Refresh for new random facts
1. In 1987, American Airlines decided to omit one olive from each salad course in the first class. As a result, they saved $40,000.
2. Kleenex tissues were marketed as a cold cream remover when first introduced in 1924.
3. Sara Lee is named for the daughter of Chicago bakery owner Charles Lubvin. He first named a cheesecake after his daughter, then in 1951 his company.
4. IBM was founded by an ex employee of National Cash Register. The name International Business Machines was his attempt at one-upmanship.
5. Before its name was changed in 1924, IBM was known as C-T-R, or Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company.
6. Believe it or not, the shopping cart wasn't invented until 1937, by Oklahoma grocery store owner Sylvan Goldman, who had only an 8th grade education. The design was based on a wooden folding chair.
7. American Express started off as a shipping company in 1850, shipping financial products across the United States; their first credit card wasn't issued until 1958.
8. Before Michigan, Indiana was the car capital of America. The last Indiana based company, Studebaker, shut down its operations in 1963.
9. Bubblegum was first introduced in 1906 as "Blibber Blubber" by the Fleer Corporation. In the 1920's the company re-formulated it, marketed it under the name "Dubble Bubble," and an industry was born.
10. William Randolph Hearst's father struck it rich mining silver and gold in Nevada in 1859 and had the largest private mining firm in the U.S. The HBO show Deadwood was based on one of his mines.
When me and old Abe used to sit by the fire he would tell me the darndest tales about this great land of ours.
