It used to be a job to drive around the country, constantly, driving and measuring every road, grade, elevation, and distance, in order to keep road maps updating accurately every two weeks. “Road scouts” would drive enough miles in a year to make multiple trips to the moon. The post Road scouts appeared first on… Read More »
In 1986, the small New Zealand town of Otorohanga briefly changed its name to “Harrodsville” in support of the local restaurant Harrods, which was facing lawsuits by the famous London department store of the same name. In addition, every business in town changed their name to “Harrods”. The post In 1986, the small New Zealand… Read More »
Two teams competed to design the iPhone. Dial based hardware vs. touch screen. It wasn’t until the iPhone reveal event, that on stage, Jobs ruthlessly made it clear which team won. He showed the world the power of touch, by deleting the contact of loosing designer Tony Faddell with a single tap. The post Two… Read More »
Scientist Claire Patterson spent over 20 years trying to convince the public that lead was poison. The inventor of leaded gasoline meanwhile once went to New Jersey to argue that leaded gasoline was perfectly safe, by pouring tetraethyllead onto his hands, and then putting a bottle of it under his nose and inhaling it for… Read More »
The Hula Burger was a meatless burger introduced in the 1960’s by Ray Kroc to McDonald’s. It was a substitute for American Catholics that would not eat meat on Fridays. The burger was a slice of grilled pineapple with cheese on a bun. But this was designed to go up against the Filet-O-Fish, which was… Read More »
There are no more than 12 Kmart stores remaining in the US. At its peak in 1994 there were 2323 stores in the US and 2486 globally. Until 1990, when it was surpassed by Walmart, it was the second largest retailer in the US after Sears. The post There are no more than 12 Kmart… Read More »