History
After the United States entry into WWII, Britain changed its security classifications to match American classifications. Prior to the U.S.'s coming into the war, the classifications included the top classification: "Most Confidential". Documents were then shared with the U.S., when they entered the war. However, these British classifications were not understood in the U.S., and classified information appeared in the U.S. press. This spearheaded the uniformity in classification between the UK and the U.S.
Read more about this topic: Security Clearance (UN), United Kingdom
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“It takes a great deal of history to produce a little literature.”
—Henry James (1843–1916)
“To summarize the contentions of this paper then. Firstly, the phrase ‘the meaning of a word’ is a spurious phrase. Secondly and consequently, a re-examination is needed of phrases like the two which I discuss, ‘being a part of the meaning of’ and ‘having the same meaning.’ On these matters, dogmatists require prodding: although history indeed suggests that it may sometimes be better to let sleeping dogmatists lie.”
—J.L. (John Langshaw)
“To care for the quarrels of the past, to identify oneself passionately with a cause that became, politically speaking, a losing cause with the birth of the modern world, is to experience a kind of straining against reality, a rebellious nonconformity that, again, is rare in America, where children are instructed in the virtues of the system they live under, as though history had achieved a happy ending in American civics.”
—Mary McCarthy (1912–1989)