Marjorie

Belarus, known as the last dictatorship in Europe is in uproar as the rolling presidency of strongman Alexander Lukashenko, at the helm since 1994, notched up another rigged election win. A landlocked country of 9.5 million inhabitants, with Poland to the west, Russia to the east, Ukraine south and Lithuania, Latvia to the north, it has been badly hit by economic mismanagement and the pandemic.

Belarus’s history is complicated though it became a founding member of the Soviet Union post-1917. They suffered unthinkable losses during World War 11, estimated to be 25% of its population when Nazi Germany invaded the USSR. About 85% of the capital Minsk was destroyed in bombing raids. The Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986 also had a devastating effect on the country which suffered the worst of the radioactive fallout – about 70% of the hazardous particles it created landed there. Two million people in Belarus, 500,000 of whom are high-risk, live in heavily contaminated zones.

A Bolshevik regime was established in Belarus on 1 August 1920. That chart has Sun, Mercury, Neptune in Leo and Jupiter Neptune also in Leo which makes it sound like a Caribbean festival. But what marks it out as high-risk is a Grand Trine of ruthless Mars in Scorpio trine Pluto trine Uranus – rolling drama and cruelty. The Grand Trine is formed into a Kite by an autocratic Uranus opposition Saturn in Virgo. Mars is also square the Sun Neptune.

What is worrisome is that during World War 11 tr Pluto in Leo was then moving across the Belarus 1920 Sun Neptune; and in 1986 tr Pluto had moved on a quarter cycle into Scorpio to form another hard aspect to the Sun.  That scenario will repeat in the late stages of this decade with tr Pluto then into Aquarius.

The chart for modern Belarus, 25 August 1991 6pm (unverified) Minsk, Belarus, has, if the time is accurate, a control-freak Pluto on the Midheaven with a highly-strung Uranus Neptune on the Capricorn Ascendant; with an 8^th house Virgo Sun and Mars also in Virgo; plus a Mercury, Jupiter, Neptune in Leo which echoes the 1920 chart.

The way ahead is beset by pitfalls with a revolutionary tr Uranus opposition the Pluto in 2022, and a panicky-failure tr Neptune opposition the Mars in 2023 along with a deprived, discouraging slog from tr Pluto conjunct Saturn in 2024/25.

Predicting the downfall of dictators is always a mug’s game since they usually have the tenacity of cockroaches.

Lukashenko, 30 August 1954, is a Sun Virgo trine Mars in Capricorn, sextile Saturn in Scorpio – ambitious, hard-edged, obsessive, not prone to sharing the driving seat with others. He’s also got a lucky Jupiter Uranus in Cancer in a can-be-fanatical square to Neptune Venus. He’s in a devastated muddle at the moment and in 2021 with tr Pluto square his Neptune and in a state of upheaval in 2021/22 with tr Pluto opposition his Uranus – so he could go, but if anything his worst years look like 2023/24.

His first presidency chart, 20 July 1994, is under severe stress now and on for another three years with the tr Saturn Pluto this year in hard aspect to the Cancer Sun opposition Uranus – and it will continue in turmoil through 2021 and worse in 2022/23; with topple-off-perch influences (if he’s still there) by 2024.

I may be wrong but it looks as if the chaos will run on for another few years yet.

The opposition leader, Svetlana Tikhanaovskaya, has fled to Lithuania, understandably given the president’s propensity of labelling protesters as terrorists, saying: “We will wring their necks, as one might a duck.” Her children had been sent ahead of time and her activist husband appears to be under arrest.

She was born 11 September 1982 and is an idealistic Sun Virgo square Neptune, sextile Mars in Scorpio, with a tough-minded Saturn Pluto in Libra. She looks deflated and discouraged through the next two and a half years with one minor uptick from tr Uranus opposition her Jupiter in Scorpio in November/December and February 2021.

Jimmy Lai, Hong Kong media tycoon and staunch pro-democracy activist has been arrested by under suspicion of colluding with foreign forces. It is the most high-profile arrest since Beijing’s national security laws were imposed on Hong Kong in late June.  He has been arrested before but the fear this time is he will face an unfair judicial process, with potential transfer to mainland China for trial. Hundreds of police also raided Lai’s Apply Daily tabloid newspaper.

