that meant setting aside a socialistic reforming zeal – would disappoint the Prime Minister. That, however, is the Curtin that we need today. The Curtin who in the 1930s was concerned that Australia was not doing enough to get ready, and who would today be deeply concerned to see history repeating itself. Michael Pezzullo was the Home Affairs Secretary from December 2017 until November 2023.
CBC
3 days ago
- Science
- CBC
Churchill researchers raise concerns about oil spill impacts in Arctic waters
A natural remedy known to counter oil spills will be 'much slower' to respond in a Canadian Arctic marine environment, which raises concerns for surrounding communities, say researchers working at a new facility in Churchill, Man.
