4 November: Cash registers

On this date in 1879, a patent was issued to one James Ritty for a cash register. 10 things you might not know about cash registers:

1. The inventor, James Jacob Ritty, was a saloonkeeper in Dayton Ohio. He opened his first saloon there in 1871, billing himself as a "Dealer in Pure Whiskies, Fine Wines, and Cigars." He had problems, however, with staff who would keep the money customers paid for their booze and fags for themselves.

2. In 1878 he went on a steamboat trip to Europe. He saw a machine which counted the number of times the ship’s propeller went round, and was inspired to create a machine that would record cash transactions.

3. He went home and consulted with his brother, John, who was a mechanic. Together they came up with the device they patented on this date, and called it "Ritty's Incorruptible Cashier".

4. The brothers opened a factory to make the machines, but it didn’t do well, possibly because James didn’t want to let go of the saloon business and was trying to run them both at the same time. In the end, he sold the factory and the new owners re-named it The National Cash Register Company.

5. Some of their early designs were considered to be luxury items and were designed by Tiffany and Co.

6. Early models were mechanical, with buttons and a bell to signal transactions. Charles F. Kettering added an electric motor in 1906.

7. It is sometimes called a till or automated money handling system.

8. Bill Bryson has suggested that one reason for pricing which isn’t a round dollar or pound is because the employee would have to use the cash register in order to issue change and so the sale would be recorded.

9. The self-service till, which became popular in the 1990s, was invented by David R Humble. By 2013, there were over 200,000 of them in operation around the world.

10. Cash registers now are more like computers and have digital displays and Internet connectivity.

Beta

(Combat Team Series #2)

Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?

Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.

Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream. 

Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.

Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.

Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.

Paperback

E book

3 October: Bloomingdales

On this date in 1872 Bloomingdale's Department store in New York opened. 10 facts about Bloomingdale’s:

1. Bloomingdale’s was founded by brothers Joseph and Lyman Bloomingdale.

2. The first shop the family opened was a few years earlier in 1861. This shop was the Ladies' Notions Shop in New York's Lower East Side, which sold European fashions, in particular, hoop skirts.

3. The shop they opened on this date in 1872 was called Bloomingdale's Great East Side Bazaar and it was located at 965 Third Avenue, between 56th & 57th Streets. At the time, this wasn’t part of New York’s main shopping district and was a working class area, so it was a bit of a risk. The first day’s takings were $3.68.

4. It paid off, though and soon the Bazaar expanded into three nearby buildings and in due course moved into a building at 59th St. and Third Avenue, which is the flagship store to this day.

5. It was different from most boutiques at the time, because it didn’t specialise in just one type of clothing as the others did, but sold everything under one roof. Bloomingdale’s was a pioneer in window displays which attracted the attention of passers by. It was also the first store in New York to install Escalators. This attracted customers who came to gawp at this new-fangled way of getting to the upper floors, and who hopefully bought stuff while they were there.

6. One of its most famous customers was Queen Elizabeth II, who spent an afternoon there with Prince Philip in 1976.

7. There are two time capsules in the cornerstones which are due to be opened in 2130. They are said to contain an autographed baseball from Babe Ruth, and three bank books in which $25 had been deposited, which could be worth millions by now.

8. From 1979, there was a restaurant within the store called Le Train Bleu, which was modelled on the dining car of a French luxury train. It is now closed, as is the sky bridge between 59th and 60th street, one of the last remaining examples of this type of Bridge in Manhattan.

9. In 1984, Bloomingdale’s sold bags of ice chips from a 100,000 year old glacier in Greenland. “Glazonice” would set you back $7 a bag. The ice was marketed as the oldest and purest you could find anywhere on Earth. It was also said that because of the denseness, it would not dilute your cocktail.

10. Each morning, New York New York by Frank Sinatra plays as the doors open. This is the only music the store ever plays.

Beta

(Combat Team Series #2)

Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?

Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.

Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream. 

Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.

Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.

Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.

Paperback

E book

11 July: 7/11

On this date in 1964 the first 7-11 convenience store opened. It was called a convenience store because of its extended hours: from 7am to 11pm. 10 facts about these stores:

1. The forerunner of the 7-11 was the Southland Ice Company in Dallas, Texas. One of its employees, Joe Thompson, hit on the idea of selling perishable goods like Milk, Bread and Eggs in front of an icehouse, using the ice to keep the goods cool. Thompson went on to open more convenience stores in Texas and in due course, bought the ice company.