In June, he said the national security law would make the operation of a free press not just difficult but dangerous. “But we have no choice but to go on with it. We don’t think about the consequences, we just have to carry on what we are doing. If we let the fear frighten us we won’t be able to do anything.” Brave man.

Born 8 December 1948 on mainland China he fled for Hong Kong aged 12, worked in sweatshops, learned English, became a self-made entrepreneur in clothing before turning to journalism, establishing Next media and founding Apple Daily in 1995.  He reportedly became politicised and a critic of Beijing after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.

He’s a Sun Mercury in Sagittarius square Saturn in hard-working Virgo. He has a go-getting and risk-taking Mars Jupiter in Capricorn opposition Uranus; and his Pluto is in a determined trine to his Sun Mercury and squares his Venus in Scorpio.

When Tiananmen Square protests happened in 1989 and were brutally put down, tr Uranus was conjunct his Jupiter for a moment of enlightenment with his Solar Arc Jupiter opposition his Pluto for a surge of confidence. The tr Saturn Neptune in Capricorn were also moving to square his idealistic Neptune.

There’s nothing much ahead which looks optimistic. He will be determinedly cheerful through 2021/22 though it’ll be an uphill struggle. Where he looks to be running into more serious difficulties is in 18 months to 2 years’ time with a couple of worrisome and risky/blocked Solar Arcs and acute frustrations in 2022/23 and failed-plans after that.

His relationship chart with China 1949 is at a critical point now with the recent Eclipse conjunct the composite Uranus and aggravated in 2021/22. It’s much the same with the China 1912 chart.

The Apple Daily tabloid newspaper was launched 20 June 1995, with a journalistic Gemini Sun on the focal point of a strained Yod inconjunct Pluto sextile the highly-strung Uranus Neptune in Capricorn; with Saturn square Sun and trine Pluto; and a focal point angry and argumentative Mars in Virgo square a Venus Mercury in Gemini opposition Jupiter in Sagittarius – not short of guts and strong opinions, but it was always going to have a difficult furrow to plough. Tr Pluto conjunct the Neptune Uranus this year and on till 2024 will rock it on its foundations; with tr Neptune bring major uncertainty 2022 till 2025 with tr Neptune conjunct the Saturn and then square the Sun. So nothing much of cheer until 2026 if it still exists then.

When you look at what happened to Tibet, there’s not much to give one hope of the Chinese becoming more civilized. Which makes his and the journalists’ stance all the more courageous.

Jane Birkin, the elfin English-French actress, best known for her decade-long, often controversial, liaison with French singer Serge Gainsbourg, has published her diaries in the UK. She’s had a wild life, marrying at 19 to a much older John Barry, the composer, divorced at 22, scandalous years with Gainsbourg and then a relationship with Jacques Doillon, a French film director – with a child from each.

Born 14 December 1946 3pm London, England, she has a volatile Sun Mars in Sagittarius in her relationship 7^th opposition a rebellious 1^st house Uranus with a searching-for-her-identity Gemini North Node on her Ascendant.  She’d be attracted to adventurous and assertive men, even though her relationships meant suppressing her own individuality. She had a battened down Saturn Pluto in her 4^th house, a hint of her controlling naval father who appeared also to be a spy, though she talks of him in affectionate terms. Her Saturn Pluto square a seductive and sensual Venus Jupiter in Scorpio. A complicated mix of wanting to drown in passion and wanting the freedom to find herself. Her Neptune in the performing 5^th is creative but not so good at commitment. Her Virgo Moon square her North and South Node would arguably make her overly sensitive and disorganised emotionally. Better at relating to a public audience than one-on-one.

Her first husband, John Barry, 3 May 1933, had his Mars Venus in Sagittarius in her 7^th house conjunct her Sun Mars with his Scorpio Sun close to her Venus – so there would be a sizzle of attraction initially. Though the relationship chart was controlling, trapped and not mutually supportive. The daughter from that relationship Kate Barry, a photographer, committed suicide in 2013, having long struggled with addictions and depression, some of which was ascribed to her chaotic upbringing amongst the bohemian Paris set.

Serge Gainsbourg, 2 April 1928 4.55 am Paris, was an upfront and provocative Sun, Jupiter and Uranus in Aries in his 1^st house with his Sun Jupiter in a controlling and pushily confident square to Pluto in the attention-demanding 5^th house. His Saturn in Sagittarius fell in her 7^th conjunct her Sun Mars and opposition her Uranus, so a ratchety mix where he put her down a good deal though she stuck it out for 13 years.

