Skull Rock: Is this the Best Super Villain Lair Ever?

Are you a super villain looking for a new lair? Then look no further. Take a look at Skull Rock, also known as Cleft Island. Situated off the coast of Wilsons Promontory in the state of Victoria it is at the southernmost point of the Australian mainland. It is beautiful, unspoiled and above all, peaceful.  From a distance you may not think it is anything to write home about – and that’s the beauty of it.  Your new hi-tech facility, where you can evolve your next fiendish plan without interruption, is hidden in plain sight. Plus it’s handy for the shops.

Image credit Flickr User Michael Sale

Agents of the various enemy states against which you plot may search for you but it will be in vain. The last place they will think of looking is this unremarkable and bare piece of rock protruding from the sea.  Yet if we examine the island a little closer, you will soon see that the place is quite possibly perfect for an irredeemable scoundrel such as yourself.

The Penny Black, the Stamp That Changed The World, is 170

Today, one hundred and seventy years ago, a little paper rectangle with the face of the young Queen Victoria on one side and sticky adhesive on the other went on sale for the first time. 

So what, you may ask.  Before the Penny Black there was no such thing as postage stamps, for a start (and so no such thing as stamp collectors either!) but we will leave that to you to decide if that made the world a better place or not.

However, before this humble little stamp came about it would cost you the equivalent of seven pounds in today's money to send a letter from one end of the country to another - which is pretty steep.


Hand in hand with the new railways the Penny Black would help shape the way things were communicated in the Britain of the Industrial Revolution.

The Independent has the full, fascinating story.  You will also find out exactly why Britain is the only country in the world that does not have its name on its stamps.