£48 million Cambridge grants, 48 million in tourism saturation, 48 million litres in wine fraud, and 48 million blog hits

Trinity College and the University of Cambridge are providing £48 million in the Trinity Cambridge Research Studentships programme, supporting up to 300 PhD students (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

I continue to be overwhelmed by the viewing and reading figures for this blog. These figures reached a total of 48 million early this morning (24 August 2026), having reached 47 million a week ago (17 August 2026) and 46 million eight days previously (9 August 2026), the third time this month these figures passed the million mark. Last month, the readership figures also passed the million mark three times: 45 million on 29 July, 44 million less than a fortnight earlier (16 July 2026), and 43 million 12 days before that (4 July 2026).

These viewing and reading figures are overpowering at times, and this blog continues to reach volumes of readers I never expected when I first started blogging 16 years ago. At the end of last year, this blog had 21 million hits (31 December 2025). So far this year, there have been more than 27 million hits or visitors in 2026 alone, and almost 2.7 million hits already this month.

Half of all hits or reader figures have been in the past six months or so, with 24 million hits since 20 February 2026. I first began blogging back in 2010, and it took almost two years until July 2012 to reach half a million readers. Throughout this year and last, the daily figures are overwhelming on many occasions. Of the ten days of busiest traffic on this blog, three were in May (1, 6 and 14 May 2026), three were the previous month (26, 29 and 30 April 2026), three in March, and one in February:

• 1,124,925 (1 May 2026)
• 525,719 (14 May 2026)
• 509,644 (29 April 2026)
• 344,003 (30 April 2026)
• 323,156 (27 March 2026)

• 322,038 (26 April 2026)
• 318,835 (6 May 2026)
• 318,307 (1 March 2026)
• 314,018 (28 February 2026)
• 301,449 (2 March 2026)

The daily average was over 187,000 throughout May, but that figure was distorted by the exceptionally high number of hits on three days. There was an average of almost 88,000 hits a day last month, and an average of about 110,000-120,000 a day so far this month. Yet, I remember that ten years ago, back in 2016, the daily average was around 1,000, or 30,000 a month.

Anti-fraud authorities in France uncovered a massive wine scam involving over 48 million litres or 64 million bottles of wine (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

To put this latest figure of 48 million into perspective:

Sudan, Uganda, Iraq and Algeria have populations of about 48 million people – although that depends on who is counting and how they are counting.

Save the Children reports that 48 million children a year are affected by climate disasters.

The US Centre for Disease Control estimates that roughly 1-in-6 Americans – or 48 million people – fall ill from contaminated food each year, leading to 128,000 hospital cases and 3,000 deaths.

Greece continues to experience an unprecedented surge in tourism, with predictions that it could be heading for record-shattering visitor numbers by the end of the year, near to or exceeding 48 million over the annual cycle. These figures are driven by major increases in arrivals from the EU, the UK, and the US, and Greece’s South Aegean and Ionian island regions have recorded the highest tourism saturation of any region in the EU.

The islands of Santorini, Rhodes and Kos are proving to be particularly popular, and the Ionian islands, which include Corfu and Zakynthos, are in second place when it comes to tourism saturation.

Trinity College Cambridge and the University of Cambridge are providing £48 million in the Trinity Cambridge Research Studentships (TCRS) programme, funding up to 300 fully supported PhD students over a decade.

About 48 million tons of plastic waste is generated in the US each year – and less than 10% of it is recycled.

About 48 million kangaroos live in Australia, outnumbering human residents by nearly two to one.

The Еuropeana online archive collection contains digitised versions of more than 48 million works of art that include thousands of photographs, paintings, books and other artefacts, collected from more than 100 museums and archives all over Europe.

48 million litres is equal to 13 Olympic-sized swimming pools or 64 million bottles of wine. French anti-fraud authorities uncovered a massive wine scam involving over 48 million litres of table wine falsely sold under prestigious regional labels like Côtes du Rhône and Châteauneuf-du-Pape between 2013 and 2016.

The Pan-American Highway is the world’s longest motorable road network. It spans roughly 48,000 km (48 million metres) from Prudhoe Bay in Alaska to the southern tip of Argentina. It crosses 14 countries, including Canada, the US and Mexico, and several in Central and South America, but the route is interrupted by the Darién Gap, a 160 km swampy jungle between Panama and Colombia with no paved road. 48 million minutes is equal to 91 years, 3 months, 28 days and 8 hours. In other words, if this blog was getting only one hit a minute, I would need to have been blogging since April or May 1935, more than four year before World War II began.

I retired from active parish ministry over four years ago, on 31 March 2022. These days, though, about 130-140 people on average are reading my daily prayer diary posted on this blog each morning, or up to 1,000 people each week.

This evening, once again, I am truly grateful to the real readers among those 48 million hits on this blog to date, and in particular I am thankful for the faithful core group of 150 or so people who join me in prayer, reading and reflections each day.

The blue-domed churches of Santorini in a poster in Milton Keynes … with predictions of 48 million or more tourists visiting Greece, islands like Santorini are suffering from tourism saturation (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

47 million visitors in Malaysia, 47 million people in Spain, £47 million on the Underground and 47 million blog readers

Gerald Dickson’s eye-catching poster 100 years ago explained how £47 million was spent on developing the London Underground

Patrick Comerford

I continue to be overwhelmed by the viewing and reading figures for this blog. These figures reached 47 million earlier today, around 3:30 this afternoon (17 August 2026), having reached 46 million eight days ago (9 August 2026). Last month, the readership figures passed the million mark three times: 45 million (29 July), 44 million less than a fortnight earlier (16 July 2026), and 43 million 12 days before that (4 July 2026).

These viewing and reading figures are overpowering at times, and this blog continues to reach volumes of readers I never expected when I first started blogging 16 years ago. At the end of last year, this blog had 21 million hits (31 December 2025). So far this year, there have been more than 26 million hits or visitors in 2026 alone, and almost over 1.6 million hits already this month.

Half of all hits or reader figures have been within the past six months, with 23.5 million hits since 17 February 2026. I first began blogging back in 2010, and it took almost two years until July 2012 to reach half a million readers. Throughout this year and last, the daily figures are overwhelming on many occasions. Of the ten days of busiest traffic on this blog, three were in May (1, 6 and 14 May 2026), three were the previous month (26, 29 and 30 April 2026), three in March, and one in February:

• 1,124,925 (1 May 2026)
• 525,719 (14 May 2026)
• 509,644 (29 April 2026)
• 344,003 (30 April 2026)
• 323,156 (27 March 2026)

• 322,038 (26 April 2026)
• 318,835 (6 May 2026)
• 318,307 (1 March 2026)
• 314,018 (28 February 2026)
• 301,449 (2 March 2026)

The daily average was over 187,000 throughout May, but that figure was distorted by the exceptionally high number of hits on three days. There was an average of almost 88,000 hits a day last month, and an average of about 97,000-100,000 a day so far this month. Yet, I remember ten years ago, back in 2016, when the daily average was around 1,000, or 30,000 a month.

Malaysia is hoping for 47 million international tourist arrivals in 2026 … passing through Kuala Lumpur International Airport earlier this year (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

To put this latest figure of 47 million into perspective:

47 million people are suffering acute hunger because of global turmoil and food shortages, according to the World Food Programme.