Their relationship chart, like her first marriage, has a one-upmanship struggle Jupiter Pluto, a dominating Mars Pluto; Saturnine endurance; and Venus in an illusory trine to Neptune and a fun trine to Uranus. There would be a love-hate dynamic running under the surface. She never really got over him.

Together they released a song  – “Je t’aime… moi non plus” (“I love you … me neither”) which was deemed offensive and banned radio plays in various countries for its sexual explicitness in referring to sex without love; and it finished with what sounded like an orgasm. It became a hit.

Her third affair which produced a child, with film director Jacques Doillon, was no more astrologically well-matched than the others. His Pisces Sun square Mars Saturn in Gemini collided with her Sun Mars in Sagittarius opposition Uranus. Though his Jupiter in her 4^th would help.  That relationship chart had a power-struggling composite Sun opposition Pluto; with a defensive, chilly Venus Saturn and an idealistic, illusory Jupiter Neptune.

Not a dull life, for sure, though she could never reconcile her conflicting needs for sexual intensity and independence. Until now.

Simon Cowell, television personality, entertainment manager, record producer and mega-millionaire, has fallen off an electric bike and broken his back in California.

Born 7 October 1959 in London with no birth time, he has a Sun, Mars and Mercury spread out through Libra; and a charming though manipulative Venus Pluto conjunct in Virgo in a hard-edged trine to Pluto, square Jupiter and sextile Neptune – not short of confidence, drive or ambition.

At the moment he has his Solar Arc Uranus conjunct his Mars which fits with an explosive collision and is often associated with operations which he’ll need to fix his injuries. He’s also got three of his Mars midpoints impacted by tr Neptune and tr Saturn aspects – as well as a downbeat tr Saturn conjunct his Mercury.

Not staggeringly interesting but the astrology is on target.

Photo: Alison Martin of SimonCowellOnline.com

Charlize Theron, the South African actress and producer, is 45 this week astonishingly enough and give no sign of slowing down her power-house bad-ass roles or her packed schedule including production work. Most recently she was praised for Bombshell and before that Atomic Blonde.

Born 7 August 1975 8.23am Benoni, South Africa, she grew up on her parents’ farm near Johannesburg and was 16 when her father in a drunken rage threatened her mother and herself with a gun. Her mother shot him dead and was let off on grounds of self-defence. Charlize started modelling  at 16, wanted to be a dancer but switched to acting and started at the bottom of the ladder in Los Angeles when she was 19.

She has an entertainer’s New Moon in Leo in the creative 12^th trine a filmic Neptune and sextile Pluto – ambitious and an influencer. She also has an emphasised Mercury in Leo in her 12^th on the point of a Fixed T Square to an ultra-determined Mars in Taurus (conjunct Algol) opposition North Node in Scorpio –  not short of grit or stubbornness. Luck with money comes along with an 8^th house Jupiter in Aries in an adventurous opposition to Uranus squaring onto a focal point Saturn in Cancer which will give her organisational and executive ability. She won’t always be happy sharing the driving seat with others and will be up and down in mood with Jupiter Saturn. Her Venus in hard-working Virgo is hidden away in her 12^th house in a dreamy square to Neptune. And with the New Moon she’ll be relatively self-sufficient and ,although she’s had relationships, she doesn’t appear in a rush to settle down.

When her father was killed in June 1991 she had a raft of influences unsurprisingly shaking up her chart-  her Solar Arc Uranus was exactly square her Sun and her Solar Arc Saturn was exactly conjunct her Moon with tr Saturn hovering around the opposition to her Moon as well. On the upside, for what must even in the worst of circumstances have been a moment of relief she also had tr Jupiter conjunct her Sun. And what followed with her Solar Arc Pluto opposition her Jupiter two years later was a surge of confidence that sent her out into the world to start her career.

Her father Charles Theron 27 November 1947 was a Sun Jupiter in Sagittarius with a tricky Taurus Moon square Mars Saturn and maybe Pluto in Leo – so a volcanic temperament.