2. The shops were known as Tote’m Stores for a while after one of the executives placed a totem pole that he’d bought as a souvenir in Alaska, outside the busiest shop. This resulted in that shop getting the nickname Tote’m Store, because of the pole and because customers toted away their purchases. The idea spread to the rest of the chain.

3. The name changed to 7-Eleven in 1946, when the stores adopted the opening hours of 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. during the post-World War II economic boom.

4. Many of the shops now open 24/7. This started for 7-11 in 1962, when students arrived in droves after a university football game. There were so many customers that the shop ended up staying open until dawn. The company realised that there was a demand for shops that were open all night and so they adopted this schedule in other locations.

5. “Seven & I Holdings,” has been the parent company of 7-Eleven since 2005.

6. A brand new 7-Eleven opens somewhere in the world every two hours.

7. In the US, 7-11s are known for an ice cold drink called a Slurpee. Every year on this date, which is considered to be the birthday of the company, 7-Eleven gives away about 500,000 gallons of Slurpees. They weren’t invented by 7-11, though. It was a Dairy Queen which sold the first Slurpees. 7-11 bought the licence to the concept in 1965 and renamed it the Slurpee after the sound made while sipping it through a Straw.

8. In other parts of the world, 7-11s are very different. In Indonesia, they are more like a hip, coffee house mostly frequented by people under the age of 30. The stores offer free Wi-Fi, plenty of tables and chairs inside and out, and often feature live musical performances.

9. In Taipei, Taiwan, there are more than 4,000 7-11s with many city blocks having more than one. Aside from purchasing local food and Slurpees, customers can pay utility bills, book travel arrangements, buy small electronics like iPods, and even get health screening.

10. In the US, since 2000, the store has run a promotion called "7-Election" in election years. It is a kind of poll in which customers buy red or blue coffee cups depending on who they intend to vote for. These are scanned at the checkouts and the results are collated. It might not be very scientific but can be surprisingly accurate. In 2000 and 2004, the number of coffee cup votes and the number of actual popular votes for both candidates was only off by 1 or 2 percentage points.

Beta

(Combat Team Series #2)

Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?

Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.

Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream. 

Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.

Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.

Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.

Paperback

E book

3 March: Coins

On this date in 1791, US Congress passed a resolution ordering the US Mint to be established. In 1849 the US Gold Coinage Act passed, allowing Gold coins to be minted. In 1851 Congress authorised the smallest US Silver coin, the three-cent piece. With all these coin related historical events, today is the perfect day to present ten fascinating facts about coins.

1. The oldest coin factory, or mint, was excavated in the ancient city Guanzhuang in Henan province in China. The factory produced shovel-shaped bronze coins between 640 B.C. and 550 B.C.

2. The most valuable coin in the world is the 1794 Flowing Hair Silver Dollar, worth $10 million. It’s said to be the first silver coin to have been minted and issued by the US Federal Government. The most expensive coin ever sold in Britain was an Edward VIII gold sovereign from 1937 which was bought by a private collector for £1 million.

3. At the other end of the scale, the least valuable coin in the world is Uzbekistan’s tiyin coin. Two thousand of them are worth one American cent.

4. The oldest coins in circulation in the UK are the 1p and 2p piece which only date back to 1971, when decimal currency was introduced.

5. Since the time of Charles II, the image of a new monarch faces in the opposite direction on coins than their immediate predecessor. The only exception was Edward VIII, as he preferred his left portrait to his right.

6. Flipping a coin to decide the outcome of something (you could describe a coins as two sided dice) has been around since Roman times. They called it navia aut caput ("ship or head"), as some coins had a ship on one side and the head of the emperor on the other. There is something like a 1 in 6000 that a coin could land on its side (stuck in the ground, or leaning against something, like a shoe). Sigmund Freud recommended a coin toss as a way to make a difficult decision – not necessarily abiding by the result, but analysing how the result made the decision maker feel, so they’d know which result they actually wanted. The technical terms for the two sides of a coin, heads or tails, are obverse and reverse, respectively.

7. A coin or two is often placed under the keel block of a new ship to bring good luck. This superstition dates back to Roman times.

