Da wheel turns for De Beers

The Oppenheimer family which originally wrested control of De Beers diamond mining empire in 1927 has sold its entire remaining back stake to Anglo American Corp. Things do go through circles! The Oppenheimers had established Anglo American as a gold mining company in 1917 with the backing of the legendary JP Morgan. De Beers has a chequered history, for a long time controlling a global diamond monopoly which made its employees very much persona non grata in the USA. It was founded by Cecil John Rhodes whose estate still funds Rhodes scholarships for outstanding pupils around the world, including one every year from my old school, Bishops, in Cape Town. De Beers was named for Diederick Arnoldus and Johannes Nicholas De Beer, the brothers on whose farm a large diamond was discovered in 1871. This started a stampede to establish claims - 1000s of diggers turned what was initially a small hill into the Big Hole, the heart of the town of Kimberley today, which eventually yielded 3 tons of diamonds. The town exploded in size and was the first in the southern hemisphere to install electric street lighting. These days the biggest share of De Beers diamonds comes from huge mines in Botswana, a major reason for the country's exceptional growth over many years, giving it the best credit rating in Africa. The QSL is from Radio Botswana heard in Cape Town in 1967. This was just after independence in 1966 which is why the world 'Bechuanaland' is crossed out and replaced with 'Botswana.' I actually heard the independence broadcast in September 1966, one of the first things I picked up as a schoolboy DXer.