At the moment she has a confident and enthusiastic tr Pluto square her Jupiter in 2020/21 and also impacting on her Saturn, more so in 2021/22 and then her Uranus in 2022/23 – so she’s in a period of considerable change and upheaval. Some of it will be stuck when Saturn engages and some of fast-moving but on the whole she’s heading into a progressive phase through this decade and on.

Jerry Falwell Jnr, president of one of the world’s largest evangelical Christian colleges and a vocal Trump supporter in 2016 has stepped aside after posting a photo of himself with his trousers unzipped. He conceded the Instagram photo was “weird”, but defended it as “all in good fun”.

The college has a strict code of conduct for students, barring premarital sex and the consumption of media either on or off campus “that is offensive to Liberty’s standards and traditions”, such as lewd lyrics, anti-Christian messages, sexual content and nudity. Last year, the former editor of the school’s student newspaper wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post, accusing Mr Falwell of silencing students and professors “who reject his pro-Trump politics”.

Born 17 June 1962 9.13 pm Lynchburg, Virginia,  Falwell Junior, surprise surprise, is a Sun Gemini opposition Moon in Sagittarius, an almost perfect match for Trump. With a pushily confident Jupiter opposition an 8^th house Pluto square Mercury in Gemini so never short of a snappy quote. He has a slippery Neptune in his career-10^th opposition an indulgent and bullish Mars in Taurus in a hard-edged square to a chilly Saturn in Aquarius opposition a Leo North Node and widely opposition Venus in Leo – all of which adds up to a tricky personality with more psychological knots and wrinkles than most. And with Uranus and Pluto and his Node all in his 8^th, his ancestral past will weigh more heavily on him than he realises.

Tr Uranus is in a jolting square to his Saturn at the moment and starting three years of hard aspects to his Fixed Grand Square which will be a bumpy ride. And tr Pluto is aiming to square his Midheaven (birth time being accurate) in 2021/22 which is loss of reputation and a fall from grace – and indeed could even be in operation now. With tr Saturn Pluto moving through his first house his reputation will be taking a pounding.

The Falwells have a family history and a half with this Falwell having a born-again father, Jerry Falwell Senior, promoter of TV evangelism and a political lobbyist for the Moral Majority, Inc with a six-figure income and his own jet and hair-raising views including blaming 9/11 on “the pagans, the abortionists, the feminists and the gays and lesbians for helping this happen.”  Born 11 August 1933, he was a Sun Leo opposition Saturn in Aquarius with a ferocious, dominating, control-freak T Square of Mars in Libra opposition Uranus square Pluto.

Senior’s father Carey was a bootlegger, reputed brothel-owner, an alcoholic and an atheist who shot his drug addict brother and then proceeded to drink himself to death.

More of Jerry Falwell Snr’s rabid quotes:

“AIDS is not just God’s punishment for homosexuals; it is God’s punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals.

Any sex outside of the marriage bond between a man and a woman is violating God’s law.

Christians, like slaves and soldiers, ask no questions.

The idea that religion and politics don’t mix was invented by the Devil to keep Christians from running their own country.

God created the family to provide the maximum love and support and morality and example that one can imagine.

The whole global warming thing is created to destroy America’s free enterprise system and our economic stability.

I think the Moslem faith teaches hate.

If you’re not a born-again Christian, you’re a failure as a human being.”

Photo:  Gage Skidmore at Mar-a-Lago

PD James, the crime writer, who was born on August 3 1920 7.59 am Oxford and died six years ago, was an understated Leo with her Sun Neptune conjunction in Leo and Venus Jupiter in Leo all in her hidden 12^th house. What marks her chart out as suited to a walk on the dark side strewn with corpses and murder is a creative, private and ferocious Water Grand Trine of Mars North Node in intense and dark Scorpio trine Pluto trine Uranus, formed into a Kite by Uranus opposition Saturn. She was talented but harboured a fair number of demons though she possibly never admitted that even to herself.

She had a tricky childhood with her mother in a mental hospital by the time she was in her mid-teens, leaving her to bring up two younger siblings. Married at 21 to an army doctor, she found herself as the breadwinner when he returned from the war suffering from a mental breakdown, which eventually sent him to a psychiatric hospital. In a rare moment of openness she once said she had been exceptionally scared of him when he became unwell and he died young, perhaps from suicide. She never remarried but brought up her two daughters and eventually had five grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.

