As well as giving Facebook mountains of cash to invest, an epoch-making IPO will also have wider repercussions.

ECONOMIST: Leaders

According to Erica Wagner, Literary Editor of The Times, such epoch-making events have traditionally proven to be great canvasses for the imagination.

BBC: Is there a novel that defines the 9/11 decade?

Musically, his career blazed a long and brilliant trail from bebop with Charlie Parker to epoch-making cool jazz, orchestral suites with arranger Gil Evans and landmark quintets which launched such young stars as John Coltrane and Herbie Hancock.

ECONOMIST: Jazz books: Swing that music | The