Seems nobody picked up Leighton's post about the US Government paying for the prototype 747. Absolute rubbish, I'm afraid.
Boeing submitted design proposals for the C-5 competition with an aircraft that looked very similar to the Galaxy but without the T-Tail. Boeing lost to Douglas at the DESIGN stage.
Juan Trippe of Pan Am then approached Boeing with the suggestion of taking some of the studies they had done for the C-5 and come up with a large passenger aircraft. The result was the 747. But Boeing self financed the prototype and, when problems delayed early deliveries, almost drove Boeing under.
Sorry to try and put some common sense (and really off topic at that!) into a post full of the complete rubbish coming out of southern Ireland at the moment. And this post is probably much more boring to read than corklad's rantings.
But to come back on topic - let's see. Airports becoming increasingly congested, pax numbers rising. Therefore, like it or not, larger aircraft are required - hence the A380 for major trunk routes.