TITBITS
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Space nomenclature race hots up
By Kiron Kasbekar | 26 Mar 2024
The Soviet Union was there first, achieving the milestone of sending Yuri Gagarin into space first, and called its space travelers cosmonauts, and, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russians, the prime movers of the Soviet space program, have continued with that term.
How Quaker Oats grabbed customers’ attention
By Kiron Kasbekar | 07 Mar 2024
Quaker Oats, the American food products giant that was created in 1901 through the merger of many older oat millers, and was acquired by a bigger foods giant, Pepsi, in 2001, has been an innovative company. One example of its innovativeness shows in its packaging – the cereal box it launched in 1915.
How Ratan Tata turned the tables on Bill Ford
By Aniket Gupta | 27 Feb 2024
Ratan Tata, the great man from the House of Tata, is often lauded for his humility as well as charismatic persona, love for animals, larger-than-life philanthropic endeavors, and decades of hard work to expand the Tata Group. But did you know that there was a time when this Indian business leader had to face humiliation from an American businessman?
Did Coca-Cola ever contain cocaine?
By Aniket Gupta | 20 Feb 2024
Whether Musk was serious about buying the iconic cola giant is still up in the air, but the real twist comes when he mentions “Put cocaine back in it.” What on Earth did he mean by “back”? Was Coca-Cola once laced with cocaine? Have we, the unsuspecting consumers, been unwittingly sipping on a soda loaded with the white stuff? And how in the world has the brand escaped unscathed?
Sad story of the woman after whom the Mercedes car was named
By Kiron Kasbekar | 21 Dec 2023
Mercédès Adrienne Ramona Manuela Jellinek was the daughter of the Austrian automobile visionary, Emil Jellinek, and his first wife, Rachel Goggmann Cenrobert.
Why is the Apple bitten?
By Aniket Gupta | 01 Nov 2023
In the world of tech giants, Apple reigns supreme. We’ve all seen that famous apple with a bite taken out of it gracing laptops, phones, and tablets everywhere. But why the nibble?
The epic tale of Nike’s iconic logo
By Aniket Gupta | 01 Nov 2023
Once upon a time in 1964, in the land of athletic dreams, two visionary souls, Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman, came together to create a brand that would redefine sports and fashion forever.
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When words ignited horsepower: Enzo Ferrari's taunt and Ferruccio Lamborghini’s response
By Aniket Gupta | 31 Oct 2023
Imagine you are a multi-millionaire. You are living comfortably in a huge mansion; you wish to move around in, or are already a member of the rich and famous.
History of recycling glass
05 Oct 2023
Today glass is a very common item of kitchenware, which it has been for centuries. Today it has found many more uses.
Potato shaving cream
By Kiron Kasbekar | 03 Mar 2023
One day I was sitting with some friends, when one of them, who was working with a marketing agency, asked the rest of us
How did watches evolve?
By Kiron Kasbekar | 23 Nov 2022
I was reading an article on how humans and other animals evolved from their primeval ancestors. As you probably know, unless you think some god or gods just decided one fine day to create humans for some strange reason, it was by a process of natural selection!
The proof in the sand
31 Oct 2022
You may squirm, or you may throw a brickbat at me when you read this mixed metaphor. But here it is: the proof of the pudding is written in the sand.
The plural of moose
23 Oct 2022
Do you know what the plural of ‘moose’ is? You know what a moose is, right? You can see what it looks like below
What in heavens is a sandwich?
By Kiron Kasbekar | 21 Oct 2022
A sandwich is just two slices of bread with some vegetables, cheese, meat or other stuff in between.
Who was right, the Americans or the British?
By Kiron Kasbekar | 21 Oct 2022
I did know that British and American spellings of the word were different – the British write ‘tyre’, and the Americans ‘tire’. But I always thought that this was because the Americans wanted to be different from the British.
Featured
Company story – Quaker Oats
By Kiron Kasbekar | 08 Mar 2024
Quaker Oats is a company whose products I remember from my childhood days. Years before a foreign exchange crisis caused the Indian government to impose curbs on consumer product imports, we used to see a host of foreign brands in the Indian market. Including Quaker Oats, which I remember eating when I was a child, and which has been available for the past two decades or more.
How Quaker Oats grabbed customers’ attention
By Kiron Kasbekar | 07 Mar 2024
Quaker Oats, the American food products giant that was created in 1901 through the merger of many older oat millers, and was acquired by a bigger foods giant, Pepsi, in 2001, has been an innovative company. One example of its innovativeness shows in its packaging – the cereal box it launched in 1915.
Company story – Cunard Line
By Kiron Kasbekar | 12 Jan 2024
The Cunard Line started its life in Glasgow in 1839 as the British and North American Royal Mail Steam-Packet Company when Samuel Cunard was awarded the first British transatlantic steamship mail contract.
Samuel Slater – textile tycoon or traitor?
By Kiron Kasbekar | 26 Dec 2023
Samuel Slater is a name that holds significant importance in the annals of American industrial history. Often referred to as the ‘Father of the American Factory System’, Slater's contributions played a pivotal role in shaping the nation’s industrial landscape.
Underwood Typewriter Company – an icon of the past
By Kiron Kasbekar | 21 Dec 2023
You’ve probably never heard of Underwood typewriters. For the company folded up in 1963 – 60 years ago. You may not even have seen and handled a typewriter, unless someone in your family owned one.
The rise and fall of Chrysler
By Kiron Kasbekar | 16 Dec 2023
A century ago, the American automobile industry was more crowded than a vegetable market on a Sunday morning, with such a wide variety of stuff on sale that buyers were spoilt for choice. Buyers could pick and choose, bargain, pay up and drive out with the newly purchased vehicle.
TRW – the tide turned
By Kiron Kasbekar | 13 Dec 2023
There used to be an American company called Thompson Ramo Wooldridge Inc. This company, which was a global supplier of automotive systems, modules, and components to car and truck manufacturers, started small, as most companies do. Then, as the automotive industry grew bigger, so did TRW.
The rise and fall of Nokia
By Aniket Gupta | 07 Dec 2023
My interest is stories about dominant companies that failed all of a sudden. These companies were once etched into people’s minds but have since become a symbol of nostalgia. One such company, which was the biggest in its industry before it failed catastrophically, is Nokia.
Yahoo!: The first king of the internet
By Aniket Gupta | 01 Dec 2023
The year is 1994. You go to the internet to search for a particular website, but there is no Google that could be used to search your desired website. What do you do? The answer is that you use Yahoo.
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