LinkedIn Friday Quiz

Pencils

The humble pencil topped the list of the 25 most requested school supplies, based on an analysis of 72,000 school-supply lists from teachers at 54,000 elementary schools, according to MDR Education. Pencils, glue markers, dry-erase boards, tissues, and crayons topped the list, even in today’s digital world. Some unusual items made the list as well: sand buckets, badminton birdies, and miniature pumpkins.

Americans spent US$125 billion on back-to-school and back-to-college supplies last year, according to Capital One. Families preparing their undergrads for college spent US$1,365 on average while spending for K-12 kids was US$875 per family.

Despite the proliferation of laptops and tablets and smartphones, the pencil is still a valuable tool for today’s students. The average pencil can write about 45,000 words, a reminder of how much utility is packed into a small, everyday object.

They are made by a US$4.5 billion global pencil industry that is projected to grow to US$6.2 billion by 2033, according to Verified Market Reports, a compound annual growth rate of 4.3%. Around 20 billion pencils are produced worldwide each year. Chinese companies account for about half of all production and roughly 44% of global exports, according to WorldAtlas, with Germany the second-largest exporter, followed by Brazil and Indonesia. China First Pencil is the largest pencil company in China, but the largest global companies are outside China. Germany’s Faber-Castell, founded in 1761, is the largest pencil maker in the world, producing more than two billion pencils annually. LYRA and Staedtler, which are both also German, Switzerland’s Caran D’ache, and Japan’s Mitsubishi Pencil, best known for its high-quality graphite and mechanical pencils sold under the uni brand, round out the top five.

US$45 Million

Heineken reportedly paid US$45 million to get its beer into the 2012 James Bond film Skyfall, a deal that ensured 007 reached for Heineken’s distinctive green bottle rather than a cocktail glass. The payment didn’t just get the brand an on-screen placement, it also underwrote a global marketing campaign that included a 30-second commercial featuring Daniel Craig, a branded online game, and extensive cross-promotion.

It wasn’t the first time the superspy switched his tipple. In 1962’s Dr. No, Sean Connery reached for a Red Stripe beer. And when Bond has ordered his usual martini, he’s switched between Smirnoff, Absolut, and Stolichnaya vodkas. At one point he even favored gin in the martini mix, ordering Gordon’s in Casino Royale (the line was delivered as originally written in Ian Fleming’s 1953 novel of the same name).

Of course, product placement isn’t new. It dates back to the 19th century and has proven to be very effective. In 1982, sales of Reese’s Pieces tripled in less than two weeks after the release of E.T., in which they made a brief but colorful cameo. Sales of Ray-Ban Aviators rose 40% after the release of Top Gun in 1986.

What has changed is the cost to be part of the zeitgeist. According to PQ Media, global product placement spending exceeded $23 billion in 2021 and projections suggest it will surpass US$41 billion by 2026, with film and streaming platforms accounting for much of the growth. For alcohol brands in particular, the stakes are high. Vodka, 007’s defining drink, has lost cultural momentum, with US sales growth stagnating compared to tequila, mezcal, and premium gins. Beer companies, facing flat sales in mature markets, have leaned heavily on sponsorships and cinematic visibility to maintain relevance, especially in countries where direct alcohol advertising is restricted and product placement provides a valuable alternative channel.

Around 20%

The global travel market reached about US$7.5 trillion in 2024. Of that, nearly US$1.6 trillion, roughly 21%, was booked online. That includes reservations made through online travel agencies, meta-search sites, and direct-booking platforms. The offline market still accounts for close to 80% of total spending, supported by nearly 572,000 travel agencies worldwide.

Transportation accounts for the largest share of both online and offline travel spending, followed by lodging, and then experiences and attractions. Lodging, especially hotels, illustrates the blend between digital and traditional channels. Independent hotels often rely heavily on intermediaries because they spend only about 2.5% of their revenue on technology and marketing. Larger hotel chains generate more direct bookings but still depend on distribution through online platforms. In alternative accommodations, platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.com dominate, but the market remains fragmented, giving individual property owners somewhat more leverage over online agencies .

