… Of Common Things
The company that makes those famous interlocking bricks started as a small shop in Billund, Denmark. The company was established in 1932 by master carpenter Ole Kirk Christiansen, who was aided by his 12-year-old son Godtfred Kirk Christiansen. It made wooden toys, stepladders, and ironing boards. It wasn’t until two years later that the business took the name of Lego, which came from the Danish words “LEg GOdt,” meaning “play well.” In 1949 the business began producing, among other new products, an early version of the now familiar interlocking bricks, calling them “Automatic Binding Bricks”.
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The name PEZ is an abbreviation of PfeffErminZ (German for peppermint).
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In ancient Egypt, wearing heels was an indication of upper-class status.
In early 17th-century Europe, high heels were a sign of masculinity and high social status.
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They initially had difficulty selling Slinky to toy stores, but in November 1945, were granted permission to set up an inclined plane in the toy section of Gimbels Department Store in Philadelphia to demonstrate it. It was an instant hit; the first 400 units were sold in 90 minutes.
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22-year-old Neil Papworth sent the world’s first text message from a computer. The message, “Merry Christmas”, was sent to Richard Jarvis, a director at Vodafone, who was enjoying his office Christmas party.