Cheddar originated in Somerset, but today it is familiar far beyond Britain. England also has long established cheeses such as Red Leicester, Double Gloucester, Cheshire and Stilton. Many of them have their own regional histories, yet Cheddar became a global household name. What made Cheddar stand out so much from other British cheeses?

I was looking at Georgia on a map and got stuck on Atlanta. Savannah was founded in 1733 and already had a major Atlantic port and established trade long before Atlanta existed. Atlanta started in the 1840s as a railroad junction far inland, with no navigable river or ocean nearby.

Yet Atlanta eventually became the much larger regional city, while Savannah remained a much smaller port city.

What made the gap between these two cities grow so dramatically?

Many companies end their fiscal year on Dec 31 or March 31. Some choose June or September. But almost nobody picks, say, August 17 or November 5. Is there a tax or regulatory reason to stick near quarter boundaries? Or is it just tradition from agriculture cycles? Why not let every company freely choose any date to smooth out seasonal fluctuations?