McDonald's Big Mac

The Big Mac is a hamburger sold by international fast food restaurant chain McDonald's. The Big Mac had two previous names, both of which failed in the marketplace: The Aristocrat, which consumers found difficult to pronounce and understand, and Blue Ribbon Burger. The third name, Big Mac, was created by Esther Glickstein Rose, a 21-year-old advertising secretary. It was introduced in the metropolitan area of Pittsburgh in 1967 and nationwide in 1968. The name was popularized by a 1974 advertising campaign featuring a list of the ingredients in a Big Mac: "Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions – on a sesame seed bun."

The Dairy State

Wisconsin is known as "The Dairy State” because it is one of the nation's leading dairy producers. Wisconsin's dairy farms lead the United States in the production of milk, cheese, and butter, providing 40% of the nation's cheese and 20% of its butter. Beginning in the 1890s, many immigrants carried cheese-making traditions that combined with the state's suitable geography and dairy research helped the state build a reputation as "America's Dairyland." Wisconsin's license plates have read "America's Dairyland" since 1940 and have led to the nickname of its residents as "cheeseheads."

Cats

Unlike other mammals, cats lack the proper genetic coding to experience sweet tastes. Cats have a mutant chemoreceptor in their taste buds that prevents them from tasting sweet things, which is actually a trait shared by all cats big and small, not just domestic ones. In 2005, scientists from the Monell Chemical Senses Center, in Philadelphia, discovered that a genetic deficiency deletes the sugar detectors on the taste buds of a cat. In other words, cats do not possess the genetic “hardware” needed to taste sweets.

Golda Meir

Golda Meir was the fourth Prime Minister of Israel and the first and only woman to hold the title. She was elected Prime Minister of Israel on March 17, 1969, after serving as Minister of Labor and Foreign Minister. Israel’s first woman to hold such an office, she was described as the “Iron Lady” of Israeli politics years before the epithet became associated with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. By the end of her life, she had become a hero as one of the first women to head a nation in the modern era. She died in Jerusalem on December 8, 1978.

Joseph Stalin

Joseph Stalin was the supreme ruler of the Soviet Union for a quarter of a century. Stalin’s real name was Josef Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili, but changed his last name to Stalin, which, in Russian, means “made of steel." His mother was a devout Russian Orthodox Christian, and wanted him to become a priest. As a teen, Stalin was accepted as a student at the “Orthodox” Seminary of Tbilisi, Georgia, where he trained as a Jesuit priest. In 1899, he was expelled from the seminary for missing exams, although he claimed it was for Marxist propaganda.

The Grateful Dead

Jerry Garcia was a singer-songwriter and guitarist best known for his work with the band the Grateful Dead, which came to prominence during the counterculture era in the 1960s. Though he disavowed the role, Garcia was viewed by many as the leader or "spokesman" of the group. One of its founders, Garcia performed with the Grateful Dead for their entire thirty-year career. He was well known for his distinctive guitar playing and was ranked 46th in Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" cover story. Garcia died of a heart attack in August 1995.

AFLAC

Aflac Inc. (American Family Life Assurance Company) is the largest provider of supplemental insurance in the United States and was founded in 1955. Since December 1999, the company's identity and brand has become more widely recognized as the result of TV commercials featuring the Aflac Duck, who frustratingly quacks the company's name to unsuspecting prospective policy holders. The Aflac Duck character has now starred in more than 30 commercials. The Aflac Duck is enshrined on Madison Avenue's Walk of Fame as one of America's Favorite Advertising Icons.

Logan International Airport

Logan International Airport (officially General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport) is an international airport located in the East Boston neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. Logan is the largest airport in New England and 18th busiest airport in the United States. The airport is a hub for several airlines, including Delta Air Lines, Cape Air and Jet Blue Airways. Before it became an international airport with six runways, Boston Logan International Airport was a muddy airfield primarily used by the Massachusetts Air Guard.

The First Man to Play Golf on the Moon

While on the moon, Alan Shepard used a Wilson six-iron head attached to a lunar sample scoop handle to hit two golf balls, becoming the first and only person to play golf on the moon. Only a handful of people in NASA knew of Shepard's plan when, after an extended excursion on the lunar surface, he pulled out the club, and dropped two balls on the moon. Despite thick gloves and a stiff spacesuit which forced him to swing the club with one hand, Shepard struck two golf balls; driving the second, as he jokingly put it, "miles and miles and miles." Since Shepard’s famous shot, no other astronaut has attempted to hit a ball off the moon.

The First Woman Computer Programmer

A gifted mathematician, Ada Lovelace is considered to have written instructions for the first computer program in the mid-1800s. Because she introduced many computer concepts, Ada is considered the first computer programmer. Ada Lovelace's contributions to the field of computer science were not discovered until the 1950s. Since then, Ada has received many posthumous honors for her work. In 1980, the U.S. Department of Defense named a newly developed computer language "Ada," after Lovelace.

Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO of Amazon

Jeff Bezos is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Amazon.com, an electronic commerce and cloud computing company. Amazon is the largest Internet-based retailer in the world. A graduate of Princeton University, Bezos founded Amazon in 1994, at the age of 30, when worldwide internet use was still in its infancy. As of September 2016, Bezos' personal wealth is estimated to be $71.3 billion, ranking him 3rd on the Forbes list of billionaires.

Penguins

All 18 species of penguin are unable to fly, and are in fact better built for swimming and diving. Penguins are birds, so they do have wings. However, the wing structures of penguins are evolved for swimming, rather than flying. Penguins lost the ability to fly as they developed more efficient wing-propelled diving skills that allowed them to better forage for food at increasing depths of the ocean. Penguins swim underwater at speeds of up to 15 to 25 miles per hour.

"Blood and Fire" = Salvation Army

“Blood and Fire” is the motto of The Salvation Army. The Salvation Army is a Christian church and international charitable organization with a worldwide membership of over 1.5 million people. It is present in 127 countries, running charity shops, operating shelters for the homeless and disaster relief and humanitarian aid to developing countries. FUN FACT: In 2004, The Salvation Army received a $1.5 billion donation in the will of Joan B. Kroc, the third wife of former McDonald’s CEO Ray Kroc.

Roman Numeral L (50)

Roman numerals, the numeric system of ancient Rome, uses combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet to signify values. L represents the number 50. Today's use of Roman numerals tends to be more for cosmetic purposes than function. FUN FACT: The NFL broke its tradition of using Roman numerals for the Super Bowl and branded its 2016 championship game as "Super Bowl 50" instead of "Super Bowl L". The NFL said that the tradition of using Roman numerals will be reinstated in 2017 with Super Bowl LI at NRG Stadium in Houston.

Devil's Tower: First National Monument

President Theodore Roosevelt established the first national monument, Devils Tower in Wyoming, on September 24, 1906. Devils Tower is a laccolithic butte composed of igneous rock in the Bear Lodge Mountains in northeastern Wyoming. The monolith known as Devils Tower rises 1,267 feet above Belle Fourche River. What you see today at the Devils Tower National Monument is the remains of an ancient volcanic structure. Referred to by several tribes as Bears Lodge, it is a site of worship for many American Indians.

Abraham Lincoln's Great Debates

The Lincoln–Douglas Debates of 1858 (also known as The Great Debates of 1858) were a series of seven debates between Abraham Lincoln, the Republican candidate for the United States Senate from Illinois, and incumbent Senator Stephen Douglas, the Democratic Party candidate. Historians have regarded the series of debates as among the most significant statements in American political history. The widespread coverage of the debates transformed Lincoln into a national figure and led to his election to the presidency in 1860.

Obverse Side of the Great Seal of the United States

The Great Seal of the United States is used to authenticate certain documents issued by the U.S. federal government. The Latin phrase E Pluribus Unum (Out of Many, One) is included in the Great Seal of the United States, being one of the nation's mottos at the time of the seal's creation. E Pluribus Unum refers to the fact that the United States was formed as a cohesive single nation as the result of the thirteen smaller colonies joining together. Never codified by law, E Pluribus Unum was considered a de facto motto of the U.S. until 1956 when congress passed an act adopting "In God We Trust" as the official motto.

Arnold Palmer Nickname

Arnold Palmer, nicknamed "The King," died yesterday from heart complications at the age of 87. Palmer is regarded as one of the greatest players in professional golf history. He was the first golfer to win the Masters Tournament four times and won 93 tournaments during his career. In 1968, he became the first golfer to reach $1 million in career earnings. In 1974, “The King” became one of the 13 original inductees into the World Golf Hall of Fame.

First Televised Presidential Debate

On September 26, 1960, 70 million U.S. viewers tuned in to watch Senator John Kennedy of Massachusetts and Vice President Richard Nixon in the first-ever televised presidential debate. It was the first of four televised "Great Debates" between Kennedy and Nixon. Following the debate, most TV viewers believed that Kennedy had been the victor. Conversely though, radio listeners found that Nixon had a slight edge over Kennedy. Polls revealed that more than half of all voters had been influenced by the Great Debates, while 6% claimed that the debates alone had decided their choice. Whether or not the debates cost Nixon the presidency, they were a major turning point in the 1960 race, and in the history of television.

Ford Thunderbird

The Ford Thunderbird was an automobile that was manufactured by Ford in the United States over eleven model generations from 1955 through 2005. Ford positioned the Thunderbird as an upscale model and is credited in developing a new market segment, the personal luxury car. The name Thunderbird comes from the deserts of Arizona and New Mexico, where, according to Indian legend, the Thunderbird was a divine helper of man. From its introduction in 1955 to its phase-out in 2005, Ford produced over 4.4 million Thunderbirds.