Spain’s total population is about 47.8 million people. Spain is the world’s second-most-visited country after France and received 46.6 million international tourists in the first half of this year.

Malaysia is hoping for 47 million international tourists in 2026, with a focus on key markets such as Central Asia, the Middle East, south-east Asia, Europe, and Oceania.

The Amazon rainforest and river basin region is home to about 47 million people, including over 2 million indigenous residents.

The Lake Victoria Basin, a shared freshwater basin in East Africa, directly supports the livelihoods and water needs of more than 47 million people.

A €47 million cross-border VAT carousel fraud scheme in Greece was uncovered by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office last month (July 2026). The investigation targeted the illicit trade of electronic devices and led to record digital asset seizures.

A poster by Gerald Dickson in 1926 and that was eye-catching in London 100 years ago, explained that ‘£47 million has been spent on providing the Underground railways’. It said: ‘£47 million has been spent on providing the Underground railways. Tunnels £15,700,000. Rolling stock £7,000,000. Permanent Way Equipment & Signalling £2,800,000 Land £4,000,000 Stations £17,500,000 £47,000,000 has been spent on providing the underground railways. 2d. was the average fare paid by the passenger in 1925. 3½% was the return to the ordinary shareholder on his investment. ?’

47 million minutes is equal to 89 years, 4 months, and 10 days, and about 13 hours. In other words, if this blog was getting only one hit a minute, I would have blogging in early April 1939, five months before World War II began.

I retired from active parish ministry over four years ago, on 30 March 2022. These days, though, about 120 people on average are reading my daily prayer diary posted on this blog each morning. A recent series of postings on churches in Pimlico and Belgravia has attracted similar readership figures. I imagine many of my priest-colleagues would be prayerfully thankful if the congregations in their churches totalled 800-900 or more people each week.

This evening, once again, I am truly grateful to the real readers among those 47 million hits on this blog to date, and in particular I am thankful for the faithful core group of 150 or so people who join me in prayer, reading and reflections each morning.

The Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba … Spain’s total population is over 47 million people (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

46 million Methodists worldwide, 46 million visitors to Spain, 46 million Muslims in Europe, and 46 million blog readers

La Sagrada Família by Antoni Gaudí in Barcelona … Spain received more than 46 million foreign visitors in the first six months of the year (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

I continue to be overwhelmed by the viewing and reading figures for this blog. These figures reached 46 million by mid-morning this morning (9 August 2026). Last month, the readership figures passed the million mark three times: 45 million 11 days ago (29 July), 44 million less than a fortnight earlier (16 July 2026), and 43 million 12 days before that (4 July 2026).

These viewing and reading figures are overpowering at time, with this blog continuing to reach volumes of readers I never expected when I first started blogging 16 years ago. At the end of last year, this blog had 21 million hits (31 December 2025). So far this year, there have been more than 25 million hits or visitors in 2026 alone, and almost 740,000 hits already this month.

Half of all hits or reader figures have been within the past six months, with 23 million hits since 12 February 2026. I first began blogging back in 2010, and it took almost two years until July 2012 to reach half a million readers. Throughout this year and last, the daily figures continue to be overwhelming on many occasions. Of the ten days of busiest traffic on this blog, three were in May (1, 6 and 14 May 2026), three were the previous month (26, 29 and 30 April 2026), three in March, and one in February:

• 1,124,925 (1 May 2026)
• 525,719 (14 May 2026)
• 509,644 (29 April 2026)
• 344,003 (30 April 2026)
• 323,156 (27 March 2026)

• 322,038 (26 April 2026)
• 318,835 (6 May 2026)
• 318,307 (1 March 2026)
• 314,018 (28 February 2026)
• 301,449 (2 March 2026)

The daily average was over 187,000 throughout May, but that figure was distorted by the exceptionally high number of hits on three days. There was an average of almost 88,000 hits a day last month, and an average of about 82,000 a day so far this month. Yet, ten years ago, in 2016, the daily average was around 1,000.

Castle Street Methodist Church in Cambridge … there is an estimated 46 million Methodists worldwide (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

To put this latest figure of 46 million into perspective:

Iraq has a population of over 46 million and an area of 438,317 sq km, making it the 31st most populous in the world and the 58th largest country by area. The populations of both Argentina and Algeria are also estimated at 46 million, although that depends on who is counting, and how they count.

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the largest Oriental Orthodox Christian church, has an estimated 60 million members, with 46 million members in Ethiopia. It is in communion with the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Syriac Orthodox Church.

Methodism, including the Holiness Movement, is estimated to have about 46 million members worldwide.

Most figures suggest there are 46 million Muslims in Europe, representing about 6% of the continent’s total population of about 745 million.

There are 46 million people of African origin living outside their country of birth, matching population figures such as the pre-conflict population of Sudan and regional displacement tallies. They include 25 million living in another African country, 11 million in Europe and 10 million in other regions around the world.

More than 46 million foreign visitors have visited Spain in the first six months of the year, 4.6% more than in the same period last year, and Spain is on course for a record-breaking 100 million tourists this year. Belgium had a record number of tourists in 2025, with more than 46 million overnight stays registered across the country.

The Trump administration is cancelling direct federal funding of community-based organisations that work on HIV prevention. It is latest step in his push to eliminate funding for DEI-focused initiatives that help the LGBTQ community, but directly runs against the White House’s push to end the HIV epidemic by 2030. It means the loss of $46 million in funding for 96 community-based organisations to provide HIV testing, linkage to care, referrals for pre- and post-exposure drug treatment and outbreak response.

46 million minutes is equal to 87 years, 6 months and 9 days, assuming a standard calendar baseline of 365 days per year and 30 days per month. But factoring in variables such as leap days and the actual number of days in a month, the total comes to about 87 years, 5 months and 18 days. In other words, if this blog was getting only one hit a minute,, I would have had to start blogging around January or February 1939, before World War II started.

I retired from active parish ministry over four years ago, on 30 March 2022. These days, though, about 120 people on average are reading my daily prayer diary posted on this blog each morning. I imagine many of my priest-colleagues would be prayerfully thankful if the congregations in their churches totalled 800-900 or more people each week.

This evening, once again, I am truly grateful to the real readers among those 46 million hits on this blog to date, and in particular I am thankful for the faithful core group of 150 or so people who join me in prayer, reading and reflections each morning.

The minaret of a former mosque in Rethymnon in Crete … most figures suggest there are 46 million Muslims in Europe (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

45 million olive trees in Crete, a €45 million scandal in Greece, a €45 million resort in Fodele, and 45 million blog readers

Olive groves near Loutra, in the hills above Rethymnon, near Arkadi Monastery … Crete has about 45 million olive trees (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

I keep on saying it, again and again, and it remains true: I am overwhelmed by the viewing and reading figures for this blog. These figures are about to reach 45 million this evening (29 July 2026), the third time this month the figures have passed the million mark, reaching 44 million less than a fortnight ago (16 July 2026), and 43 million 12 days earlier (4 July 2026).

These viewing and reading figures are overpowering at time, with this blog continuing to reach volumes of readers I never expected when I first started blogging 16 years ago. At the end of last year, this blog had 21 million hits (31 December 2025). So far this year, there have been more than 24 million hits or visitors in 2026 alone, and about 2.4 million hits before the end of July.

