In 1981, Ronald Reagan fired 11,345 air traffic controllers after they refused to end their strike and subsequently banned them from federal service for life
J.M. Barrie added the requirement of fairy dust for flying, because so many children injured themselves trying to fly after seeing the first production of “Peter Pan”
The cartoon character Popeye was inspired by Frank "Rocky" Fiegel, who lived in the artist's home town. Fiegel had one eye, a prominent chin, he smoked a pipe, and often got into fist fights.
Country Time Lemonade once offered free legal assistance when children’s lemonade stands were being ticketed by local governments. They titled the service, Legalade.
In 1784 Great Britain imposed a tax on bricks to pay for the war in America. In response, people starting using larger bricks, and buildings can be dated based on the brick size
The Parental Advisory sticker eventually came into being after Tipper Gore heard her 11-year old daughter listening to Prince's "Darling Nikki", causing her to co-found Parents Music Resource Center
Nutrition professor Mark Haub lost 27 pounds on a Twinkie/Dorito/Sugar diet to prove that weight loss is based on caloric intake, and not on nutrition.