8. Convicts being transported to Australia used coins to leave messages for their loved ones. They would smooth and/or engrave the coins with loving messages. These coins were called "convict love tokens" or "leaden hearts".

9. There are about 1 trillion coins in circulation worldwide. It’s estimated that about 28,850,000,000 of them are UK coins. That’s almost 4 billion pounds worth of coins. However, there are limits on how many 1p coins you can spend at once. Legally, a recipient can refuse to be paid in 1p coins for amounts over 20p.

10. Ever wondered why some coins have ridges around the edge? You have Isaac Newton to thank for that. In his time it was common for people to shave the edges of coins and keep the metal. As warden of the Royal Mint, it was Isaac’s job to come up with a way to put a stop to that. His solution was to put ridges round the edges.

Beta

(Combat Team Series #2)

Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?

Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.

Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream. 

Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.

Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.

Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.

Paperback

E book

11 May: The Euro

On this date in 1998, a French mint produced the first coins of Europe's single currency, the euro. 10 things you might not know about the Euro currency:

1. The name for a Europe wide currency was first suggested by a Belgian teacher called Germain Pirlot. He wrote a letter to the President of the European Commission in August 1995 with his suggestion. The name was formally agreed at the 1995 European Council meeting in Madrid.

2. The euro symbol – € - is full of meaning. It was inspired by the Greek letter Epsilon, Greece being regarded as the cradle of European civilisation. It’s also the first letter of the word “Europe” in the Latin alphabet. Even the two lines running through it mean something – they represent stability.

3. The front sides of the banknotes depict Windows and Doors, to suggest openness and co-operation. On the reverse side are Bridges, to represent connection. Each denomination features a particular architectural style: €5: Classical; €10: Romanesque; €20: Gothic; €50: Renaissance; €100: Baroque and rococo; €200: 19th century Iron and Glass architecture.

4. None of the windows, doors, or bridges actually existed – until Dutch designer Robin Stam decided to replicate the fictional bridges in the Dutch town of Spijkenisse.

5. The banknotes are made from Cotton fibres or cotton noils, a waste product from the textile industry.

6. Printing of euros takes place under license by national central banks and private companies in 11 highly secure locations across The EU. It’s possible, if you’re in the know, to figure out from the serial number of a note where it was printed. For example, if the number starts with an X or a W, it was printed by Giesecke+Devrient.

7. One euro is divided into 100 cent or "cents" although these units are often known by different names in some languages, for example "centimes" in French and "céntimos" in Spanish.

8. Euro coins have a common side and a national side. The common sides show images of the European Union or of Europe and symbolise the unity of the EU. The common sides were designed by Luc Luycx. The national sides show an image chosen by the issuing country.

9. The euro is the world’s second favourite currency for borrowing, lending and central bank reserves. It’s not as popular with forgers, though. In 2020, only 17 in every 1 million notes was identified as a forgery, one of the best ratios of any major currency.

10. As well as 19 EU countries, the Euro has also been adopted by some countries outside the EU, including Kosovo, Vatican City, Montenegro, Andorra, San Marino and the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia. These Sovereign Base Areas are a British Overseas Territory on the island of Cyprus, making them the only places under British sovereignty to use the euro.

28 January: Poverty Awareness Month

January is Poverty Awareness Month, so here are ten quotes about being poor:

1. Lack of money is the root of all evil. George Bernard Shaw

2. Poverty of course is no disgrace, but it is damned annoying. William Pitt the Younger

3. I've always been after the trappings of great luxury. But all I've got hold of are the trappings of great poverty. Peter Cook

4. You lose your manners when you’re poor. Lillian Hellman

5. Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor. James Arthur Baldwin

6. Having been poor is no shame, but being ashamed of it, is. Benjamin Franklin

7. I have enough money to last me the rest of my life – unless I buy something. Jackie Mason

8. I’m so poor I can’t even pay attention. Anon

9. I have no copper in my purse, I have no silver either, And all my gold is on the furze That shakes in windy weather. Christina Rossetti

10. Lots of people worry about nothing – when it’s in the bank. Anon

3 March: The Budget

 10 things you didn't know about the Budget:

