July 27, 2016

The very first scanning of the now ubiquitous Universal Product Code (UPC) barcode was on a 10-pack of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit gum in June 1974. The bar code was scanned at 8:01 a.m. on June 26, 1974 at a Marsh supermarket in Troy, Ohio. The pack of gum wasn't specially designated to be the first scanned product. It just happened to be the first item lifted from the cart by shopper Clyde Dawson. The cash register rang up 67 cents. The pack of gum and the receipt are now on display at the National Museum of American History.

July 26, 2016

The polar bear first debuted in a Coca Cola print advertisement in France in 1922 and then appeared periodically for the next 70 years. The modern polar bear did not make its debut until the 1993 “Always Coca Cola” campaign in a television ad called “Northern Lights”, which featured polar bears gathering to drink Coke and watch the aurora borealis. Since then, the polar bear has appeared in numerous television and print advertisements becoming one of the most popular symbols of Coca-Cola advertising. The Coca-Cola polar bear commercials, are often featured during the winter months and the Super Bowl. The beverage company has pledged over $2 million dollars to protect the Arctic environment that polar bears call home.

July 25, 2016

Detroit was founded on July 24, 1701 by the French explorer and adventurer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac and a party of settlers. Cadillac was the leader of a band of soldiers and French Canadians adventurers who came ashore and claimed the land for the King of France. The city he helped found, Detroit, became the world center of automobile production in the 20th century. William H. Murphy and Henry M. Leland, founders of the Cadillac auto company, paid homage to him by using his name for their company and his armorial bearings as its logo in 1902. Various places bear his name in North America, in particular Cadillac Mountain, Maine, and the town of Cadillac, Michigan.

July 24, 2016

The Rhodes Scholarship, named after Cecil Rhodes, is an international postgraduate award for non-British students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. The award is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious scholarships. The Rhodes Scholarships are administered and awarded by the Rhodes Trust, which was established in 1902 under the terms and conditions of the will of Cecil John Rhodes, and funded by his legacy. There have been nearly 8,000 Rhodes Scholars since the inception of the Trust. Each year 32 young students from the United States are selected as Rhodes Scholars.

July 23, 2016

Prince Andrew, the third child and second son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, first met Sarah Ferguson when they were children. They did not become romantically involved until they met again at a party at Floors Castle in 1985. Diana, Princess of Wales, Andrew's sister-in-law, played a hand in matchmaking the couple. Four months after announcing their engagement, Andrew and Sarah married on July 23, 1986, at Westminster Abbey in London. By marriage, Sarah became Her Royal Highness The Duchess of York, Countess of Inverness and Baroness of Killyleagh, also attaining the rank of Princess of the United Kingdom. Andrew and Sarah announced their separation in 1992, and divorced on May 30, 1996. After the couple's divorce, Sarah lost the style Her Royal Highness, becoming "Sarah, Duchess of York", and was no longer a British Princess.

July 22, 2016

Sonny Bono achieved commercial success, along with his then-wife Cher, as part of the singing duo Sonny and Cher. He was mayor of Palm Springs, California, and congressman for California's 44th district from 1995 until his death in 1998. Sonny Bono died on January 5, 1998, of injuries sustained when he hit a tree while skiing on the Nevada side of Heavenly Ski Resort near South Lake Tahoe, California. Bono, who had been coming to the resort for 20 years, was on vacation with his wife and their two children at the time. Not long after his passing, his widow agreed to run for his congressional seat. She won election to Congress and served their district until 2003. The epitaph on Bono's headstone reads: "AND THE BEAT GOES ON".

July 21, 2016

Captain Eugene Cernan holds the distinction of being the last man to leave his footprints on the moon. Cernan is one of only three people to go to the Moon twice and the last man to leave a footprint on the lunar surface. Cernan's distinction as the last person to walk on the Moon means that Purdue University currently holds the distinction of being the alma mater of both the first person to walk on the Moon (Neil Armstrong), and the most recent. The final words Cernan spoke on the Moon in December 1972 represented everything the Apollo missions stood for. “We leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return,” he said, “with peace and hope for all mankind.” Eugene Cernan is now 82 years old.