Half of all hits or reader figures have been within the past five or six months, with 22.5 million hits since 4 February 2026. I first began blogging back in 2010, and it took almost two years until July 2012 to reach half a million readers. Throughout this year and last, the daily figures continue to be overwhelming on many occasions. Of the ten days of busiest traffic on this blog, three were in May (1, 6 and 14 May 2026), three were the previous month (26, 29 and 30 April 2026), three in March, and one in February:

• 1,124,925 (1 May 2026)
• 525,719 (14 May 2026)
• 509,644 (29 April 2026)
• 344,003 (30 April 2026)
• 323,156 (27 March 2026)

• 322,038 (26 April 2026)
• 318,835 (6 May 2026)
• 318,307 (1 March 2026)
• 314,018 (28 February 2026)
• 301,449 (2 March 2026)

The daily average was over 187,000 throughout May, but that figure was distorted by the exceptionally high number of hits on three days. There were about 71,000 hits a day last month, and an average of about 80,000-90,000 a day so far this month. Yet, ten years ago, in 2016, the daily average was around 1,000.

A monument to El Greco in Iraklion … a new €45 million resort is being developed at Fodele, his birthplace west of Iraklion (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

To put this latest figure of 45 million into perspective:

The continuing conflict in Iran and the Middle East has pushed an additional 45 million people into acute hunger and food insecurity because of price rises, including food, oil and shipping costs. These are 45 million people Trump does not care about.

Israel has launched a multi-million-dollar campaign to reshape public opinion in the US amid declining support for its policies, according to a Wall Street Journal report last month (July 2026). The report says the Israeli government has signed a contract worth more than $45 million with Brad Parscale, a long-time ally of Trump, as part of a broader effort that includes AI-powered messaging, digital outreach and media campaigns.

One element of the initiative involves AI-generated text messages sent to millions of Americans by a supposed group called ‘Friends for Peace,’ encouraging recipients to discuss Israel, Iran and regional security.

With all the hype about Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey, I am reminded that Homer called olive oil ‘Liquid Gold’ and it has been part of Greece’s history since antiquity. Crete has about 45 million olive trees that produce around 50% of all Greek olive oil. These olive trees outnumber the island’s human population by roughly 50 to 1. The groves produce more olive oil than all the rest of Greece combined, with the majority belonging to the highly regarded Koroneiki variety.

The world’s oldest olive tree is in the village of Ano Vouves near Kissamos in the Chania area. The tree is 3,000 years old and still produces olives. It has a trunk with a circumference of 12.5 metres and a diameter of 4.6 metres, and has been declared a Natural Monument.

A €45 million tourism development is being built in Fodele on the north coast of Crete, about 26 km west of Iraklion, on the road to Rethymnon. Fodele Hills is planned as a new tourist complex with a capacity for 298 people. Fodele is the birthplace of the artist El Greco and until now it has attracted visitors because of its orange and lemon groves, the house where it is said Doménikos Theotokópoulos (El Geco) was born, the Byzantine-era Panagia Church with its frescoes, and the monastery of Agiou Panteleimona with several 17th-century icons.

A widespread agricultural subsidy fraud ring in Greece siphoned off up to €45 million a year, with false claims to owning pastures, archaeological sites, and even non-existent land to collect European farming subsidies. The plot, uncovered by the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) and local authorities, reached all levels of political life in Greece. The 22 people charged included four sitting deputies in parliament from the ruling New Democracy party and former officials of the state agricultural payment agency.

The scheme exploited a poorly maintained land registry following EU policy changes in 2014. Fraudsters declared fictitious plots, fake livestock, and impossible locations – such as banana plantations on Mount Olympus – to siphon off millions.

The fraud went detected for years, and the Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was forced to admit the scandal had revealed ‘the state’s inadequacy’ in dealing with corruption. The scandal forced the resignation of five senior government officials, including the migration minister, Makis Voridis, a one-time far-right activist who was the agriculture minister when the scheme was being run.

Trump’s vanity parade last year, with a massive display of military might, cost $45 million. Although the parade was supposed celebrate the 250th birthday of the US army, Trump monopolised it to celebrate his own 79th birthday.

Larry Ellison, the billionaire co-founder of Oracle who now owns the Eagle and Child in Oxford, gave about $45 million to a nonprofit backing Trump’s 2024 election campaign. According to The Wall Street Journal. The funding was not subject to disclosure rules and was not been reported until a few weeks ago (June 2026). Meanwhile, the restoration work on the Eagle and Child in Oxford seems to be inadequately funded and remains closed, with the buildings covered in cladding and scaffolding.

45 million sq metres is 45,000 sq km. Although Estonia, the most northerly of the three Baltic States, is often described as a small country, it has an area of 45,000 sq km and is larger than Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark or Switzerland.

Paris is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, with 45 million tourists every year in the Paris Region. With 45 million tourists a year, Mexico is the sixth most visited country in the world, according to UN statistics. France is top of the list, followed by Spain, the US, Turkey, Italy and then Mexico. Forecasts by VisitBritain predict over 45 million inbound visitors to the UK in 2026.

Six publishers turned down The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter, but it went on to sell 45 million copies.

45 million minutes is equal to 85 years, 7 months, 15 days and 16 hours. In other words, if this blog was getting only one hit a minute, it would take over 85½ years, from mid-December 1940, to reach today’s figure of 45 million.

I retired from active parish ministry over four years ago, on 30 March 2022. These days, though, about 150 people on average are reading my daily prayer diary posted on this blog each morning. I imagine many of my priest-colleagues would be prayerfully thankful if the congregations in their churches totalled 1,000 or more people each week.

This evening, I am truly grateful to the real readers among those 45 million hits on this blog to date, and in particular I am thankful for the faithful core group of 150 or so people who join me in prayer, reading and reflections each morning.

Paris is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, with 45 million tourists every year in the Paris Region (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

44 million people in Ukraine, 44 million sq km in Asia, 44 million watching football, and 44 million blog readers

Inside the Forbidden City in Beijing … Asia covers about 44 million sq km … and this blog has had 44 million hits (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

I keep saying it, but it remains true: I continue to be overwhelmed by the viewing and reading figures for this blog. These figures reached 44 million early this morning (16 July 2026), having reached 43 million 12 days earlier (4 July 2026), 42 million 10 days previously (24 June 2026), 41 million mark two weeks before that (9 June 2026), and 40 million at the end of May (28 May 2026).

These viewing and reading figures are overwhelming and this blog continues to reach a volume of readers I never expected when I first started blogging 16 years ago. At the end of last year, this blog had 21 million hits (31 December 2025). So far this year, there have been more than 23 million hits or visitors in 2026 alone, and about 1.4 million hits half-way into July.

Half of all hits or reader figures have been within the past six months, with 22 million hits since 20 January 2026. I first began blogging back in 2010, and it took almost two years until July 2012 to reach half a million readers. Throughout this year and last, the daily figures continue to be overwhelming on many occasions. Of the ten days of busiest traffic on this blog, three were in May (1, 6 and 14 May 2026), three were the previous month (26, 29 and 30 April 2026), three in March, and one in February:

• 1,124,925 (1 May 2026)
• 525,719 (14 May 2026)
• 509,644 (29 April 2026)
• 344,003 (30 April 2026)
• 323,156 (27 March 2026)

• 322,038 (26 April 2026)
• 318,835 (6 May 2026)
• 318,307 (1 March 2026)
• 314,018 (28 February 2026)
• 301,449 (2 March 2026)

The daily average was over 187,000 throughout May, but that figure was distorted by the exceptionally high number of hits on three days. There were about 71,000 hits a day last month, and an average of about 90,000 a day so far this month. Yet, ten years ago, in 2016, the daily average was around 1,000.

