Two self-service stores, precursors to supermarkets, opened in California in 1912.
The Alpha Beta Food Market in Pomona and Ward’s Grocetaria in Ocean Park.
The Piggly-Wiggly stores, which opened in 1916 in Memphis, Tennessee, had self-service and checkout counters but did not call themselves supermarkets.
The word supermarket was not part of a store name until 1933, when the Albers Super Markets opened.
The 7 in 7UP stands for the soft drink’s original 7-ounce bottle, the UP for the bubbles from its carbonation. In 1929, when the drink was first introduced by Saint Louis businessman Charles L. Grigg, it was called Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda. The name was derived from one of its original ingredients, lithium salts.
The word fiat means an authoritative decree, from the Latin for “let it be done”. But the Italian car company founded in Turin in 1899 adopted its name as an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino (Italian Motorcar Works, Turin).
The fat little man made of Michelin tires also known as the Michelin Man is named Bibendum. He can be seen on the covers of all Michelin travel guides.
Alfred Carl Fuller came to the United States from Norway in 1903, and after working at a variety of jobs, he began selling brushes door-to-door in 1905. By 1910, he had a staff of 25 salesmen. Over the years, Fuller adapted by expanding his line to include a variety of household cleaning products. When he…
Scottish engineer John Baird built a working color television in 1928. But it was Hungarian-American inventor Peter Carl Goldmark who, in 1940, developed the first color-television system to be used commercially. Goldmark is also remembered for inventing the 33 1/3 RPM long-playing record in 1948.
In the Bible, Absalom is the son of King David spurred to rebellion by Achitophel. In John Dryden’s satire “Absalom and Achitophel”, Absalom represents the Duke of Monmouth, the illegitimate son of King Charles II, while Achitophel is the Earl of Shaftesbury. In the Bible, Absalom is the son of King David