Her first novel was published when she was 42 but she worked full time in the civil service, hospital administration and the forensic sciences before retiring at 60 to write full time. Latterly she became one of the great and the good, being a member of the House of Lords and sitting on endless committees, literary and otherwise.

In many ways her novels are more genteel than her chart, mainly upper-class perpetrators who strayed from the straight and narrow by circumstance rather than sadistic serial killers leaving a trail of blood and carnage behind them. She clearly leant on her Leo planets for her character and plots.

Though her chart is most similar to Patricia Cornwell who has a ruthless Mars opposition Pluto square Saturn.

James’  creative 5^th harmonic is well aspected though strained. Her 21^st writers’ harmonic is also notable.  Even more so is her ‘serial killers’ 18H – so the understated cruelty in her books was maybe more a generational factor than an innate tendency. She wrote what she though the market would accept.

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Legal jeopardy is mounting in several directions as New York attorneys ratchet up a gear, having variously – nailed down Ghislaine Maxwell, aimed firepower at Trump’s Deutsche Bank records citing public reports of “extensive and protracted criminal conduct at the Trump Organization”; and now has the NRA firmly in their crosshairs.

Letitia James, New York’s AG has announced a civil lawsuit aimed at dissolving the powerful National Rifle Association over alleged financial mismanagement. She alleged that its top executives including  Wayne LaPierre had used it as a “personal piggy bank” over several decades for luxury holidays, private jets and expensive meals amounting to many millions. The NRA described the lawsuit as a “baseless, premeditated attack” and suggested it was a political vendetta aimed at Trump’s election campaign since they had funnelled millions his way in 2016.

LaPierre, 8 November 1948, is a tough-minded and incredibly stubborn Scorpio Sun square Pluto with Pluto in an ultra-determined and ruthless trine to Mars in Sagittarius, sextile a slippery Neptune; with an opportunistic Jupiter opposition Uranus. He’s agitated though bullish this year but on a catastrophic slide in 2021/22 as tr Pluto squares his Mars/Saturn midpoint and tr Neptune undercuts his happy-optimism in square to his Mars/Jupiter midpoint. 2022 is when his life turns upside down with tr Uranus opposition his Sun and square his Pluto.

That is when the NRA chart, 17 November 1871, also starts to get shaken on its perch with tr Uranus conjunct its Pluto and then by 2024 tr Uranus opposes its Scorpio Sun. Though both it and LaPierre are staggering obstinate so won’t give in easy.

Letitia James, 18 October 1958, is a Sun Venus in Libra with Saturn in Sagittarius trine Uranus. Her relationship chart with LaPierre has a suspicious Neptune Saturn square a disruptive Uranus which is being elbowed at the moment by the tr Saturn Pluto conjunction and on for another three years as tr Pluto is in hard aspect to all three composite planets. Her Saturn is conjunct the NRA’s South Node.

Cyrus Vance, 14 June 1954, the Manhattan DA hot on the Deutsche Bank trail, has his Gemini Sun close to Trump’s; though in Vance’s case his Sun is trine Neptune and sextile his Pluto so more anchored down.  His relationship chart with Trump will intensify through 2021/22 with a few disappointments along the way and move through a radical upheaval in 2022. 2021/22 is when Trump’s Sun, Moon and financial planets are sliding into a Neptunian swamp.

Trump’s Term chart does have an afflicted focal point 9^th house Pluto and I recollect someone saying at the start that looked like legal problems. With tr Pluto aiming to square the Jupiter on that Term chart from late August to late November it could lead not so much to a confident push which would be one meaning as an all-out conflict with authority for crossing the line of society’s rules and regs.

But in or out of the White House Trump is likely to defend himself like a rattlesnake. In 1973, when sued by the government for racial discriminatory policies in his rental properties, he counter-sued for $100 million. Two years later the Trump outfit agreed to change their practices without publicly admitting anything.  I hope Cyrus Vance has a hard hat.

Previous posts on Letitia James and Audrey Strauss see May 7 2019:

“More jeopardy for Trump may come from legal actions by state attorney generals, especially in New York, than from Mueller. At present there are 51 multi-state lawsuits against the Trump administration including New York where it has led the group. They do not answer directly to William Barr and unlike Mueller can’t be fired by the president and investigations of Trump-linked interests could dog the president, his family and his associates for years, including after his departure from office.