North America and Europe are mature markets with high online penetration but relatively slow growth. By contrast, Asia-Pacific and Latin America are expanding at much faster rates because digital adoption is still relatively low. Experiences and attractions remain underpenetrated online and are now a major growth focus for large platforms. Looking ahead, global travel is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of about 3.5% through 2035. At the same time, consolidation among hotels and airlines could lead to more direct booking from travelers and shift bargaining power away from online agencies.

Rainfall and temperature

Climate, specifically the combination of rainfall and temperature, is the most important factor. Rice thrives in warm, humid conditions and even benefits from flooded paddies, which suppress weeds. It cannot tolerate frost and needs sustained heat to mature. Wheat prefers cooler, drier climates, shrinks from waterlogged soils, and withstands frost with ease.

This climatic split dictates where each crop dominates: hot, wet regions such as southern China, Southeast Asia, and parts of India suit rice, while cooler, less humid zones such as northern China, Central Asia, and much of Europe favor wheat. In the US, the same divide is clear. Rice is concentrated in the warm, wet lowlands of the Mississippi Delta and Gulf Coast as well as parts of California’s Central Valley, where controlled irrigation recreates paddy conditions. Wheat dominates in cooler, drier zones: the Great Plains, northern states such as North Dakota and Montana, and the inland Pacific Northwest.

Over the centuries, the varied needs of these crops have shaped cultural norms—a concept known as the “rice theory of culture.” Historically, rice required twice the labor of wheat, especially at planting and harvest, meaning that one farmer could not manage alone. Success depended on coordinated irrigation, shared labor, and mutual trust; alienating neighbors could mean losing the crop. This constant cooperation fostered dense populations, tighter social bonds, and collectivist, harmony-oriented societies. Wheat farming, by contrast, was less labor-intensive, more forgiving of individual schedules, and did not demand the same level of community coordination, leading to cultures with looser bonds, more individualism, and greater personal autonomy.

US$100 million

Design-software firm Figma runs its entire business through Amazon Web Services. It uses AWS for computing power, storage, bandwidth, and related services. To run all of that, Figma signed a five-year contract totaling US$545 million, or US$100 million a year, it disclosed in its IPO filings. That is roughly US$300,000 a day, which is roughly the hourly cost of chartering a Gulfstream G700 jet, except in this case the jet runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week for five years straight.

That is about 12% of Figma’s annual revenue, a number that raised some eyebrows. One CEO on LinkedIn said his company spends only about 1% of its revenue on infrastructure. Figma’s product makes the spending necessary. Unlike traditional desktop software, Figma runs in the browser and allows multiple users to collaborate simultaneously on the same file. This functionality requires consistent and scalable cloud-computing power.

But it also makes Figma completely dependent on Amazon, the company noted in its IPO filing. If AWS drops the company, or if it gets hit by a cyberattack, Figma has no easy alternative. The arrangement hasn’t been a problem so far. In 2022, Adobe announced its intent to acquire Figma for US$20 billion. However in 2023, regulators in the UK and EU blocked the deal on antitrust concerns, citing the potential reduction in competition in the design-software market. The companies ultimately abandoned the transaction, and Adobe paid Figma a US$1 billion termination fee (yes, about ten years of its AWS services).

The design-software field is getting crowded. Figma serves product and design teams, while Adobe’s core business remains centered on creative professionals and marketers. A third player, Canva, with its lightweight, app-based tools, primarily targets solo creators and small businesses—and is privately held (for now). It remains to be seen whether newer entrants are expanding the overall design and collaboration market or whether they will end up competing directly with one another.

Regulators

The biggest barrier to a coast-to-coast US rail operator has been regulatory resistance to large railroad mergers that might reduce competition. The US rail network has been physically capable of coast-to-coast service since the 19th century, but efforts to unify it under one company have repeatedly been blocked by regulators.