Ukraine had an estimated population of 44 million before Russia’s invasion … Ukrainian refugees celebrating Christmas in central Budapest (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

To put this latest figure of 44 million into perspective:

Elon Musk gave about $44 million to his pro-Trump spending group in two weeks in October 2024 alone. I closed my ‘X’ account a long, long time ago.

A question on a mural in central Kyiv asks: ‘What is cooler than a family of 44 million?’ Ukraine had an estimated population of 44 million people before Russia’s full-scale invasion. Today, the population of Ukraine is estimated at 37.7 million.

Asia covers an area of more than 44 million sq km, about 30% of Earth’s total land area and 8% of Earth’s total surface area. It is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population.

The England-Mexico World Cup match last week was watched by 44 million people.

After the heatwaves that have left Europe simmering in recent weeks, 44 million people across the United States have been under heatwave warnings since Saturday, with temperatures in the Rocky Mountains and northern plains reaching 43C at the weekend.

A global report on teachers published by Unesco last year shows an urgent need for 44 million primary and secondary teachers worldwide by 2030.

A new Freedom of Information (FOI) request finds that health and safety violations cost British employers over £44 million per year.

The Nationwide Building Society was fined £44 million last December by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the City watchdog, for inadequate anti-financial crime systems and controls between October 2016 and July 2021. The ‘weak’ financial crime controls resulted in a serious case of Covid fraud that cost UK taxpayers £800,000. The FCA said Nationwide had been aware that some customers were using personal accounts for business activity, in a breach of its own terms.

An estimated 44 million people in the UK caught COVID-19 between April 2020 and February 2022.

It is said 6 per cent of Europeans – young and old, men and women – admit they have no one to talk to about their problems. It is not a personal failure, there are 44 million lonely people across Europe today.

The print edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica had roughly 44 million words in 32 volumes and 33,000 pages. Reading the entire text is an immense challenge, and the author AJ Jacobs spent an entire year reading it cover-to-cover to write his book The Know-It-All (2004).

44 million minutes is equal to about 83 years, 7 months and 27 days. In other words, if this blog was getting only one hit a minute, it would take almost 84 years, from November 1942, to reach this morning’s figure of 44 million.

I retired from active parish ministry over four years ago, on 30 March 2022. These days, though, about 150 people on average are reading my daily prayer diary posted on this blog each morning. I imagine many of my priest-colleagues would be prayerfully thankful if the congregations in their churches totalled 1,000 or more people each week.

This evening, I am truly grateful to the real readers among those 44 million hits on this blog to date, and in particular I am thankful for the faithful core group of 150 or so people who join me in prayer, reading and reflections each morning.

AJ Jacobs spent a year reading all 44 million words in the ‘Encyclopaedia Britannica’ and reading all 32 volumes cover-to-cover to write his book ‘The Know-It-All’

43 million Polish speakers, 43 million visitors to Greece, 43 million sq m in Denmark, and 43 million blog readers

Rynek Główny (Central Square) in the heart of Kraków’s mediaeval Old Town … Polish has 43 million speakers (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

I continue to be overwhelmed by the viewing and reading figures for this blog, although the figures have slowed down last month after record-breaking and overpowering statistics the previous month. These figures are about to reach 43 million this evening (4 July 2026), having passed 42 million ten days ago (24 June 2026), the 41 million mark two weeks earlier (9 June 2026), and the 40 million mark at the end of May (28 May 2026).

These viewing and reading figures are overwhelming and this blog continues to reach a volume of readers I never expected when I first started blogging 16 years ago. At the end of last year, this blog had 21 million hits (31 December 2025). So far this year, there have been more than 22 million hits or visitors in 2026 alone.

Half of all hits or reader figures have been within the past six months, with 21.5 million hits since 13 January 2026. I first began blogging back in 2010, and it took almost two years until July 2012 to reach half a million readers. Throughout this year and last, the daily figures continue to be overwhelming on many occasions. Of the ten days of busiest traffic on this blog, three were in May (1, 6 and 14 May 2026), three were the previous month (26, 29 and 30 April 2026), three were in March, and one was in February:

• 1,124,925 (1 May 2026)
• 525,719 (14 May 2026)
• 509,644 (29 April 2026)
• 344,003 (30 April 2026)
• 323,156 (27 March 2026)

• 322,038 (26 April 2026)
• 318,835 (6 May 2026)
• 318,307 (1 March 2026)
• 314,018 (28 February 2026)
• 301,449 (2 March 2026)

The daily average was over 187,000 throughout May, but that figure was distorted by the exceptionally high number of hits on three days. There were about 71,000 hits a day last month, with a total of 2,132,098 hits in June. Yet, ten years ago, in 2016, the daily average was around 1,000.

More than 43 million foreign travellers visited Greece in 2025

To put this latest figure of 43 million into perspective:

Polish is a West Slavic language primarily spoken in Poland and is the official language of the country, as well as the language of the Polish diaspora around the world. It is the sixth-most-spoken among languages of the European Union, and with a total or 43 million speakers, mainly in Poland and parts of Lithuania.

Around 43 million EU residents are foreign citizens. Almost 14 million of them are citizens of EU Member States other than the one in which they reside. The rest are citizens of non-EU countries. On average, 3.1% of the people who live in an EU country are from another EU country, and 6.4% have the nationality of a non-EU country.

The Paleogene Period (also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period 66 Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Neogene Period 23.04 Ma.

Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) killed at least 43 million people in 2021, equivalent to 75% of non-pandemic-related deaths globally. Cardiovascular diseases account for most NCD deaths, or at least 19 million deaths in 2021, followed by cancers (10 million), chronic respiratory diseases (4 million), and diabetes (over 2 million).

A woman sued a casino in New York in 2017 when it told her the slot machine displaying a $43 million jackpot was faulty and offered a steak dinner instead. Katrina Bookman took a selfie showing the machine saying ‘printing cash ticket $42,949,672.76’ at the Resorts World Casino. But she was escorted out and was told the next day she could have only $2.25, and the courts later ruled in favour of the casino.

Foreign travellers who visited Greece in 2025 reached 43.31 million, representing an increase of 6.4% compared to 40.69 million in 2024. This rise contributed to total travel receipts of €23.63 billion, up 9.4% year-on-year.

43 million square metres is 43,000 sq km, which is total size of Denmark proper, excluding Greenland and the Faroe Islands, making it the 133rd largest country in the world by land area.

43 million minutes add up to 81 years, 9 months, and 22 days (plus 2 hours and 40 minutes), based on standard time conversions. In other words, if this blog was getting only one hit a minute, it would take almost 82 years, from late 1944, to reach today’s figure of 43 million.

I retired from active parish ministry over four years ago, on 30 March 2022. These days, though, about 100-120 people on average continue to read my daily prayer diary on this blog each morning. I imagine many of my priest-colleagues would be prayerfully thankful if the congregations in their churches totalled 700 to 840 or more people each week.

