TNT Express

TNT Holdings B.V. (TNT) is an international courier delivery services company with headquarters in Hoofddorp, Netherlands. The firm has fully owned operations in 61 countries and delivers documents, parcels and pieces of freight to over 200 countries. The company recorded sales of €6.68 billion in 2014. Its major competitors include United Parcel Service (UPS), FedEx and DHL. TNT operates its own cargo airline, TNT Airways.

TNT's rival FedEx reached an agreement to buy the company in April 2015, which is expected to be completed within the first half of 2016.

History

Shortly after the cessation of hostilities of World War II in Asia, Australian Ken Thomas set up Thomas Nationwide Transport with a single truck. At the same time, Hungarian immigrant Peter Abeles had formed Alltrans with fellow Hungarian immigrant George Rockey. In 1967, Alltrans merged with Thomas Nationwide Transport, and the combined companies became TNT Ltd., operating then in both Australia and New Zealand. Under Abeles' guidance as managing director, TNT quickly expanded, and by the 1980s had established a presence in 180 countries and was termed "the second biggest transport empire in the world, operating by road, rail, sea and air".

Trinitrotoluene

Trinitrotoluene (/ˌtraɪˌnaɪtroʊˈtɒljuːˌiːn, -ljəˌwiːn/;TNT), or more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, is a chemical compound with the formula C₆H₂(NO₂)₃CH₃. This yellow-colored solid is sometimes used as a reagent in chemical synthesis, but it is best known as a useful explosive material with convenient handling properties. The explosive yield of TNT is considered to be the standard measure of strength of bombs and other explosives. In chemistry, TNT is used to generate charge transfer salts.

While the two words are sometimes used interchangeably in common conversation, TNT is not the same as dynamite, a special formatting of nitroglycerin for use as an industrial explosive.

History

TNT was first prepared in 1863 by German chemist Julius Wilbrand and originally used as a yellow dye. Its potential as an explosive was not appreciated for several years mainly because it was so difficult to detonate and because it was less powerful than alternatives. TNT can be safely poured when liquid into shell cases, and is so insensitive that in 1910, it was exempted from the UK's Explosives Act 1875 and was not considered an explosive for the purposes of manufacture and storage.

The Sunday People

The Sunday People is a British tabloid Sunday newspaper, founded as The People on 16 October 1881.

It is published by the Trinity Mirror Group, and shares a website with the Mirror papers. In July 2011 it had an average Sunday circulation of 806,544. By January 2014 the circulation had shrunk to 374,820. Despite its tagline claim to be a "truly independent" newspaper, The People endorsed the Labour Party at the 2015 general election on the recommendation of polling data from its readers.

Notable columnists

Editors

References

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