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Richard Tompkins
Granville Richard Francis Tompkins (15 May 1918 – 6 December 1992) was a British print, advertising and retail entrepreneur, best known for founding the Green Shield Stamps company, as well as the Argos chain of catalogue stores which became one of the largest retailers in the United Kingdom, and a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. Career Richard Tompkins was born in Islington, north London, and worked as an engineering draughtsman during the Second World War, before founding his first printing business in 1945. On holiday in Chicago in the 1950s, Tompkins witnessed the success of S&H Green Stamps, and on his return founded the Green Shield Stamp Trading Company in the United Kingdom. In 1973, he adapted the format of his Green Shield catalogue shops, used for redeeming trading stamp books, and founded Argos, a catalogue store chain that took cash. Though independent, Argos operations were closely linked to Green Shield Stamps, and Argos was sold in 1979 to BAT Indus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Tomkins
Richard Tomkins, born 4 September 1952, was a senior writer and commentator on the staff of the Financial Times. He took early retirement in 2009, after 25 years on the newspaper. History Richard Tomkins attended King Edward's School in Birmingham. Before joining the Financial Times, he spent five years in the Civil Service, three of them as assistant private secretary to a government minister; left to travel the world; and served a three-year apprenticeship with his local newspaper, the Walsall Observer. At the Financial Times, Tomkins was a columnist, writing a weekly column on consumer culture, and also wrote occasional editorial comments, known as leaders. From 1993 to 1999, he was a member of the FT's New York bureau at a time when the newspaper was undertaking a rapid expansion in the US. During his years at the Financial Times, Tomkins won all three of what were then the top awards in British journalism. In 1991, with other members of a reporting team at the FT, he was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Who Was Who
''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It has been published annually in the form of a hardback book since 1849, and has been published online since 1999. It has also been published on CD-ROM. It lists, and gives information on, people from around the world who influence British life. Entries include notable figures from government, politics, academia, business, sport and the arts. ''Who's Who 2023'' is the 175th edition and includes more than 33,000 people. In 2004, the book was described as the United Kingdom's most prominent work of biographical reference. The book is the original ''Who's Who'' book and "the pioneer work of its type". The book is an origin of the expression "who's who" used in a wider sense. History ''Who's Who'' has been published since 1849."More about Who's Who" OUP. When book publisher A & C Black bought t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1918 Births
The ceasefire that effectively ended the First World War took place on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of this year. Also in this year, the Spanish flu pandemic killed 50–100 million people worldwide. In Russia, this year runs with only 352 days. As the result of Julian to Gregorian calendar switch, 13 days needed to be skipped. Wednesday, January 31 ''(Julian Calendar)'' was immediately followed by Thursday, February 14 ''(Gregorian Calendar)''. Events World War I will be abbreviated as "WWI" January * January – 1918 flu pandemic: The "Spanish flu" ( influenza) is first observed in Haskell County, Kansas. * January 4 – The Finnish Declaration of Independence is recognized by Soviet Russia, Sweden, Germany and France. * January 8 – American president Woodrow Wilson presents the Fourteen Points as a basis for peace negotiations to end the war. * January 9 – Battle of Bear Valley: U.S. troops engage Yaqui Native Ameri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Commander Of The Order Of The British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two of which make the recipient either a Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom#Modern honours, knight if male or a dame (title), dame if female. There is also the related British Empire Medal, whose recipients are affiliated with the order, but are not members of it. The order was established on 4 June 1917 by King George V, who created the order to recognise 'such persons, male or female, as may have rendered or shall hereafter render important services to Our Empire'. Equal recognition was to be given for services rendered in the UK and overseas. Today, the majority of recipients are UK citizens, though a number of Commonwealth realms outside the UK continue to make appointments to the order. Honorary awards may be made to cit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
City Of Westminster
The City of Westminster is a London borough with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in Greater London, England. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It contains a large part of central London, including most of the West End of London, West End, such as the major shopping areas around Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Bond Street, and the entertainment district of Soho. Many London landmarks are within the borough, including Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Whitehall, Westminster Cathedral, 10 Downing Street, and Trafalgar Square. The borough also has a number of major Westminster parks and open spaces, parks and open spaces, including Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park, and most of Regent's Park. Away from central London the borough also includes various inner suburbs, including St John's Wood, Maida Vale, Bayswater, Belgravia and Pimlico. The borough had a population of 204,300 at the 2021 census. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British American Tobacco
