Who was the last elected leader who gave priority to the common good over votes for the next election?
Franklin D Roosevelt. During his first presidential campaign in 1932 he said he would create a “new deal” to help Americans recover from the Great Depression. After he was elected he made good on his promise, and created three “new deals” prompting, among other changes, economic relief, financial reform, and a social security safety net. He ran for a record four terms until 1945, when he died in office.
Richard Orlando, Westmount, Quebec, Canada
• From Walpole onwards, every elected British leader has been concerned with votes, so it is necessary to turn to the last selected leader. This done, the only possible candidate is Sir Thomas More – and we all know what happened to him and his utopian ideas.
Philip Stigger, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
• Two southern Europeans come to mind: Pasquale Paoli in Corsica, who established a successful republic, and then stepped down and Giuseppe Garibaldi, who led the Italian unification and then left to lead other movements. Both, unfortunately, were feted at the time but did not have happy endings.
Pat Phillips, Adelaide, South Australia
• I can’t speak for other countries, but in Australia the historical record doesn’t go back that far.
Lawrie Bradly, Surrey Hills, Victoria, Australia
• There are two possibilities:
1) President John F Kennedy and his campaign for civil rights.
2) Lyndon B Johnson and his war against poverty.
David Tucker, Halle, Germany
• Moses.
David Isaacs, Sydney, Australia
• I don’t think he or she has yet been elected.
Avril Taylor, Dundas, Ontario, Canada
Where is that tea lady?
Who invented the coffee break?
Meeting for a coffee has been around for some time, from 14th‑century Turkey to the coffee houses of 17th- and 18th-century England. Stoughton, Wisconsin, claims that the coffee break originated in their town in the late 19th century when the wives of Norwegian immigrants took a break from the domestic round to have a coffee.
And after the second world war, the coffee break was written into union contracts.
Ursula Nixon, Bodalla, NSW, Australia
• Coffee makers.
R De Braganza, Kilifi, Kenya
• Perhaps Johann Sebastian Bach, who composed the secular coffee cantata as a sprightly relief from his beautiful but endless religious cantatas.
Bryan Furnass, Canberra, Australia
• Mr Bean.
Michael Davis, Sydney, Australia
• A tired tea lady.
Margaret Wyeth, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
• The same blighter who fired – sorry, “outsourced” – the tea lady.
John Grinter, Katoomba, NSW, Australia
• Worn-out grinders.
Neil Johnson, Birmingham, UK
That is certainly no lady!
What else could luck be other than a lady?
It could be a clock, for it is all about the timing.
Doreen Forney, Pownal, Vermont, US
• I don’t know for certain, but when I lose I suspect she may be an uncaring tramp.
Terence Rowell, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
Any answers?
What constitutes a world class city? Do we have any world class towns?
Terence Rowell, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
Who are the main characters of this world?
R De Braganza, Kilifi, Kenya
• Send answers to weekly.nandq@theguardian.com or Guardian Weekly, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU, UK