This evening, I am truly grateful to the real readers among those 43 million hits on this blog to date, and in particular I am thankful for the faithful core group of 100-120 people who join me in prayer, reading and reflections each morning.

Flags outside the Apollon Hotel in Tsesmes, near Rethymnon in Crete … around 43 million EU residents are foreign citizens (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

42 million blog readers and why 42 is the ‘Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything’

Title 42, from John Vernon Lord’s sketchbook

Patrick Comerford

I continue to be overwhelmed by the viewing and reading figures for this blog, although the figures have slowed down this month after record-breaking and overpowering statistics last month. These figures passed 42 million late yesterday afternoon (24 June 2026), having passed the 41 million mark two weeks earlier (9 June 2026), the 40 million mark at the end of last month (28 May 2026) and 39 million a week earlier (22 May 2026). These figures passed the million mark six times last month (May 2026) and four times the month before (April 2026).

These viewing and reading figures are overwhelming and this blog continues to reach a volume of readers that I never have expected when I first started blogging 16 years ago. At the end of last year, this blog had 21 million hits (31 December 2025). So far this year, there have been more than 21 million hits or visitors in 2026 alone.

The total number of hits last month was the highest ever, with over 5.8 million hits in May 2026, compared with previous one-month highs in March 2026 (over 4.5 million) and April (almost 4.4 million). May’s figure of over 5.8 million was astonishing, considering it took almost 11 years, from July 2010 until 27 March 2021, to reach what I then thought was the staggering figure of 5 million hits.

I first began blogging back in 2010, and it took almost two years until July 2012 to reach half a million readers. Throughout this year and last, the daily figures continue to be overwhelming on many occasions. Of the ten days of busiest traffic on this blog, three were last month (1, 6 and 14 May 2026), three were the previous month (26, 29 and 30 April 2026), three were in March, and one was in February:

• 1,124,925 (1 May 2026)
• 525,719 (14 May 2026)
• 509,644 (29 April 2026)
• 344,003 (30 April 2026)
• 323,156 (27 March 2026)

• 322,038 (26 April 2026)
• 318,835 (6 May 2026)
• 318,307 (1 March 2026)
• 314,018 (28 February 2026)
• 301,449 (2 March 2026)

The daily average was over 187,000 throughout May, but that figure was distorted by the exceptionally high number of hits on three days. There were about 145,000 or more hits a day last month, but they are about 60,000-70,000 a day in June, with over 1.6 million hits in June so far. Yet, ten years ago, in 2016, the daily average was around 1,000.

The London Marathon in 2024 raised £42 million exclusively through the JustGiving platform

To put this latest figure of 42 million into perspective:

Jakarta is the world's most populous city, with an estimated population of almost 42 million residents. The Indonesian capital city has officially surpassed Tokyo to become the world's largest megacity, according to the UN World Urbanisation Prospects report.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has called on the international community to strengthen support for the nearly 42 million refugees worldwide who have fled their homes to escape conflict, violence or persecution.

An estimated 42 million people across six IGAD member states – Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, the Sudan and Uganda – face high levels of acute hunger.

In the US, 42 million people rely on Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) or food stamps to put food on the table. They include 16 million children, 8 million people over the age of 60, and million veterans.

The French data protection authority (CNIL) fined the telecoms provider Free Mobile €42 million for GDPR and data breach failings.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) fined Barclays Bank £42 million due to historical lax management of financial crime risks.

A record-breaking £42 million was raised exclusively through the JustGiving platform during the London Marathon in 2024.

The World Health Organization (WHO) launched an appeal for $42 million to sustain essential health services and trauma care across Ukraine.

But, instead, let’s just humour ourselves with the figure 42 instead for a few moments.

In The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, the number 42 is the ‘Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything’, calculated by an enormous supercomputer named Deep Thought over a period of 7.5 million years. Unfortunately, no one knows what the question is. Thus, to calculate the Ultimate Question, a special computer the size of a small planet was built from organic components and named ‘Earth’.

The Ultimate Question, ‘What do you get when you multiply six by nine’, is found by Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect in the second book of the series, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. This appeared first in the radio play and later in the book versions of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It has been pointed out that 6 X 9 = 42 is in fact true … in base 13. That’s because 54=4*13+2 while ‘forty-two’ is 4*10+2. However, Adams claims not to have known that when he wrote it.

The fourth book in the series, the novel So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, has 42 chapters. According to the novel Mostly Harmless, 42 is the street address of Stavromula Beta.

In 1994, Adams created the 42 Puzzle, a game based on the number 42. There is some speculation that he chose the number 42 because it is also significant in Lewis Carrol’s Hunting of the Snark. But Adams says he picked the number simply as a joke, with no deeper meaning.

Lewis Carroll had famously recurring numbers in his works. He used Rule 42 in both Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and the introduction to The Hunting of the Snark, and Snark had a reference to the Baker having 42 boxes of clothes packed. Lewis Carroll was 42 when he wrote Snark, there are 42 illustrations in Wonderland and in Wonderland the King of Hearts announces in court: ‘Rule Forty-two. All persons more than a mile high to leave the court’.

Carroll lived in room number six, accessible through the seventh stairs in Christ Church, Oxford.

The number 42 also appears in James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake – as ‘fortytwo hairs off his uncrown’ and ‘as a taste for storik’s fortytooth’.

As for 42 million, 42 million minutes add up to approximately 79 years, 10 months and 7 days, using standard calendar averages. In other words, if this blog was getting only one hit a minute, it would take almost 80 years, from July or August 1946, to reach today’s figure of 42 million.

I retired from active parish ministry over four years ago, on 30 March 2022. These days, though, about 100-120 people on average continue to read my daily prayer diary on this blog each morning. I imagine many of my priest-colleagues would be prayerfully thankful if the congregations in their churches totalled 700 to 840 or more people each week.

This evening, I am truly grateful to the real readers among those 42 million hits on this blog to date, and in particular I am thankful for the faithful core group of 100-120 people who join me in prayer, reading and reflections each morning.

41 million Dutch tulips, 41 million in Switzerland, 41 million digits in total, and 41 million blog readers

Tulips from Amsterdam at Schiphol Airport … the Netherlands extends to over 41 million square metres or 41,000 sq km (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

I continue to be overwhelmed by the viewing and reading figures for this blog. These figures passed the 41 million point about 3:30 this afternoon (9 June 2026), having passed the 40 million mark at the end of last month (28 May 2026) and 39 million a week earlier (22 May 2026). These figures passed the million mark six times last month, and passed that mark four times in April.

These viewing and reading figures are overwhelming and this blog continues to reach a volume of readers that I never have expected when I first started blogging 16 years ago. Half the total hits (20.5 million) have been within less than five months, since 13 January 2026. The total hits last month were the highest ever, with over 5.8 million hits in May 2026, compared with previous one-month highs in March 2026 (over 4.5 million) and April (almost 4.4 million). The figure of over 5.8 million in May was astonishing, considering it took almost 11 years, from July 2010 until 27 March 2021, to reach what I then thought was the staggering figure of 5 million hits.

At the end of last year, this blog had 21 million hits (31 December 2025). So far this year, there have been more than 20 million hits or visitors in 2026.

