The Diamond Smugglers is a non-fiction book by Ian Fleming published in November 1957. The book is based on two weeks of interviews Fleming undertook with John Collard, a member of the International Diamond Security Organisation (IDSO) and a former member of MI5; the IDSO was headed by Sir Percy Sillitoe (pictured), the ex-head of MI5 who worked for the diamond company De Beers. The IDSO was formed by Sillitoe to combat the smuggling of diamonds from Africa; it was estimated that £10 million worth of gems were being smuggled every year out of South Africa alone. The book expands upon a series of articles that Fleming wrote for The Sunday Times in 1957. The Diamond Smugglers is one of two non-fiction books written by Fleming. It received mixed reviews, although critics thought the subject was interesting and that the facts were as interesting as works of fiction. There was interest in turning the book into a film, but the plans did not come to fruition.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Diamond_Smugglers

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1695:

The foundation for what is now known as the Wren Building, the oldest surviving college building in the United States, was laid in a ceremony at Middle Plantation, Virginia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wren_Building

1918:

The Battle of Amiens began in northern France, marking the start of the Allies' Hundred Days Offensive through the German front lines that ultimately led to the end of World War I. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Amiens_%281918%29

1991:

The Warsaw radio mast, then the tallest structure ever built, at 646.38 metres (2,120.7 ft), collapsed due to an error in exchanging the guys on the highest telecommunications equipment of the mast. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_radio_mast

2010:

A massive mudslide in the Chinese province of Gansu killed at least 1,471 people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Gansu_mudslide

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

cat: 1. Terms relating to animals. 2. (countable) An animal of the family Felidae. 3. 4. A carnivorous, four-legged, generally furry domesticated species (Felis catus) of feline animal, commonly kept as a house pet. 5. (uncountable) The flesh of this animal eaten as food. 6. Any similar, chiefly non-domesticated, animal of the family Felidae, which includes bobcats, caracals, cheetahs, cougars, leopards, lions, lynxes, tigers, and other such species. 7. (countable, by extension) Chiefly with a descriptive word: an animal not of the family Felidae which (somewhat) resembles a domestic feline (sense 1.1.1). [...] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cat

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Every breath you draw, every accelerated beat of your heart in the emotional periods of your oratory depend upon highly elaborated physical and chemical reactions and mechanisms which nature has been building up through a million centuries. If one of these mechanisms, which you owe entirely to your animal ancestry, were to be stopped for a single instant, you would fall lifeless on the stage. Not only this, but some of your highest ideals of human fellowship and comradeship were not created in a moment, but represent the work of ages.   --Henry Fairfield Osborn https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_Fairfield_Osborn