1. The word Budget comes from the French word “Bougette” which means little bag.
2. The first person to hear what the Budget contains is the Queen. It is traditional for her to invite the Chancellor to dinner the night before Budget Day so he can spill the beans.
3. The longest budget speech was delivered by William Ewart Gladstone in 1853 and lasted 4 hours and 45 minutes. The shortest was given by Benjamin Disraeli in 1867 and lasted 45 minutes.
4. Alcohol isn't usually allowed in the House of Commons, but during the budget speech the Chancellor is allowed to drink whatever he or she likes, so they can enjoy a tipple if they want. George Osborne, Alistair Darling and Gordon Brown were all pretty boring and opted for Water, but Kenneth Clarke would have Whiskey, Geoffrey Howe had Gin and Tonic, Nigel Lawson had a spritzer and William Ewart Gladstone was partial to sherry and beaten Egg.
5. The budget is usually held on a Tuesday rather than a Monday to avoid any MPs from distant constituencies not making it back after the weekend due to travel difficulties. In 1980 it was held on a Wednesday because a new Archbishop of Canterbury was being enthroned on the Tuesday. In 2021 it's a Wednesday too, not sure why, probably some plague-related reason.
6. The debate following the budget speech can last for days.
7. The chancellor uses a special red briefcase to carry his speech to the House of Commons. He'll usually pose with it for photographs for the press on the day. William Ewart Gladstone was the first chancellor to use a specific briefcase rather than any old despatch box. The same box was used from 1853 to 1965 when James Callaghan decided to get a new one. Gordon Brown got another new one in 1997, but in 2008 Alistair Darling went back to the original. George Osborne then announced the original box would be retired for good, because it was getting too fragile to use. The key to the original box is missing.
8. In 1868 the then chancellor, Ward Hunt, got to the House of Commons and opened the budget box to get his speech out, only to discover that he'd left it at home.
9. It's been known for a chancellor to not put the speech in the bag on purpose. In the 1990s Norman Lamont carried a bottle of Highland Park whiskey in the box while the speech was in a plastic bag carried by his private secretary.
10. The longest serving chancellor was Gladstone, who spent 12 years and four months in the post.

Who's That Girl?

Matt Webster lives in a tower block and attends a failing school. He dreams of being a spy like James Bond. Little does he know that he is being watched by someone who can make him into even more than that – a superhero.

His first solo mission is to attend a ball at the Decembrian Embassy and discover who is planning to steal a priceless diamond. While there, he meets the mysterious Lady Antonia du Cane, and is powerfully drawn to her. It soon becomes clear, however, that Lady du Cane is not what she seems. Matt’s quest to discover who she really is almost costs him his career.

A modern day Guy Fawkes gathers a coterie around him with the aim of blowing up Parliament with a nuclear bomb. To achieve this, they need money. Lots of it. Selling the Heart of Decembria Diamond will provide more than enough. All that stands in their way is the Freedom League – but the League is beset by internal disagreements. Can the heroes put their differences aside in time to save the day?

Prime Minister Richard Miller and his wife Fiona grieve for their daughter, Yasmin, who has been missing for three years, and is presumed to be dead. Viper agent Violet Parker could hold the key to what happened to Yasmin, but Violet is accused of giving away the organisation’s secrets. She is to be executed without trial. Will she take her knowledge of what happened to Yasmin with her to her grave?

Available on Amazon:

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E-Book

16 February: Cheques

On this date in 1659 the first British cheque (£400) was written by Nicholas Vanacker and is now in the archives of the National Westminster Bank. 10 facts about cheques.

1. While cheques might not have been used in Britain until 1659, there is evidence that requests to pay money to specific people were being used in India in 321 BC and that they were also used in Ancient Rome and Persia, where they referred to them as čak or sakk.
2. The Americans spell it "check" rather than "cheque", which was, in fact, they way everyone spelled the word at first. It was thought to originate from "a check against forgery". The Commonwealth and Ireland used the "cheque" spelling from 1828 when James William Gilbart started using it in his Practical Treatise on Banking, possibly to distinguish it from other usages of the word.
3. It was 1717 before the Bank of England began issuing pre-printed forms, on special paper to discourage forgery.
4. Can you actually pay those oversized ones people pose with when they've won the Lottery or on charity fundraising shows? Yes, but the bank might charge extra for doing it.
5. The largest cheque ever, according to Guinness World Records, measured 12 x 25 metres (39 x 82 feet).
6. There is such a thing as a left-handed cheque book.
7. A person who writes a cheque is called the drawer. The person or entity which is to receive the money is called the payee, and the bank the money is to come out of is the drawee.
8. The days of the cheque are almost certainly numbered thanks to debit cards, electronic transactions and online banking. Banks prefer these non-paper based methods and encourage their customers to use those instead. Many UK shops will no longer accept them.
9. If there is insufficient money in a drawer's account to honour a cheque that they've written, the cheque is said to have "bounced", or is a "rubber cheque". The drawer will be penalised by their bank when this happens. It's also possible for a drawer to stop a cheque and tell the bank not to pay out, say if the payee loses the cheque and there's a chance someone else will find it and try to cash it.
10. The band Oasis once promised a full refund for a cancelled show, but regretted it when they realised just how much it would cost them. Their solution was to issue cheques, signed by the band, in the hope that people would keep them as autographs rather than cash them.