I first began blogging back in 2010, and it took almost two years until July 2012 to reach half a million readers. Throughout this year and last, the daily figures continue to be overwhelming on many occasions. Of the ten days of busiest traffic on this blog, three were last month (1, 6 and 14 May 2026), three were the previous month (26, 29 and 30 April 2026), three were in March, and one was in February:

• 1,124,925 (1 May 2026)
• 525,719 (14 May 2026)
• 509,644 (29 April 2026)
• 344,003 (30 April 2026)
• 323,156 (27 March 2026)

• 322,038 (26 April 2026)
• 318,835 (6 May 2026)
• 318,307 (1 March 2026)
• 314,018 (28 February 2026)
• 301,449 (2 March 2026)

The daily average was over 187,000 throughout May, although that figure was distorted by the exceptionally high number of hits on three days that month. There were about 145,000 or more hits a day last month; ten years ago, in 2016, the daily average was around 1,000.

Passing through Zurich Airport … Switzerland is about 41 million square metres or 41,000 sq km (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

To put this latest figure of 41 million into perspective:

The largest known prime number, discovered in late 2024, has over 41 million digits. It has 41,024,320 digits, and if you tried to print it out, the result would fill more than 10,000 pages.

The discovery that this number – known as M136279841 for short – is a prime was made on 12 October 2024 by Luke Durant, a from San Jose, California, who is one of thousands of people working as part of a long-running volunteer prime-hunting effort called the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search.

Nearly 1 in five children, an estimated 41 million, are engaged in child labour in Eastern and Southern Africa, according to a new UNICEF Data Brief, with the region accounting for almost one-third of the global total and the highest number of children in hazardous work, including mining and construction.

Canada has a population of about 41 million people.

41 million square metres is 41,000 sq km, the size of Switzerland (41,291 sq km), the Netherlands (41,865 sq km) or Southampton Island (41,214 sq km) in Hudson Bay, one of the larger islands in the Arctic Archipelago in Canada, the 34th largest island in the world.

The National Diet Library in Japan and the National Library of China each has about 41 million items in its collection.

41 million minutes add up to 78 years and 2 days – with 40 minutes left over. In other words, if this blog was getting only one hit a minute, it would take 78 years, from 7 June 1948, to reach today’s figure of 41 million.

I retired from active parish ministry over four years ago, on 30 March 2022. These days, though, about 120-140 people on average continue to read my daily prayer diary on this blog each morning. A similar number have been reading my recent series of postings on churches and local history in Staffordshire, and were reading my recent series of postings on the churches and chapels of Walsingham. I imagine many of my priest-colleagues would be prayerfully thankful if the congregations in their churches totalled 850 to 1,000 or more people each week.

This evening, I am truly grateful to the real readers among those 41 million hits on this blog to date, and in particular I am thankful for the faithful core group of 120-140 people who join me in prayer, reading and reflections each morning.

40 million Kurds without a state, 40 million metres around the world, and 40 million readers of this blog

Waterstone’s sells 40 million books a year … inside Waterstone’s in Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

I continue to be overwhelmed by the viewing and reading figures for this blog. These figures passed the 40 million by late this morning (28 May 2026), having passed 39 million mark last week (22 May 2026). These figures reached 38 million a week earlier (14 May 2026), 37 million the previous week (8 May 2026), 36 million six days before that (2 May 2026) and 35 million at the beginning of this month (1 May 2026). The figures have now passed the million mark six times so far this month, having passed that mark four times last month also: 34 million (29 April), 33 million (25 April), 32 million (19 April) and 31 million (8 April).

These viewing and reading figures are overwhelming, to say the least, and this blog continues to reach a volume of readers that I never have expected when I first started blogging 16 years ago. Half the total hits (20 million) have been within less than six months, having reached 20 million hits just over five months ago (18 December 2025). The total hits this month are my highest ever, with about 5.4 million so far in May 2026, compared with previous one-day highs in March 2026 (over 4.5 million) and April (almost 4.4 million). The figure of over 5.4 million so far this month is astonishing, considering it took almost 11 years, from July 2010 until 27 March 2021, to reach what I then thought was the staggering figure of 5 million hits.

At the end of last year, this blog had 21 million hits (31 December 2025). So far this year, there have been more than 19 million hits or visitors in 2026.

I first began blogging back in 2010, and it took almost two years until July 2012 to reach half a million readers. Throughout this year and last, the daily figures continue to be overwhelming on many occasions. Of the ten days of busiest traffic on this blog, three were this month (1, 6 and 14 May 2026), three were last month (26, 29 and 30 April 2026), three were in March, and one was in February:

• 1,124,925 (1 May 2026)
• 525,719 (14 May 2026)
• 509,644 (29 April 2026)
• 344,003 (30 April 2026)
• 323,156 (27 March 2026)

• 322,038 (26 April 2026)
• 318,835 (6 May 2026)
• 318,307 (1 March 2026)
• 314,018 (28 February 2026)
• 301,449 (2 March 2026)

The daily average is almost 190,000 throughout May, although that figure is distorted by the exceptionally high number of hits on three days this month. There were about 145,000 or more hits a day last month; ten years ago, in 2016, the daily average was around 1,000.

The Earth’s circumference is about 40,000 km or 40 million metres … the ‘Armillary Sphere’ by Justin Tunley in Campbell Park, Milton Keynes (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

To put this latest figure of 40 million into perspective:

It is estimated that 40 million people live in Canada, Angola and Ukraine. The Kurds – about 40 million people spread largely across four countries in the Middle East, Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran – are the world’s largest ethnic group without an independent state of their own.

Back in 1898, the population of the UK was around 40 million. The Office for National Statistics (ONS), in its official population projections, estimates that the figure will reach 70 million this year (2026).

Britain's biggest chain of bookstores, Waterstones, sells 40 million books a year. There are 40 million vehicles on the roads in the UK.

40 million consumers in the UK plan to watch the World Cup on television this year, according to research by Appinio – although I decided a long time ago that I shall watch fixtures from Mexico or Canada but I am not going to watch any that are played in the US. It’s my own small gesture of protest against the horrors of the Trump administration.

Jodi Picoult, the best-selling author with more than 40 million books in print, faced threats of boycotts of her work after she posted her views on Charlie Kirk on social media last September. She said that Kirk had made a living out of preaching hate’. The author of My Sister’s Keeper, said: ‘An undeserved violent death does not negate the terrible pain that he inflicted on others.’

‘I’m not buying into the hypocrisy,’ Jody Picoult said. ‘You won’t trick me into believing it’s just about respect for life when your side has cheered families being ripped apart, when your side has proudly supported Alligator Alcatraz merch,’ the writer said, referring to the immigration detention centre opened by the Trump regime in Florida.

40 million metres are 40,000 km and 40 million square metres are 40,000 sq km. Denmark has a total area of approximately 43,000 sq km, with its actual land area, excluding inland waters, measuring exactly 40,000 sq km.

The Earth’s circumference, the distance around Earth, is just about 40,000 km or 40 million metres. Measured around the equator, it is 40,075.017 km, and measured passing through the poles the circumference is 40,007.863 km.

40 million minutes is approximately 76 years and 18 days. In other words, if this blog was getting only one hit a minute, it would take more than 76 years, from May 1950, almost two years before I was born, to reach today’s figure of 40 million.