Only three major coast-to-coast rail mergers, including this proposed one from Union Pacific, have been formally attempted in the past 150 years but none have succeeded. The earliest attempt came in the 1880s, when railroad magnate Jay Gould tried to build a transcontinental empire by acquiring key lines across the Midwest and West (the character George Russell in HBO’s The Gilded Age is based on Gould). His strategy relied on controlling access through Chicago, already a vital interchange where eastern and western lines met. Rival railroads blocked his plan, politicians and regulators pushed back against his growing power, and the plan collapsed during the Panic of 1884, a financial crisis that exposed the risks of over-leveraged consolidation. Union Pacific seeks to achieve what Gould never could. If approved, the merger with Norfolk Southern would create a rail giant operating 50,000 miles of track across 43 states handling roughly 43% of US freight rail volume.

The world has changed drastically since the real Gilded Age. Even without regulatory barriers, rail has struggled to dominate coast-to-coast freight. Coast-to-coast ocean shipping is often cheaper, and trucking is faster and more flexible for time-sensitive cargo. These structural disadvantages have made it hard for rail to compete, despite its scale.

China

China is the world’s fastest-growing coffee market. Over the past decade, coffee consumption there has increased nearly 130%, with a compound annual growth rate of 9.5%, far above the global average of 1%. This growth is a result of a shift from occasional, brand-driven purchases to daily, high-frequency consumption, especially among younger, white-collar professionals. In top-tier cities, coffee penetration among office workers has reached 67%, while residents of lower-tier cities are adopting coffee as a social, leisure activity. Even with this rapid growth, overall per-capita consumption still trails that in developed markets, leaving room for expansion.

Luckin Coffee has been central to this transformation. With over 24,000 stores–more than triple Starbucks’ 7,600 in China–Luckin has grown rapidly by offering low-cost, grab-and-go products in small, sub-1,000 square foot stores staffed by 2–3 employees. This model emphasizes speed, convenience, and affordability, helping Luckin’s market share grow from 5% in 2019 to 30% in 2024.

Luckin’s model is quite different from coffee shops in other major markets. In the US, where 65% of adults drink coffee daily, Starbucks dominates with its “third place” strategy–creating social spaces that aren’t home or work. In Japan, 72% of coffee is consumed at home, and boutique cafés are preferred over chains, reflecting a preference for quality and privacy.

In 2024, Luckin opened its first two US stores in New York City, replicating its format in China: no in-store ordering, mobile app-only transactions, and no ambiance, workspaces, or broad food menus. Early survey results suggest Luckin’s lower prices, faster prep times, and no-frills atmosphere are starting to appeal to a high-frequency segment of Starbucks’ business in Manhattan, including students and urban pickup traffic.

15 years

In 2024, the personal luxury-goods market—a subset of the broader luxury-goods market that includes categories such as apparel, leather goods, beauty, jewelry, watches, and eyewear and is often referred to as the “core of the core”—contracted for the first time in 15 years, excluding the pandemic shock of 2020. Revenue fell 2%, to about US$420 million. This “downturn” was due to several factors: Over the past two years, the total luxury customer base shrank by roughly 50 million people. Moreover, weaker demand from aspirational consumers (mostly younger Gen Z shoppers), a normalization after post-COVID luxury exuberance, and perhaps reluctance to accept continued price increases from some luxury brands all hurt as well. At the same time, top-spending customers continued to account for an outsized share of sales, but many reported that the luxury experience now felt less luxurious.

Certain categories held up better than others. Beauty and eyewear still posted 3–5% growth, bolstered by accessible pricing and innovation. The secondhand luxury market grew by 7% as more consumers turned to pre-owned fashion for value and sustainability.

The market’s softness also created a sharp polarization in brand performance. In 2024, only one-third of brands achieved growth, a significant decline from 95% in 2021–2022 and 65% in 2023. Meanwhile, profitability across the sector eroded, as companies contended with rising marketing and distribution costs and limited remaining headroom for further price increases.

