Refresh for new random facts
1. Citibank adopted its cable address as its official name. It was originally known as the "City Bank of New York."
2. Thomas Edison, inventor of the lightbulb, is said to have been afraid of the dark.
3. Dr. Pepper founder Charles Alderton named his drink after the father of a girl he was dating, Dr. Charles Kenneth Pepper.
4. Starbucks was named after Starbuck, a character (the Quaker first mate on the ship) in Herman Melville's novel, Moby-Dick.
5. Samuel F.B. Morse, renowned inventor of the telegraph and Morse Code, twice ran for mayor of New York City...and lost both times.
6. Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos renamed the company to Amazon from the earlier name of Cadabra.com because he saw the potential for a large volume of booksales online, much like the Amazon is the most voluminous river.
7. Starbucks was originally going to be called "Pequod," after the fishing vessel in Herman Melville's novel, Moby-Dick. The founders settled on Starbuck, the first mate on the ship, instead.
8. With 535, Edwin Land, inventor of the Polaroid camera, is second to only Thomas Edison for U.S. patents awarded for inventions...He trails him by a measly 558.
9. Wanamaker's of Philadelphia, was the first U.S. department store to install electric lighting, in 1878.
10. Fortune cookies were invented in America, in 1918, by Charles Jung.
When me and old Abe used to sit by the fire he would tell me the darndest tales about this great land of ours.
