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. Producers of American whiskey originated the term "brand name," because they branded their names on the barrels they shipped out.
3. Thomas Jefferson invented the first hideaway bed ever patented in the United States.
4. Starbucks was named after Starbuck, a character (the Quaker first mate on the ship) in Herman Melville's novel, Moby-Dick.
5. Henry Ford invented the charcoal briquettes that are commonly used by the grilling enthusiasts of today, to make use of scrap wood left over in the manufacture of the Model T.
6. The refrigerator won first prize at the Paris International Exposition in 1937. It was designed for Sears, Roebuck and Company by visionary engineer Raymond Loewy.
7. Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard tossed a coin to decide whether the company they founded would be called Hewlett-Packard or Packard-Hewlett.
8. The U.S. steel industry introduced the 5 Day, 40 hour work week in 1923.
9. David McConnell named his company Avon after the birthplace of William Shakespeare, Stratford on Avon.
10. Before Michigan, Indiana was the car capital of America. The last Indiana based company, Studebaker, shut down its operations in 1963.
When me and old Abe used to sit by the fire he would tell me the darndest tales about this great land of ours.