I retired from active parish ministry over four years ago, on 30 March 2022. These days, though, about 120-140 people on average continue to read my daily prayer diary on this blog each morning. A similar number have been reading my recent series of postings on churches and local history in Staffordshire, and were reading my recent series of postings on the churches and chapels of Walsingham. I imagine many of my priest-colleagues would be prayerfully thankful if the congregations in their churches totalled 850 to 1,000 or more people each week.

This evening, I am truly grateful to the real readers among those 40 million hits on this blog to date, and in particular I am thankful for the faithful core group of 120-140 people who join me in prayer, reading and reflections each morning.

Waterstone’s sells 40 million books a year … a sculpture at Waterstone’s in Milton Keynes (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

£39 million owed by a Tory peer, 39 million people in California, $39m tax padon from Trump, and 39 million blog readers

The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco … California has a population of more than 39 million people (Photograph: Rich Niewiroski Jr - CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org)

Patrick Comerford

The viewing and reading figures for this blog continue to overwhelm me. These figures reached the 39 million mark by late this morning (22 May 2026). These figures reached the 38 million mark last week (14 May 2026), the 37 million mark the previous week (8 May 2026), 36 million six days before that (2 May 2026) and 35 million at the beginning of this month (1 May 2026). The figures have now passed the million mark five times so far this month, and passed that mark four times last month also: 34 million (29 April), 33 million (25 April), 32 million (19 April) and 31 million (8 April).

These viewing and reading figures are overwhelming, to say the least, and this blog continues to reach a volume of readers that I never have expected when I first started blogging 16 years ago. Half the total hits (19.5 million) have been within less than six months, having reached 19.5 million hits just over five months ago (14 December 2025). The total hits in March 2026 were the highest monthly total ever (4,523,648), followed by 4,365,464 hits for last month (April 2026); so far this month the figure for May is more than 4.32 million.

At the end of last year, this blog had 21 million hits (31 December 2025). So far this year, there have been more than 18 million hits or visitors in 2026.

I first began blogging in 2010, and it took almost two years until July 2012 to reach half a million readers. Throughout this year and last, the daily figures continue to be overwhelming on many occasions. Of the 12 days of busiest traffic on this blog, three were this month (1, 6 and 14 May 2026), three were last month (26, 29 and 30 April 2026), three were in March, one was in February, and two were in January 2025:

• 1,124,925 (1 May 2026)
• 525,719 (14 May 2026)
• 509,644 (29 April 2026)
• 344,003 (30 April 2026)
• 323,156 (27 March 2026)
• 322,038 (26 April 2026)

• 318,835 (6 May 2026)
• 318,307 (1 March 2026)
• 314,018 (28 February 2026)
• 301,449 (2 March 2026)
• 289,076 (11 January 2025)
• 285,366 (12 January 2025)

The daily average is about 200,000 so far in May, although that figure is distorted by the exceptionally high number of hits on three days so far this month. There were about 145,000 or more hits a day last month; ten years ago, in 2016, the daily average was around 1,000.

To put this latest figure of 39 million into perspective:

Donald Trump routinely grants access to businesses that pay money to his companies, PACs and pet projects, giving big business a seat at the table that most small businesses cannot afford.

Trump has enabled fraudsters and wiped out payments owed to fraud victims by pardoning his political allies and donors. One egregious example is the nursing home owner Joseph Schwartz pardoned just three months into his sentence for a $39 million fraud scheme. Schwartz admitted withholding from the IRS around $39 million in payroll taxes in his nursing home businesses, and court documents show the toll his fraud took on patients and workers, including small businesses left with unpaid bills. His debts include almost $19 million to a grieving family.

A PPE firm linked to the disgraced Tory peer Michelle Mone owes £39 million in taxes. The amount is on top of the £148 million the company already owes to the government.

It is estimated that bacterial antimicrobial resistance (AMR) will cause 39 million deaths between 2025 and 2050 – the equivalent to three deaths every minute. The figures warn that drug-resistant infections will claim millions of lives globally if current trajectories continue.

On the other hand, 39 million is the approximate population of California, Canada or Yemen.

39 million metres in 39,000 km: China has over 39,000 km of high-speed rail, the largest network in the world, and it is said to be a faster and more comfortable alternative to domestic flights.

39 million minutes is approximately 74 years, 1 month and 24 days. In other words, if this blog was getting only one hit a minute, it would take more than 74 years, from late March or early April 1952, just two or three months after I was born, to reach today’s figure of 39 million.

I retired from active parish ministry over four years ago, on 30 March 2022. These days, though, about 120-140 people on average are reading my daily prayer diary posted on this blog each morning. A similar number have been reading my recent series of postings on churches and local history in Staffordshire, and were reading my recent series of postings on the churches and chapels of Walsingham. I imagine many of my priest-colleagues would be prayerfully thankful if the congregations in their churches totalled 850 to 1,000 or more people each week.

This evening, I am truly grateful to the real readers among those 39 million hits on this blog to date, and in particular I am thankful for the faithful core group of 120-140 people who join me in prayer, reading and reflections each morning.

Joseph Schwartz, who admits withholding $39 million due in taxes, has been given a complete pardon by Donald Trump after only three months in jail (Source: Propublica)

38 million in Morocco, 38 million imaginary Koreans, 38 million war victims, and 38 million blog readers

In the stepped streets and arched alleyways of Tangier … Morocco has a population of 38 million (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

The viewing and reading figures for this blog continue to overwhelm me. These figures reached the 38 million mark at lunchtime this afternoon (14 May 2026). They reached the 37 million mark a week ago (8 May 2026), having reached 36 million six days before that (2 May 2026) and 35 million at the beginning of this month (1 May 2026). The figures have now passed the million mark four times so far this month, and passed that mark four times last month also: 34 million (29 April), 33 million (25 April), 32 million (19 April) and 31 million (8 April).

These viewing and reading figures have been overwhelming in these recent weeks and months and this blog continues to reach a volume of readers that I could never have expected when I first started blogging 16 years ago. Half the total hits (19 million) have been within less than six months, having reached 19 million hits a little more than five months ago, on 9 December 2025. The total hits in March 2026 were the highest monthly total ever (4,523,648), followed by 4,365,464 hits for last month (April 2026); so far this month the figure for May is more than 3.3 million.

At the end of last year, this blog had 21 million hits (31 December 2025). So far this year, there have been more than 17 million hits or visitors in 2026.

I first began blogging in 2010, and it took almost two years until July 2012 to reach half a million readers. Throughout this year and last, the daily figures continue to be overwhelming on many occasions. Of the 12 days of busiest traffic on this blog, three were this month (1, 6 and 14 May 2026), three were last month (26, 29 and 30 April 2026), three were in March, one was in February, and two were in January 2025:

• 1,124,925 (1 May 2026)
• 525,719 (14 May 2026)*
• 509,644 (29 April 2026)
• 344,003 (30 April 2026)
• 323,156 (27 March 2026)
• 322,038 (26 April 2026)

• 318,835 (6 May 2026)
• 318,307 (1 March 2026)
• 314,018 (28 February 2026)
• 301,449 (2 March 2026)
• 289,076 (11 January 2025)
• 285,366 (12 January 2025)

The daily average is about 237,000 so far in May, although that figure is distorted by the exceptionally high number of hits on three days so far this month. There were about 145,000 or more hits a day last month; ten years ago, in 2016, the daily average was around 1,000.

