Bill France Sr. founded NASCAR after organizing stock car races

World War II innovations helped advance car racing

Modern American auto racing began in the 1920s with bootleggers modifying cars to outrun authorities. World War II innovations like better engines and surplus parts fueled post-war racing. By 1947, Bill France Sr. founded NASCAR, creating a unified league with consistent rules, transforming stock car racing into one of America’s favorite sports.

The NASCAR championship trophy has evolved for decades

From the Winston Cup’s reign from 1971 to 2003, to the Nextel/Sprint Cup awarded from 2004 to 2016, this NASCAR video shows the evolution to the new Bill France Trophy with every track outlined.

The tragic death of Dale Earnhardt Sr. changed NASCAR safety forever

When Michael Waltrip crossed the finish line at the 2001 Daytona 500, it was his first win. But the celebrations quickly turned to sorrow when everyone learned that Dale Earnhardt Sr. had died in a final-lap crash. Within eight months after the collision, nearly every driver wore head-and-neck restraints before a mandate took effect.

The first F1 sponsor was a cigarette brand

Early F1 cars were typically painted in the team’s national colors, but in 1968, Team Lotus replaced the British racing green with paint resembling their new sponsor, Imperial Tobacco. The sponsorship was a first in the sport and altered the visual and financial landscape of F1 forever.

The inventor of fantasy football first experimented with two other sports

In the mid-1950s, Wilfred “Bill” Winkenbach, a part-owner of the Oakland Raiders, concocted two fantasy sports games: one for Major League Baseball and one for the Professional Golfers’ Association. In 1962, he invented fantasy football alongside two writers from the Oakland Tribune.

Bill Bowerman brought running for fitness to America

Nike cofounder Bill Bowerman once cowrote a book with a doctor, W.E. Harris, called “Jogging.” Published in 1967 by New York, Grosset & Dunlap, it introduced America to the idea of running for health, instead of just sport—and kicked off the fitness frenzy of the 1970s that fueled Nike’s early success. (Some readers may experience a paywall).

The story behind the formation of the original PGA

The early 1900s saw a surge in golf courses across America, and there was a need for a national organization of golf professionals to help promote and grow the sport. This history explores how department store heir Rodman Wanamaker organized a luncheon that led to the formation of the PGA of America.

NASA was created by Congress in 1958

Created by Congress under the National Aeronautics and Space Act, NASA officially began in 1958, building on earlier aviation research and positioning the US to compete in the Space Race and lead global space exploration.

National Hockey League, explained

Founded in 1917, the NHL started with four Canadian teams and now spans 32 franchises across North America. Its iconic Stanley Cup, first awarded in 1893, remains a unique prize, with winners' names hand-engraved each year. The league generates billions in annual revenue, aided by key expansions, lucrative TV deals, and global fan engagement. While player safety and labor disputes have posed challenges, the NHL remains a cornerstone of professional sports, offering an 82-game season culminating in the fiercely contested Stanley Cup Final.

One of Henry Ford's early failed business ventures later became Cadillac

Before founding the Ford Motor Company, Henry Ford started two businesses that ultimately failed because he didn't get a product to market quickly enough. The Henry Ford Company pushed Henry Ford out in 1902, only to later reform and be renamed after the founder of Detroit, Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac.

Brothers André and Édouard Michelin inadvertently changed dining

When cars first debuted in France, only a few thousand were on the road. The founders of a tire company, André and Édouard Michelin, developed a free guide for travelers to know the best hotels, mechanics, and restaurants across France, to encourage more driving and, therefore, tire sales.

Billie Jean King organized players into the WTA

In 1973, the Virginia Slims Circuit was successful, but when the USLTA demanded a higher tournament fee for Circuit players, promoter Gladys Heldman refused. In response, Billie Jean King met with over 50 players before the 1973 Wimbledon Championships to form the Women's Tennis Association, a move that led to equal pay at the US Open the following year.

In 1955, the first Dollar General store was opened in Kentucky

It was created by a father and son, Cal Turner Sr. and JL Turner. At the time, no item in the store cost more than one dollar, although that has since changed.

Anheuser-Busch was passed from father to son for five generations

The Busch family put a couple drops of Budweiser beer onto each first-born son’s tongue when they were born, according to family lore. Given their Anheuser-Busch ownership dynasty, the Busch family was considered beer royalty, with a Busch man running the operation up until the $52B InBev acquisition in 2008.

Billboard began as an advertising industry magazine

The magazine was initially “devoted to the interests of advertisers, poster printers, bill posters, advertising agents & secretaries of fairs.” While it occasionally tracked music via sheet music, record, and jukebox sales through the 1930s, it added its first true top 10 singles chart in 1940.

Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard are known for creating the 'founding' Silicon Valley company Hewlett-Packard

During the company's early years, Hewlett and Packard established a management approach called "the HP Way." The approach, which was considered radical at the time, helped shape the way Silicon Valley is run today.

Benjamin Franklin donated the books that became the first true public library in the US

In 1778, the town of Franklin, Massachusetts—named in his honor—asked Benjamin Franklin for a bell, but he donated a book collection instead, saying "sense" was more important than "sound." Residents voted in 1790 to make the books freely available to all, creating the nation's first public library.

Henry Varnum Poor published a guide to the railroad industry in 1860

Poor's guide to the railroad industry helped investors evaluate changes and business decisions that might impact their investments. It was the first step in building the thorough datasets tracking companies and industries that Standard & Poor's is known for today.

