If you want to edit your avatar you have to put it on your own web space to use it on the internet; or , if it's easier, you can e-mail it to me and I'll stick it on my pictures page and give you the address so you can use it here or anywhere you like.

P.S. Thanks for the compliments and your welcome for the welcome.

P.P.S. Please don't thank me for saying you are welcome for the welcome, we could get caught in a time loop... :burnout:

I know, I'm not sure the matrix can handle it.

Credit was first used in Assyria, Babylon and Egypt 3000 years ago. The bill of exchange - the forerunner of banknotes - was established in the 14th century. Debts were settled by one-third cash and two-thirds bill of exchange. Paper money followed only in the 17th century.

The first advertisement for credit was placed in 1730 by Christopher Thornton, who offered furniture that could be paid off weekly.

From the 18th century until the early part of the 20th, tallymen sold clothes in return for small weekly payments. They were called "tallymen" because they kept a record or tally of what people had bought on a wooden stick. One side of the stick was marked with notches to represent the amount of debt and the other side was a record of payments. In the 1920s, a shopper's plate - a "buy now, pay later" system - was introduced in the USA. It could only be used in the shops which issued it.

In 1950, Diners Club and American Express launched their charge cards in the USA, the first "plastic money". In 1951, Diners Club issued the first credit card to 200 customers who could use it at 27 restaurants in New York. But it was only until the establishment of standards for the magnetic strip in 1970 that the credit card became part of the information age.

It's all just a few really.... :wink:

Wars of the Roses



Reasons for the Wars.

When Edward III died in 1377, he left no direct hier to the throne of England. The Kings eldest son 'The Black Prince', had died a few years earlier. It was decided that his son, Edward III's grandson, should inherit the throne. Henry, Duke of Lancaster, the late Kings second son opposed this from the start. He spent his life in pursuit of the Kingdom. He never reached his goal and died leaving his son Henry Bolingbroke to carry on the quest for the Crown.

The single event that could be said to have started the Wars of the Roses happened in 1399. Henry Bolingbroke siezed the Throne from Edward's grandson Richard II and declared himself King Henry IV. Henry attacked Richard physically, claiming the right of trial by combat. Richard put up no resistance and disappeared. imprisoned by the new king., shortly afterwards. Though Richard was a weak King, the people opposed Henry until his death. His son, crowned Henry V proved to be a great King. He restored the countries faith in the monarchy with his victories in France. Some never forgot how their own lineage had been severed though by the rise of these usurper Kings from the house of Lancaster.

Henry V died suddenly in 1422 leaving the one year old Prince Henry as heir. Henry VI was an ineffectual King. Unpopular with his people because he listened too much to his current favourite advisors: out for personal gain, and his wife, the unpopular and domineering Margaret of Anjou. A string of bad decisions angered Richard, Duke of York, whom many people believed to have a legitimate claim to the throne himself. He was seen as a threat by those close to the king, and was called back from his important post in Calais and effectually banished to Ireland. This seems to have been the last straw for Richard, who had supported the King completely until then. It was then that the Wars truly started with Richard, a plausible heir to the throne, seeking the crown for himself. He never gained it; but his son, Edward IV took the Kingdom from Henry in 1471.

A few months after being crowned, Henry once more regained the throne. He held it for only a few months and then Edward captured Henry and seized power for himself again.

All was quiet for eleven years until in 1483, Edward IV died. He left his two young sons Edward and Richard in the care of their Uncle, Richard of York. Both boys vanished (presumed killed in the tower) and Richard pronounced himself King of England. In 1485 however, another claimant of the throne, Henry Tudor landed in England and marched across the country. He gathered support for his claim to the throne by his Lancastrian ancestry. On August 22nd, 1485, Richard and Henry met at Bosworth. By the end of the day, Henry was crowned King of England, and Richard was dead.

Henry was only opposed by a few remaining Lords and Nobles. These were either with him or dead by 1490. With his marriage to the last of the Yorkist line, the Wars of the Roses could be said to be finally over.

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no

Exactly... Did you know, the Antpitta avis canis Ridgley is a bird that looks like a stuffed duck on stilts and barks like a dog. The bird was discovered by ornithologist Robert S. Ridgley in the Andes in Ecuador in June 1998. Thirty of these long-legged, black-and-white barking birds were found. It apparently had gone undetected because it lives in remote parts and, of course, doesn't sing. The size of a duck, it is one of the largest birds discovered in the last 50 years.

:kitty:

awwww...

Oh yes he is, you just can't see his lips moving under that fur; and it's a still photo... look closely and you can just make out a jolly glint in his eye.

try looking at him a little bit longer; say 5 seconds... :wink:

In 1897, Austrian businessman Emil Jellinek, travelled from his home in Nice, France to purchase a car from the Daimler factory in Cannstatt, Germany. On his return to the French Riviera, his sporting Daimler Phoenix caused such a sensation that he decided to enter it into a local touring competition, under the name of "Mercedes" after his favourite 9 year old daughter. Realising the business potential for the new car, he not only placed an order for 36 more, but also secured the franchise for selling them in several countries. Gottlieb Daimler also agreed to having them sold under the name of "Mercedes."

The Mercedes trade name was registered after Daimler's death in 1900 and the 3-pointed star became the trade mark. Daimler had once drawn the emblem on a postcard to his wife, the star symbolising the growth of the business into transport on land, sea and air.