In 1895, an 18-year-old Russian immigrant in Alabama started selling bananas out of train boxcars.
This is the tale of how a boy from humble beginnings became one of the most powerful men in the world. This is the tale of The Banana King.
To this day, you won’t find a single Burger King down under. But you will find Hungry Jack’s. 443 of them to be exact.
In 1980, a Vietnamese refugee arrived in Los Angeles and began crafting a new spicy sauce. 40 years later, his sauce has developed a cult following and grown into an $80 million business. His life is the embodiment of the American Dream. David Tran was born in 1945 in Vietnam. Beginning around 1975, Tran started experimenting with making spicy sauces, using peppers from his brother’s farm and selling the sauces… Read More »The history of Sriracha sauce
In the first half of the 20th century, the world’s 4th largest producer of wine was… Algeria (after France, Spain and Italy).
The peak of Everest is infamously termed ‘Death Zone’. Each breath contains ~ 30% of the oxygen found at the sea level. Birds, however, can easily fly over the Everest. What gives them such great lungs? They got them from the dinosaurs. But why did the dinosaurs have them? All mammals, including us humans, breathe in and out through the same opening (unlike our digestive tracts). Birds however, have a… Read More »How dinosaurs got so huge and why geese can fly over the Himalayas?
Did you know that the Earth is the only planet that is not named after a Roman or Greek god? And that the name ‘Pluto’ was suggested by an 11-year old girl from England who loved classical mythology? A story of how the planets got their names! The Romans named Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn centuries ago, thanks to them being visible in the night sky with the naked… Read More »A story of how the planets and their moons got their names!
In 1867, a ruined Louisiana banker started growing peppers in his garden. Today, the legacy of that garden stretches across 170+ countries and generates over $200 million in annual revenues. Who’s up for a story? Edmund McIlhenny was born in Hagerstown, Maryland in 1815. Sometime around 1840, he moved to New Orleans, hoping to start a career in finance. He established himself as a banker and eventually became the owner… Read More »The history of Tabasco Sauce