It’s been 16 years since an American woman won a speed skating medal at the Winter Olympics, but last week, Team USA brought home the Bronze in the Long Track Relay. Bronze is no laughing matter, with the American women beating Canada by a mere .45 seconds. An intensive and sometimes dangerous event, American team […]
What’s that old saying? “Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door?” The phrase is credited to Ralph Waldo Emerson, although the exact wording is up for debate. Regardless, the sentiment has caught on over the past 150 years and today, more than 4,400 patents have been issued by […]
Two weeks ago, I took a long-awaited trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. I’ve been there several times, but I’m amazed at how the Disney experience has changed over the last five years. Today, the world of ‘all-things Disney’ is so much easier using the “MagicBand,” a plastic watch-sized bracelet equipped with an […]
For more than 80 years, one trademark has been associated with the highest customer loyalty of any consumer brand in U.S. history. Any guesses? It’s The Gerber Baby – the very picture of health and vitality. The result of a 1928 contest by the Fremont Canning Company to find the perfect child’s face to represent […]
In 1980, astronomer Carl Sagan suggested in the award-winning TV series Cosmos that “the cosmos is also within us – we’re made of star stuff.” He was trying to explain that we’re all the product of an amazing domino theory that began at the core of ancient stars, and eventually produced all the elements that […]
In the summer of 1769, the first European to visit what is now Santa Clara, California (Jose’ Francisco Ortega) found an area occupied by Native Americans whom the Spanish called the “coast people.” The coast people are the forerunners to today’s residents of Silicon Valley. Who knew back then that this fertile valley would become […]
In my hometown, one of the best jobs a kid could get in high school was working at the locally-owned grocery store: I’ll call it “Stanley’s,” for grins. Whether you were a checker, a sacker, a stocker, or spinning milkshakes in the store’s diner, you were instantly part of the family when you joined the […]
In less than a month, the latest super-hero blockbuster will hit the big screen: WONDER WOMAN. Yes, I am old enough to remember the 1970s Wonder Woman television series starring Lynda Carter. And yes, I think Wonder Woman’s story is a bit ridiculous. I mean, really, who flies an invisible jet? Or wears bullet-deflecting arm […]