A half-page feature on Korean politics in ‘The Irish Times’ on on 15 September 1997 … Donald Trump thinks South Korea has a population of 38 million

To put this figure of 38 million into perspective:

Back in March 2020, Donald Trump said the population of Seoul, the South Korean capital, was 38 million during a White House press briefing. Trump began sharing facts about the country, saying ‘I know South Korea better than anybody.’ He asked, again and again, ‘Do you know how many people are in Seoul? Do you know how big the city of Seoul is?’ and then answered his own question: ‘38 million people. That’s bigger than anything we have. 38 million people, all tightly, wound together.’

This is all from the man who alleges the BBC misconstrued his words.

When I was in South Korea in 1997, as an Irish Times journalist and as a Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Global Economics in Seoul, South Korea then had a population of about 10.4 million; when Trump made that gaffe three years later, Seoul had a population of around 10 million, according to its own official figures, but no more than that. Since then, the figures has continued to fall, and is now about 9.2 to 9.6 million people. But then, he claims, he knows ‘South Korea better than anybody.’ Just, please, don’t ask Trump to calculate these decreases in percentages, and it doesn’t assure anyone that he knows anything about the Far East while he is visiting China today.

On the other hand, 38 million is the approximate population of Morocco, Poland, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

Greece recorded a new record in inbound tourism in 2025, with about 38 million visitors and revenues of more than €23.6 billion, according to the latest figures from the Greek Tourism Research Institute, INSETE.

The Costs of War Project estimates that US post-9/11 wars have displaced at least 38 million people in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, the Philippines, Libya and Syria.

A study by the Center of Economic and Policy Research revealed last year that, between 1971 and 2021, US and EU sanctions have killed 38 million people around the world. That figure equals the total of 38 million civilian deaths during World War II.

38 million minutes is approximately 72 years, 3 months and 0 days. In other words, if this blog was getting only one hit a minute, it would take more than 72 years, from mid- February 1954, to reach today’s latest figure of 38 million.

I retired from active parish ministry over four years ago, on 30 March 2022. These days, though, about 120-140 people on average are reading my daily prayer diary posted on this blog each morning. A similar number have been reading my current series of postings on churches and local history in Staffordshire, and were reading my recent series of postings on the churches and chapels of Walsingham. I imagine many of my priest-colleagues would be prayerfully thankful if the congregations in their churches totalled 850 to 1,000 or more people each week.

This evening, I am truly grateful to the real readers among those 38 million hits on this blog to date, and in particular I am thankful for the faithful core group of 120-140 people who join me in prayer, reading and reflections each morning.

* Figure amended at midnight on 14 May 2026 to reflect numbers for the full day.

37 million people in Tokyo, 37 million visitors to Greece, Trump’s $37 million steel ‘gift’, and 37 million blog readers

The fountain and the gardens at the Hedgehog Vintage Inn in Lichfield this afternoon … 37 million people visit Staffordshire each year (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Patrick Comerford

The viewing and reading figures for this blog continue to overwhelm me. These figures reached the 37 million mark today shortly before noon this morning (8 May 2026), having reached 36 million six days ago (2 May 2026) and 35 million last Friday (1 May 2026). The figures have passed the million mark three times so far this month, having passed that mark four times last month: 34 million (29 April), 33 million (25 April), 32 million (19 April) and 31 million (8 April).

These viewing and reading figures have been overwhelming in these recent weeks and months and this blog continues to reach a volume of readers that I could never have expected when I first started blogging 16 years ago. Half the total hits (18.5 million) have been within less than six months, since 27 November 2025. The total hits in March 2026 were the highest monthly total ever (4,523,648), followed by 4,365,464 hits for last month (April 2026).

At the end of last year, this blog had 21 million hits (31 December 2025). So far this year, there have been more than 16 million hits or visitors in 2026.

I first began blogging in 2010, and it took almost two years until July 2012 to reach half a million readers. Throughout this year and last, the daily figures continue to be overwhelming on many occasions. Of the 12 days of busiest traffic on this blog, two were this month (1 and 6 May 2026), three were last month (26, 29 and 30 April 2026), three were in March, two were in February, and two were in January 2025:

• 1,124,925 (1 May 2026)
• 509,644 (29 April 2026)
• 344,003 (30 April 2026)
• 323,156 (27 March 2026)
• 322,038 (26 April 2026)
• 318,835 (6 May 2026)

• 318,307 (1 March 2026)
• 314,018 (28 February 2026)
• 301,449 (2 March 2026)
• 289,076 (11 January 2025)
• 285,366 (12 January 2025)
• 280,802 (26 February 2026)

The daily averages were about 145,000 or more hits a day last month; ten years ago, in 2016, the daily average was around 1,000.

As a student in Tokyo in 1979, I stayed at Asia Bunka Kaikan … today Tokyo has a population of 37 million

To put this figure of 37 million into perspective:

Greece broke all its tourism records last year (2025), with almost nearly 37 million visitors (over 36.7 million) and generating €23 billion in revenue. The surge was driven by strong demand, with 14 regional airports managed by Fraport Greece handling over 37 million passengers. Germany and the UK were the top source markets, and the record figures highlight a successful move to promote year-round tourism in Greece.

Of the 37 million people who came to Staffordshire in 2024, around four million stayed overnight.

The Japanese capital Tokyo, where I was a student in 1979, is now the largest city on Earth, with a population of 37.4 million people. This makes Tokyo which is over four times the population of New York City, and it means that around one-third of Japan's population live in the Tokyo region.

Last year Donald Trump said he had received a contribution of steel worth $37 million from a ‘great steel company’ as a gift to him to use in his project to build a $400 million ballroom at the White House. A senior executive at the steelmaker ArcelorMittal in Luxembourg has confirmed in recent weeks that the company made this gift of steel.

At the time, a White House official denied that ArcelorMittal received anything in return for the donation. But days after the president’s remarks, made at a White House event for donors to the ballroom project, the US adjusted its tariffs in a way that could benefit ArcelorMittal, according to a report in The New York Times, by slashing by half tariffs applied to automotive steel exports from its Canadian plant.

The use of a foreign steel company to provide materials for the White House flies in the face of Trump’s pledges to support the US steel industry and his boasts about ‘saving’ the industry.

The Iranian regime’s crackdown, internet shutdowns, digital blackouts and instability are causing Iran’s economy an estimated $37 million per day in losses.

The Empire State Building has an internal volume of 37 million cubic ft.

37 million minutes is about 70 years, 4 months, and 5 days. In other words, if this blog was getting only one hit a minute, it would take more than 70 years, from early January 1956, to reach today’s latest figure of 37 million.

I retired from active parish ministry over four years ago, on 30 March 2022. These days, though, about 120-140 people on average are reading my daily prayer diary posted on this blog each morning. A similar number have been reading my current series of postings on churches and local history in Staffordshire, and were reading my recent series of postings on the churches and chapels of Walsingham. I imagine many of my priest-colleagues would be prayerfully thankful if the congregations in their churches totalled 800-1,000 or more people each week.

This afternoon, I am truly grateful to the real readers among those 37 million hits on this blog to date, and in particular I am thankful for the faithful core group of 120-140 people who join me in prayer, reading and reflections each morning.

Vicars Close beside Lichfield Cathedral this afternoon … 37 million people visit Staffordshire each year (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)