Refresh for new random facts
1. David McConnell named his company Avon after the birthplace of William Shakespeare, Stratford on Avon.
2. Schoolboy Antonio Gentile of Suffolk, Virginia, received $5 for his winning drawing in a Planters Peanut 1916 contest. Mr. Peanut was born.
3. The first words heard over the newly invented telephone were, "Mr. Watson, come here. I want you!" when Alexander Graham Bell spilled acid on his trousers.
4. The last mass marketed 12 cylinder car produced in the United States was the 1948 Lincoln Continental.
5. Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard tossed a coin to decide whether the company they founded would be called Hewlett-Packard or Packard-Hewlett.
6. Producers of American whiskey originated the term "brand name," because they branded their names on the barrels they shipped out.
7. The top three most valuable brands in the world in order of their value are Marlboro, Coca Cola and Budweiser.
8. Starbucks was named after Starbuck, a character (the Quaker first mate on the ship) in Herman Melville's novel, Moby-Dick.
9. 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.
10. 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.
When me and old Abe used to sit by the fire he would tell me the darndest tales about this great land of ours.
