On 24 July 1851 Britain abolished the window tax, introduced in 1696. In the intervening years the tax was raised more than once, and it led to houses being built with no windows at all. The tax was levied not on each window but on the total number of windows in a house, in bands of 10-14 and 15-19. The window tax was replaced by another, more familiar to us, tax on house ownership.
In the finale of the Strugatskys' Roadside Picnic, the Golden Ball is told: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to offend nobody, but the digest really does come free of charge. So, here is the main business of the
Frederic Leighton. “Daedalus and Icarus”, 1869 Daedalus warns his son not to climb too high: the heat of the sun may melt the wax, but Icarus is already gazing into the distance, and the lamentations of a foolish old man interest him not in the least