British American Tobacco p.l.c. (BAT) is a British multinational company that manufactures and sells cigarettes, tobacco and other nicotine products including electronic cigarettes. The company, established in 1902, is headquartered in London, England. As of 2023, it is the second-largest tobacco company in the world based on net sales. BAT has operations in around 180 countries and its cigarette brands include Dunhill (cigarette), Dunhill, Kent (cigarette), Kent, Lucky Strike, Pall Mall (cigarette), Pall Mall and Rothmans International, Rothmans. Its brands also include Vuse e-cigarettes, Glo Heated tobacco product, heated tobacco, and Velo Snus, nicotine pouches. BAT has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It has a secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. BAT plc ordinary shares are also listed on the New York Stock Exchange in the form of American depositary receipt, American Depositary Shares. History 1902 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Green Shield Stamp
Green Shield Stamps was a British sales promotion scheme that rewarded shoppers with stamps that could be used to buy gifts from a catalogue or from any affiliated retailer. The scheme was introduced in 1958 by Richard Tompkins, who had noticed the success of the long-established Sperry & Hutchinson Green Stamps in America. For just a few years, the scheme was so widely adopted that it was referenced in rock songs. But it suffered when Tesco ceased to use it, as part of a price-cutting policy that became standard nationwide. To retain business, Green Shield allowed customers to buy gifts from the catalogue with a mix of stamps and cash, but soon the catalogue became cash-only, and the operation was re-branded as Argos (retailer), Argos. Stamps were withdrawn altogether in 1991 and the company entered voluntary liquidation in 2002. History Trading stamps first became popular in the United States. S&H Green Stamps, Sperry & Hutchinson began offering stamps to United State ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
S&H Green Stamps
S&H Green Stamps was a line of trading stamps popular in the United States from 1896 until the late 1980s. They were distributed as part of a rewards program operated by the Sperry & Hutchinson company (S&H), founded in 1896 by Thomas Sperry and Shelley Byron Hutchinson. During the 1960s, the company issued more stamps than the United States Postal Service, U.S. Postal Service and distributed 35 million catalogs a year.Andre Fontaine, Trading Stamps – Who Gets What? ''Reader's Digest'', June, 1963, pages 66 - 69 Customers received stamps at the checkout counters of supermarkets, department stores, and gas station, gasoline stations among other retailers, which could then be redeemed for products from the catalog. Top Value Stamps ceased operations in the early 1980s, after which S&H accepted savings books for those who had unredeemed Top Value books, before S&H itself ceased business. S&H Green Stamps had several competitors including Piggly Wiggly Carolina Co.#Greenbax Enterp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of United States cities by population, third-most populous city in the United States after New York City and Los Angeles. As the county seat, seat of Cook County, Illinois, Cook County, the List of the most populous counties in the United States, second-most populous county in the U.S., Chicago is the center of the Chicago metropolitan area, often colloquially called "Chicagoland" and home to 9.6 million residents. Located on the shore of Lake Michigan, Chicago was incorporated as a city in 1837 near a Chicago Portage, portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River, Mississippi River watershed. It grew rapidly in the mid-19th century. In 1871, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed several square miles and left more than 100,000 homeless, but ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oxford Dictionary Of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September 2004 in 60 volumes and online, with 50,113 biographical articles covering 54,922 lives. First series Hoping to emulate national biography, biographical collections published elsewhere in Europe, such as the (1875), in 1882 the publisher George Murray Smith, George Smith (1824–1901), of Smith, Elder & Co., planned a universal dictionary that would include biographical entries on individuals from world history. He approached Leslie Stephen, then editor of the ''Cornhill Magazine'', owned by Smith, to become the editor. Stephen persuaded Smith that the work should focus only on subjects from the United Kingdom and its present and former colonies. An early working title was the ''Biographia Britannica'', the na ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Islington
Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields and Regent's Canal, encompassing the area around the busy High Street, Upper Street, Essex Road, and Southgate Road to the east. History Etymology The manor of Islington was named by the Saxons ''Giseldone'' (1005), then ''Gislandune'' (1062). The name means "GÄ«sla's hill" from the Old English personal name ''GÄ«sla'' and ''dun (fortification), dun'' ("hill", "Downland, down"). The name later mutated to ''Isledon'', which remained in use well into the 17th century when the modern form arose. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising all resources in pursuit of total war. Tanks in World War II, Tanks and Air warfare of World War II, aircraft played major roles, enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, first and only nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II is the List of wars by death toll, deadliest conflict in history, causing World War II casualties, the death of 70 to 85 million people, more than half of whom were civilians. Millions died in genocides, including the Holocaust, and by massacres, starvation, and disease. After the Allied victory, Allied-occupied Germany, Germany, Allied-occupied Austria, Austria, Occupation of Japan, Japan, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
