The butterfly effect

September 1651

Following the disastrous Battle of Worcester, Charles Stuart, son of the executed King Charles I, hides in an oak tree, saving himself from Oliver Cromwell’s troops. He escapes to France with the help of Royalist soldier Henry Wilmot.

April 1661

Having returned to England and claimed the throne, the newly crowned Charles II confers on Henry’s son, John Wilmot, an annual pension of £500 and sends him on a three-year Grand Tour of France and Italy to thank him for his father’s actions.

1664

Financially secure and inspired by the work he encounters in Europe, Wilmot begins writing poetry. Widely dismissed as a rake and a drunk, only three of his poems, which were often sexually candid, are published before his death.

Summer 1933

Promising Oxford English student Hugh Greene cites Wilmot’s poetry in his finals. Examiners “shocked” by Greene’s “excessive quotations from indecent poems” mark him down and he does not achieve the first which he was predicted.

Winter 1933

Having abandoned plans to become an academic due to his disappointing grades, Greene travels to Germany to try to become a journalist. He succeeds, becoming a correspondent for the Telegraph, until he is expelled by the Nazi party in 1939.

October 1945

Greene returns to Germany to set up the radio service Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk (NWDR). Greene models it on the BBC, prioritising independent journalism, discussion programmes and lectures.

23rd June 1952

Shortly before publication of Bild’s first edition a journalist fails to file a story. With a gap to fill, the editor commissions illustrator Reinhard Beuthien to draw a one-panel comic. The result features Bild Lilli, a buxom secretary with a risqué sense of humour, who goes on to be incredibly popular, particularly among men.

1956

While holidaying in Germany, American furniture manufacturer Ruth Handler picks up a Bild Lilli doll, a novelty toy aimed at adults. Inspired, she creates her own doll for children modelled on Lilli. She names it after her daughter Barbara.

9th March 1959

The first Barbie doll makes its debut at the American Toy Fair in New York and is a huge success. Handler’s company, Mattel, will go on to sell over a billion Barbie dolls, with the pink-loving character appearing in TV shows, video games and movies.

3rd June 2023

While promoting her new movie, Barbie, director Greta Gerwig and production designer Sarah Greenwood reveal that the set used so much pink paint that it caused an international shortage. Paint company Rosco later confirms that with stocks already low due to Covid’s impact on the supply chain, the needs of Barbie wiped out its entire global supply.

Posted on Thursday, June 27th, 2024 - Categories: #51 - Apr-Jun 2023, App Issues.