This colossal globe, 1.3 metres in diameter, was made by the renowned geographer Edme Mentelle in 1788 at the commission of Louis XVI for the education of the Dauphin

This colossal globe, 1.3 metres in diameter, was made by the renowned geographer Edme Mentelle in 1788 at the commission of Louis XVI for the education of the Dauphin. The outer sphere opens along the prime meridian, which at that time ran through the Canary Islands; on its reverse are depicted the constellations of the celestial sphere, while the inner sphere is considered the first relief globe. The exhibit is now on show at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, at an exhibition devoted to world geography in spheres

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At the close of the Strugatskys' "Roadside Picnic" the Golden Sphere is asked for this: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to leave no one aggrieved, but the digest really does come free

At the close of the Strugatskys' "Roadside Picnic" the Golden Sphere is asked for this: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to leave no one aggrieved, but the digest really does come free. So, here is the

Frederic Leighton

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

This colossal globe, 1.3 metres in diameter, was made by the renowned geographer Edme Mentelle in 1788 at the commission of Louis XVI for the education of the Dauphin

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At the close of the Strugatskys' "Roadside Picnic" the Golden Sphere is asked for this: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to leave no one aggrieved, but the digest really does come free

Frederic Leighton

Attempts to resolve the problems of many years of uncontrolled mass migration

Characters from Gogol's "Petersburg Tales" on the pedestal of the monument to Nikolai Gogol on Nikitsky Boulevard, photograph of the 1960s