Herbys Gifts & Cards

An accounting scandal of epic proportions took place in 2001. The Enron Corporation was a USA energy company that was formed by Kenneth Lay in 1985 when InterNorth and Houston Gas merged. Lay later recruited Jeffrey Skilling who oversaw a system of "mark-to-market" pricing - a system whereby future profits from deals could be accounted for by estimating their present value rather than historical cost. When deals went bad executives sought to hide losses using complex accounting methods as mentioned above. As billions of Dollars of debt built up after entering into dodgy deals , Chief Financial Office , Andrew Fastow mislead Enron`s Board and convinced the auditors Arthur Anderson that all was ok.

When the scandal broke in October 2001 , Enron was forced to declare bankruptcy and the auditors - Arthur Anderson - then the 5th largest accountancy firms in the world - was dissolved. The company`s share price fell from $90 in mid 2000 to less than $1 in late 2001. Shareholders filed a $40 Billion lawsuit seeking recompense. The SEC filed an investigation and subsequently Enron filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy making it the largest bankruptcy in US history at that time.
Many executives were indicted and Lay , Skilling and Fastow all received prison terms but Lay died of a heart attack prior to sentencing.

Finally , Enron`s employees and shareholders received scant rewards from the lawsuit and suffered huge pension and share losses. New legislation in the guise of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was later introduced to try to prevent such false accounting ever happening again.


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An accounting scandal of epic proportions took place in 2001. The Enron Corporation was a USA energy company that was formed by Kenneth Lay in 1985 when InterNorth and Houston Gas merged. Lay later recruited Jeffrey Skilling who oversaw a system of "mark-to-market" pricing - a system whereby future profits from deals could be accounted for by es...

In 1959 , the new Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum opened on Fifth Avenue in New York. The building was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and featured a cylindrical shape where the upper levels are wider than the lower levels.

                               


The museum was originally founded in 1939 by art collector Solomon Robert Guggenheim with the aim of promoting all forms of art including impressionist , post impressionist , modern and contemporary art. Originally , it was directed and co-founded by respected artist Hilda von Rebay.


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1959 Birthday card & DVD News Film


                                      


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Facts About 1959 - Mini Car Launched by British Motor Company

In 1959 , the new Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum opened on Fifth Avenue in New York. The building was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and featured a cylindrical shape where the upper levels are wider than the lower levels.                               The museum was originally founded in 1939 by art collector Solomon Robert Guggenheim with the aim...

Following the death of her father , King George VI , from coronary thrombosis at the age of 56 on 6th February 1952 , Princess Elizabeth , the eldest daughter , became Queen Elizabeth II. At the time of death , Elizabeth was in Kenya on a tour of the Commonwealth.

The official coronation was held a year later on 2nd June 1953 to allow an appropriate length of time to pass following the passing of a Monarch and to give time to allow for preparation of the ceremony.

The Coronation was held in Westminster Abbey as was tradition. It was the first ever such event that was televised and an estimated 300 million viewers witnessed Her Majesty crowned Queen of the United Kingdom , Canada , Australia , New Zealand , South Africa , Pakistan and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) by Geoffrey Fisher the Archbishop of Canterbury.





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Facts From 1962 - Cuban Missile Crisis


Facts From 1943 - Operation Mincemeat


Facts From 1954 - Marilyn Monroe Marries Joe DiMaggio

Following the death of her father , King George VI , from coronary thrombosis at the age of 56 on 6th February 1952 , Princess Elizabeth , the eldest daughter , became Queen Elizabeth II. At the time of death , Elizabeth was in Kenya on a tour of the Commonwealth.The official coronation was held a year later on 2nd June 1953 to allow an appropri...

In October 1962 the world again came close to another World War when the Cold War combatants , USA and Russia came close to outright war following the installation of nuclear warheads on Cuba - some 90 miles from Florida. The crisis became know as the Cuban Missile Crisis and it lasted one month and four days during which the world held its breath.

The lead up to the crisis can be firstly pinpointed to the USA`s placement of Jupiter Ballistic Missiles which could carry nuclear warheads in Italy and Turkey. Further , the USA`s failed invasion of Cuba in 1961 called the Bay of Pigs Invasion prompted Prime Minister Fidel Castro to invite Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev to place similar nuclear armed ballistic missiles in Cuba to deter any future invasion. Work on the launch sites began in the summer of 1962.

When Air Force U-2 Spy planes confirmed the existence of the launch sites President John F Kennedy imposed a "quarantine" around the island to prevent further missiles being deployed and to prevent any implications of an act of war. Negotiations ensued between both sides which resulted in Khrushchez agreeing to remove all warheads from Cuba in return of a public declaration that the USA would not invade Cuba. The USA also agreed to remove ballistic missiles from Turkey. The "quarantine" was formally ended on 20th November 1962 but this confrontation lead both sides to set up a hot line in order to reduce future tensions.



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Facts From 1939 - World War II Begins

Facts From 1943 - Operation Mincemeat

In October 1962 the world again came close to another World War when the Cold War combatants , USA and Russia came close to outright war following the installation of nuclear warheads on Cuba - some 90 miles from Florida. The crisis became know as the Cuban Missile Crisis and it lasted one month and four days during which the world held its brea...

During the dark days of World War II , Operation Mincemeat was a daring and ultimately successful British intelligence deception operation to convince the Germans that the Allied Forces were planning to invade Greece and not Sicily.

The operation was based on the 1939 Trout Memo written by Admiral John Godfrey , the Director of Naval Intelligence and his personal assistant Ian Fleming , author of the James Bond spy novels. The basis of the plan was taken up by Charles Cholmondeley , a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force who was assigned a naval officer named Ewen Montagu to develop the idea further. The plan whilst high risk was eventually approved by Winston Churchill and General Dwight D Eisenhower and put into action by acquiring the body of a man of a certain age. The person chosen was a tramp who had died from eating rat poison - a Welshman named Glyndwr Martin. His corpse was dressed up to portray him as an officer of the Royal Marines and various personal and top secret papers were placed about his person to falsely identify him as Major William Martin. The papers revealed that the Allies were intending to invade Greece and not Sicily as the Germans expected. When the time was ripe the body was released off the southern coast of Spain and washed ashore. 

The Spanish government came into possession of the body but before returning it to the British with all papers intact , copies of the plan had been handed to the Germans. Upon examination , the British discovered that the papers had indeed been read. Fortunately , the Germans fell for the ruse and moved troops to Greece. On 9th July 1943 the invasion of Sicily called Operation Husky proceeded to plan and Allied forces landed on the beaches with limited casualties and later took over the whole island.




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Facts From 1969 - Man On The Moon

Facts From 1939 - World War II Begins

During the dark days of World War II , Operation Mincemeat was a daring and ultimately successful British intelligence deception operation to convince the Germans that the Allied Forces were planning to invade Greece and not Sicily.The operation was based on the 1939 Trout Memo written by Admiral John Godfrey , the Director of Naval Intelligence...