NEW!

Settling the Score

Another collection of short stories, even more murder and mayhem with carol singers, an orchestra out for revenge, a sinister magic stone and a haunted mansion.

Available on Amazon:
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A Tale of Two Sisters

During a battle with supervillains, a horrific accident leaves the Warner family with no option but to believe their youngest daughter, Jessica, is dead. It doesn't occur to them that the bad guys could, or would, save her.

Jessica wakes up with no memory of who she is or how she came to be on a space station with two bionic legs, a bionic arm and a bionic eye. She is told her family abandoned her and is sent back to Earth with a mission - to kill them. While Jessica wants to kill her family, along with the twin boys who once rejected her, she knows what the Alliance of Supervillains are asking her to do is a suicide mission. She decides to get her revenge in her own way.

As Jessica puts the first part of her revenge plan in motion, she finds herself with an agonising decision to make. Before she can decide, the Alliance come for her, determined to make her do their bidding. This time, it's the Alliance who leave her, crippled and at the mercy of the Warner family, who have no idea who the Alliance's Black Rose really is.

Jessica finds herself having to re-think her decisions in light of what she now learns about her family, the Alliance, the twins, and herself. It would appear the Alliance have left her with an unwanted and permanent reminder of her time with them. Or have they?

Jessica's older sister, Jill, knows her destiny is to be a doctor and specialise in bionics and genetic variant medicine. She is also hopelessly in love with Christopher, Crown Prince of Galorvia. Can their romance survive the lies Christopher told her when they were both at school, an unplanned pregnancy and Sophie, the wannabe princess who comes between them?

Available on Amazon
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17 May: The New York Stock Exchange

The New York Stock Exchange was created on this date in 1792. 10 things you might not know about the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

1. It all began when 24 stockbrokers held a meeting under a tree. A buttonwood tree, to be exact, on what is now Wall Street in New York City, which is why the agreement they all signed that day is called the Buttonwood Agreement. This agreement still exists - it is on display in the NYSE Building in a temperature and humidity controlled Glass case.
2. It wasn't the first stock exchange to be set up in America. That was the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, set up in 1790.
3. The first company to be listed on the exchange was the Bank of New York.
4. The Stock Exchange didn't move into its current home until 1903. The NYSE Building was designed by George B. Post with a façade sculpted by J.A. Ward and entitled “Integrity Protecting the Works of Man.”
5. Initially, only men were allowed on the trading floor. The first woman to buy a seat on the exchange was Muriel Siebert in 1967. A room in the NYSE building is named after her, and there is memorabilia related to her on display, including a multi-hued faux fur jacket she once wore on the trading floor.
6. In 1904, Czar Nicholas II of Russia issued a $1 billion bond. He was so grateful to the Exchange for handling the deal that he gifted it with an urn made by the House of Fabergé and bearing the czar’s crest. According to NYSE archivist Peter Asch, it is the largest piece Fabergé ever created.
7. Before the Exchange acquired telephones in 1878, runners known as "deer" would run between the Exchange and nearby offices to deliver quotes. Today, a lot of trading is done online and so the numbers of people who actually show up to the trading floor to do their business in person is dwindling. It reached a peak in 2000 when about 5,000 people would turn up every day to trade. Nowadays, there will be 500 to 1,000 people there on an average day.
8. On 16 September 1920, a bomb exploded on Wall Street outside the NYSE building. 33 were killed people more than 400 injured. The NYSE building still has marks on its façade caused by the bombing. The perpetrators were never found.
9. At time of writing, the President of the NYSE is Stacey Cunningham, who took over from Thomas Farley in May 2018. She is the first female leader in the exchange's 226-year history.
10. NYSE has a famous bell to signal the beginning and end of the trading day. It replaced a Chinese gong which was used before 1903, which had itself replaced a gavel. In fact, there are four bells, controlled by a central button. The sound of the bell is trademarked. There are strict rules about how long the bell is sounded for - 10 seconds to open the market in the morning, 15 to close it in the afternoon. Anyone ringing the bell who doesn't ring it for the exact right number of seconds will get booed from the floor. Since the 1990s there has been a tradition of inviting important guests to ring the bell. The first guest to be invited dates back further - it was a 10 year old boy called Leonard Ross, who won the honour as a prize on a TV quiz show in which he answered questions on the Stock Exchange, back in 1956. Guests are most often officials at companies undertaking an initial public offering at the Exchange but celebrities and world leaders are sometimes invited, too. Members of the New York police and fire departments following the events of 9/11, Liza Minnelli, Mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani, swimming champion Michael Phelps, Snoop Dogg, United Nations Secretaries General Kofi Annan and Ban Ki-moon, Tony Blair and Nelson Mandela have all rung the bell. So have Mickey Mouse, the Pink Panther, Mr. Potato Head and Darth Vader. And yes, had any of those people failed to ring the bell for the correct number of seconds, they would have been booed.