In 1965, Warren Buffett took over Berkshire Hathaway, a failing textile company

After buying bulks of its stock, Buffett then flipped Berkshire Hathaway into the most successful and largest holding company in the world, which owns companies like Geico, Duracell, and Fruit of the Loom.

Mister Softee started as two brothers in a Chevy van

The company began on St. Patrick's Day in 1956, when James and William Conway made their way across Philadelphia, selling green-hued ice cream. They weren't the first to sell ice cream from a truck, but they perfected it—thanks to the know-how they acquired working for the Sweden Freezer Manufacturing Company.

Coca-Cola and Pepsi have a fierce rivalry

And it's been that way for a long time—both of the sodas were created in the late 1800s in the South. Pepsi was created by Caleb Bradham, and was originally called "Brad's Drink."

The 1927 'Bristol Sessions' birthed the modern country industry

Country music has been around since the early American colonies, but the modern country industry began in 1927 in a small town on the Tennessee-Virginia border. Here, Ralph Peer recorded songs from the Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, and a dozen more artists through a 12-day stint called "The Bristol Sessions."

The Tony Awards were founded by Brock Pemberton

A Kansas boy who went on to become a groundbreaking Broadway producer, Brock Pemberton is also the founder of the Tony Awards. He went from a prodigious Midwestern newspaper reporter to a New York drama critic and quickly caught the attention of a local producer, who offered Pemberton a job and kick-started his decades-long Broadway career, which included cofounding the influential American Theatre Wing.

The origin and history of stock exchanges

When were stocks first sold? Though debt was first sold in Venice in the 14th century, stocks proper began in the Netherlands. To fund its spice trade across the world in 1602, the Dutch East India Company sold stocks to individual investors, a novel approach to raising funds. It was the Dutch West India Company that founded New York—the site of some of the world’s greatest stock exchanges. Listen to a concise historical overview here.

North Carolina adopted 'First in Flight' license plates in 1982—to snarky reviews

Many locals surfaced the irony of enshrining the accomplishments of two men from Ohio on the license plates of North Carolinans. Nonetheless, the style endures to this day, alongside Ohio’s “Birthplace of Aviation.”

Trace how the Bill of Rights, inspired by centuries of political theory, took shape between 1774 and 1789.

Warren Buffett's former professor Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of value investing,' a strategy in which investors seek to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth.

Long before Major League Baseball began allowing instant replay for balls and strikes, an umpire reluctantly used the technology to determine whether a hit was a home run, a move that inadvertently ushered in a new era for the sport.

The first horror movie is believed to be George Méliès' 1986 short 'The Haunted Castle,' which pioneered the use of special effects

The US first hosted the World Cup in 1994, a tournament that lives in soccer infamy for its poor planning and the murder of Colombian player Andres Escobar, who'd accidentally scored on his own net.

Venture capital is a form of funding provided to early-stage companies with high growth potential, typically in exchange for an equity (or ownership) stake

Sears sold DIY house kits starting at $600 in its famous catalog from 1908 through the 1940s, resulting in roughly 10,000 'Sears and Roebuck houses' being built.

Hear about the 250-year history of the United States Postal Service, complete with some of its strangest deliveries, important innovations, and the figures that made it an American institution.

When a Paris department store hesitated to sell Estée Lauder's perfume, she 'accidentally' broke a bottle, causing the smell to spread throughout the store and shoppers to start asking to buy the scent.

In 1939, baseball star Lou Gehrig delivered his inspirational 'Luckiest Man' speech after retiring due to the health condition that now bears his name.

'Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone,' a work by American painter Thomas Moran, inspired Congress to establish Yellowstone National Park.

Budweiser stores yeast derived from the original 1800s strain in a secret bunker, which only the Head of Yeast Management can access—not even the CEO

The Brothers Grimm were lawyers before they were storytellers, and became interested in fairy tales as they began investigating how rules and customs had been passed down through cultures.

Dozens of S&P 500 stocks, including Coca-Cola and Walmart—known as the dividend aristocrats—have increased dividends every year for 25 years

Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley' is infamous for having some of the highest industrial pollution, toxic air emissions, and cancer risks in the US.

'Saturday Night Fever,' the 1977 film that introduced disco to the mainstream, was based on a fabricated magazine story.

The 1987 Nintendo video game 'Stadium Events' isn't known for being particularly fun, but its scarcity has made it a highly sought-after item that has sold for up to $35K at auction.

How Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model, a self-reinforcing cycle that drives continuous growth

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

For centuries, Niagara Falls has been a magnet for daredevils seeking to conquer one of nature's most powerful wonders, with its 200-foot drop and water rushing at 32 feet per second with 280 tons of force.

A small portion of The Winstons' 'Amen, Brother,' an obscure '60s gospel record, is the basis for thousands of hip-hop tracks, making it one of the most sampled records ever that's informally known as 'the Amen break.'

See this overview of the firework rules across all 50 states, ranging from a complete ban on non-professional fireworks in Massachusetts to states with more lax rules like Indiana.

Sony set the standard for cylinder-shaped batteries when it repurposed manufacturing equipment used to make rolls of magnetic recording tape.

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the SC Johnson headquarters in Wisconsin, aiming to make a cathedral-like workplace

Some Pokémon have been named after real and fictional organisms, while some real-world species have been named after Pokémon, such as Chilicola charizard and Binburrum zapdos.