Page 48 - Business Facts

Pinball used to be illegal!

Pinball’s origins can be traced back thousands of years to ancients playing similar games on grass with rolling stones. The modern pinball game that would commonly come to mind was popularized in the 1700’s with the introduction of the spring launcher. By the 1930’s pinball was one of the most popular games in the world and one of the bestselling.

However, this would all have to be put on pause as gambling laws began to become much more strict. In New York City, pinball bans were particularly stringent. Beginning in the early 1940’s until 1976 no pinball machine was allowed in the city. Mayor Fiorello La Guardai was behind the ban because he believed the game robbed school children of their hard earned change.

La Guardia would enact raids throughout the city. If a pinball machine was found police, and the mayor himself, would stand in the street and destroy them with sledgehammers and dump the remains in the rivers.

The ban was not removed until a man named Roger Sharpe testified that pinball took skill and was not linkable to gambling. He reportedly played a game in the courtroom and the jury was so stunned by his skill that they voted to remove the ban! 

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Arthur Guinness signed a 9000-year lease for his beer factory!

Guinness is one of the most famous beers in the world. It was started by a man named Arthur Guinness in the late 1700’s and has since grown to capture worldwide attention. Arthur came from a prominent Irish family, in fact his godfather was an Archbishop of the Church of Ireland, and he originally received his first £100 from a will of a family member. 

Instead of simply saving the money, Arthur opened his own brewing company in Dublin, establishing what would become one of the most profitable brewing companies in the world. Guinness originally founded his brewery in Leixlip in 1755 brewing ale, yet soon left for Dublin. 

Once there he signed the famous 9,000-year lease that is still on display at the factory. The lease went into effect on 31 of December 1759, which means it is good until the year 10,759! Arthur Guinness went on to become extremely wealthy and is now known as one of the most prolific entrepreneurs, visionaries, and philanthropists in history.

There’s a scale to measure the health of poop!

It’s called the Bristol Stool Scale and it was medically designed to classify the form of different human feces! There are seven categories that each have a specific shape, color, and texture of feces to classify how healthy it is.

The scale was developed at the University of Bristol, hence the name, and was first published in 1997. The authors of the paper claim that by measuring your feces on this scale you can gain a sense of how healthy your colon is! Depending on how your feces compare will tell you what you need to change in your diet.

Feces types 1-3 indicate constipation, while 6 and 7 indicate diarrhea. Ideal feces should rank either a 4 or 5 on the scale. Think you’re healthy? See where you fall here.

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The inventor of the snapshot camera committed suicide. His note said "my work is done, why wait."

His name was George Eastman. He was the inventor of the first Kodak snapshot camera. You might recognize the name he gave to it: the Kodak camera. In addition to being one of the first brand names invented from nonsense syllables, it also sparked a photographic revolution that is still strong today.

He was able to simplify the photography process and create a product that everyone was able to use. He also pioneered a system in which employees of the company got dividends, essentially making them part-owners of the company. Sadly, when he was 77, he had spinal stenosis, which is a narrowing of the spinal canal. The pain for him was pretty big.

He decided to commit suicide by shooting himself in the heart. He left a short and simple note: "To my friends: My work is done. Why wait?"

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Japan has a pedal powered roller coaster.

In Okayama, Japan, there is an amusement park with a roller coaster powered by the riders' feet. The ride is called The Skycycle, located at Washuzan Highland Park. The roller coaster is built on a hilly area, at four stories above the ground, taking advantage of the terrain. The carts that ride the roller coaster look a bit like side by side tandem bikes.