Closing the Circle

A stable wormhole has been established between Earth and Infinitus. Power Blaster and his friends can finally go home.

Desi Troyes is still at large on Earth - Power Blaster has vowed to bring him to justice. His wedding to Shanna is under threat as the Desperadoes launch an attempt to rescue their leader. 

Someone from Power Blaster's past plays an unexpected and significant role in capturing Troyes.

The return home brings its own challenges. Not everyone can return to the life they left behind, and for some, there is unfinished business to be dealt with before they can start anew.

Ben Cole in particular cannot resume his old life as a surgeon because technology no longer works around him. He plans a new life in Classica, away from technology. Shanna hears there could be a way to reverse his condition and sets out to find it, putting herself in great danger. She doesn't know she is about to uncover the secret of Power Blaster's mysterious past.

Available from:

Amazon (Paperback)

Amazon Kindle

Completes The Raiders Trilogy. 

Other books in the series:

Book One

Book Two

              

10 March: Money Words

To celebrate Money Day, here are 10 origins of Money words explained:

1. Quid: originates from the Latin phrase Quid Pro Quo, translating literally as 'what for what'. The first recorded use of the term "quid" relating to money is in Strange Newes from Bartholomew-Fair, by P. Aretine, published in 1661. It reads, "The fool lost his purse, but how he knew not; for the reckoning being suddainly brought in, his Quids were vanisht."
2. Coin: from the Latin word cuneus for “wedge,” because the dye for stamping metal coins was wedge-shaped.
3. To pay through the nose has its roots from the Danes in Ireland, who would slit the noses of those who refused to pay their taxes.
4. Dollar: from the German taler, which is an abbreviation of Joachimstaler, a town near a silver mine. The silver from the mine was used to make taler, a type of silver coin. "Buck" dates back to days before paper when Americans traded animal skins for goods and services.
5. Cent: from the Latin centum, meaning “hundred” and later “hundredth part”.
6. Cash: from the ancient Chinese, who carried their coins in bundles on strings. A bundle of a hundred coins was called a cash. The Chinese probably got the word from the Portuguese who called their coins caixa, pronounced “cash-a.”
7. Bankrupt: from the Italian banca rotta, literally “broken bench.” In banking's early times, people who exchanged, and lent money did their business in public marketplaces at a bench. If the man at the bench, or the “banker,” ran out of money or acted unethically, his bench would be broken.
8. Piggy bank: in Old English, pygg was a type of clay used to make jars and dishes to hold money. The word eventually morphed into “piggy bank.”
9. Capital: Cattle and other livestock were the first form of money. Each head of cattle was called a caput, which is Latin for “head.” A person with a lot of cattle had lots of caput or “capital”.
10. Farthing: In 1060, an English coin which was minted which was shaped like a Clover – any of the four leaves could be broken off and used as separate pieces of currency. The term for the broken off bits was "fourthings" which evolved into the word farthing.

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