The state’s financial fraud laws give the attorney general “incredible power” to demand documents and records, said one commentator. “New York is in a unique position to lead a lot of these investigations. Number one, they have the resources to take Trump on, and number two, they have the location where Trump is potentially most legally vulnerable.”

“Trump has decades of complex and shady business deals that make for a target-rich environment,” said Eric Soufer, a senior counsel.”

For previous posts on NRA: April 28 2019 and August 4 2019

Hiroshima is being remembered on the 75^th anniversary of the bombing which, along with the Nagasaki bomb three days later, killed nigh on 200,000 people.  Most casualties were civilians and the two incidents remain the only uses of nuclear weapons in armed conflict. US President Harry Truman said it was necessary to save anywhere up to half a million American soldiers’ lives after Japan refused to follow Germany into surrender and the war in the east threatened to run on.

The Hiroshima bomb was dropped 6 August 1945 at 8.15am when Uranus was exactly (to the same minute of a degree) conjunct the Midheaven. There was a powerful Sun Pluto conjunction; an unpleasant Mars in Gemini trine Neptune sextile Pluto; and a cold-hearted Saturn Moon in Cancer.  Like 9/11 it isn’t quite as earth-shattering a chart as you might expect, though into the more finely tuned harmonics it shows up as brutal on the 9^th and 18^th Harmonic; where 9/11 showed its true colours on the 16H.

The 9 July 1945 Total Solar eclipse in Cancer had Saturn conjunct the New Moon with Jupiter on the Descendant and Uranus on the nadir/IC located to Hiroshima. It also had an expansive Jupiter trine Mars in Taurus sextile New Moon Saturn – so arguably pushing all that inflated Mars Jupiter into an event of great sadness with Saturn in Cancer on the Eclipse. When the bomb was dropped a month later the transiting Moon was just one degree passed the conjunction to the Eclipse – which is relatively often the case as the following Moon appears to trigger the Eclipse chart. Located to Washington, DC, the Total Solar Eclipse had the Midheaven conjunct Mars in Taurus and conjunct the destructive Fixed star Algol.

The partial Lunar Eclipse of 25 June 1945 was even more pointed set for Hiroshima with Moon conjunct Midheaven opposition Sun Nadir/IC square Neptune conjunct Descendant.

The Japan country chart, assuming a start time of 10.44 am is sound, 11 February 1889, had the Solar Arc Pluto conjunct the IC for a moment of great national shame and devastation; with tr Saturn square the Solar Arc Sun and moving to conjunct the North Node in the aftermath; as well as the Solar Arc Mars moving to square the Sun which always brings a shock and a collision of sorts.

The USA chart was more upbeat with Solar Arc Jupiter square the Neptune and tr Jupiter just passed the conjunction to Neptune and square the USA Mars, presumably as they saw the conflict ending. Though the Saturnine Solar Eclipse conjunct the USA Sun might have brought pause for some sober reflection.

Harry Truman, a Sun Neptune in Taurus trine Uranus with a lucky Jupiter in the 10^th, would have been less decisive than his comments of the time sounded, since tr Saturn and the Solar Eclipse were sitting on his Solar Arc Sun Neptune for a panicky, high-anxiety phase with a heavy-hearted tr Pluto conjunct his Solar Arc Saturn.

Robert Oppenheimer, 22 April 1904 New York with an unverified time of 8.15am, was an American theoretical physicist, wartime head of the Los Alamos Laboratory and among those who are credited with being the “father of the atomic bomb”. He was elated at the time of the bombings because of the success of his science but later campaigned against the use of nuclear weapons and was discredited for some years for allegedly communist leanings.

He had his Sun, Mars and Mercury spread out through Taurus; with his Mercury conjunct Algol, and his BML conjunct his South Node; plus an ultra-determined Saturn in scientific Aquarius trine Pluto. By all accounts he had an odd temperament, suffered from depression and was obsessive about his work. In the run up to 1945 he had his Solar Arc Mars conjunct his Pluto, putting him under massive pressure; and in 1945 he had his Solar Arc Jupiter conjunct Algol for the devastating moment which defined the 20th Century.

When he saw the first bomb test in New Mexico in the July 1945 he said he remembered the words from the Bhagavad Gita: “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.” In purely scientific terms he was a great success; out in the real world of consequences less so.