Refresh for new random facts
1. Thomas Jefferson invented the first hideaway bed ever patented in the United States.
2. Thomas Edison has been granted the most U.S. patents for inventions, 1093.
3. The last mass marketed 12 cylinder car produced in the United States was the 1948 Lincoln Continental.
4. 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.
5. The waterproof disposable diaper was first invented in 1951 by Marion Donovan, using only a sewing machine and a shower curtain.
6. 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.
7. Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller would be worth upwards of $300 Billion in today's dollars, adjusted for inflation.
8. Frozen food entrepreneur Clarence Birdseye also invented a recoilless harpoon for whaling and a fast process for converting sugar cane waste into paper pulp.
9. Samuel F.B. Morse, renowned inventor of the telegraph and Morse Code, twice ran for mayor of New York City...and lost both times.
10. Before its name was changed in 1924, IBM was known as C-T-R, or Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company.
When me and old Abe used to sit by the fire he would tell me the darndest tales about this great land of ours.