No safe refrigerant

Refrigerators didn’t become common in households until the 20th century largely because there wasn’t a safe, practical refrigerant. Artificial cooling was first demonstrated in 1748 by Scottish professor William Cullen, but it wasn’t until 1834 that American inventor Jacob Perkins built the first functional vapor-compression system. Early refrigeration machines weren’t just bulky and expensive, they also used hazardous substances such as propane as coolants. Without a safe refrigerant for household use, widespread consumer adoption was impractical.

But in 1930, General Motors chemist Thomas Midgley Jr., in collaboration with DuPont, developed the first chlorofluorocarbon (CFC), marketed as Freon. CFCs were non-toxic, non-flammable, and chemically stable, solving the safety issue and enabling mass adoption of refrigerators and air conditioners. GM, which owned Frigidaire from 1919 to 1979, played a key role in commercializing this shift.

Freon wasn’t dangerous to people, but it was dangerous to the environment. In the 1970s, scientists discovered that CFCs were damaging the ozone layer, leading to international action. The Montreal Protocol, signed in 1987, aimed to phase out ozone-depleting substances such as CFCs. In response, DuPont developed alternatives: HCFCs (hydrochlorofluorocarbons), which were less harmful to the ozone but still contributed to global warming, and HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons), which didn’t affect the ozone layer but had high global warming effects. In 2016, the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol established a global timeline to phase down HFCs, recognizing their impact on the climate. This marked a key shift from just protecting the ozone layer to addressing broader environmental concerns.

Today, the refrigeration and cooling industry faces a dual challenge: meeting growing demand—especially in India and Africa, where nearly 2 billion people still lack access to refrigerators and air conditioning—while reducing the environmental impact of refrigerants. With no perfect solution yet, the search for safer, scalable alternatives continues.

Culper Ring

The Culper Ring, established in 1778 by George Washington and Major Benjamin Tallmadge, was one of the most advanced intelligence operations of its time. The network operated in and around New York City, then the hub of British military activity, providing Washington with vital intelligence using methods that persist in modern spycraft. To maintain secrecy, the Culper Ring employed a sophisticated system of numerical aliases drawn from a custom-designed codebook. For example, George Washington was 711 and Tallmadge was 721. These numbers were used to sign letters and embed names within coded messages, so that even if correspondence was intercepted, the identities remained concealed. The codebook included more than 700 names, towns, verbs, and common terms, all encrypted with numbers. Some entries were mundane (“gold” = 223), others geopolitical (“New York” = 727), and a few remain mysterious, including 355, translated simply as “lady.”

In addition to code names, the ring relied on invisible ink, known as sympathetic stain, which required heat or a chemical reagent to reveal hidden text. Messages were often hidden in everyday correspondence or delivered via dead drops, such as messages buried in a field or tucked into the heel of a shoe. In some cases, multiple couriers would transport different parts of a message to reduce the chance of full exposure. The ring even embedded messages within letters that seemed to discuss mundane family matters or farming supplies. The network was so discreet that Washington himself rarely knew the real names of some agents.

The Culper Ring uncovered critical British plans, including a surprise attack on French troops in Newport, Rhode Island and a scheme to counterfeit Continental currency. Most notably it exposed Benedict Arnold’s treasonous plot in 1780 to surrender West Point in New York to the British.

As for the codebook, there were only two or three copies of it, but one survives and is housed in the Library of Congress as part of the George Washington Papers, Manuscript Division. One page of the ciphers has been digitized and can be viewed here:

Culper Code Book | George Washington’s Mount Vernon

Def Jam Recordings

Def Jam Recordings, home to artists such as DJ Khaled, LL Cool J, and Justin Bieber, is part of Universal Music Group. Sony owns Columbia, Arista, and Epic. Sony Music Entertainment is a subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Sony and one of the Big Three global music conglomerates alongside Universal and Warner Music Group. These three together control more than 75% of global recorded music and publishing.

Sony entered the recorded music business by buying out its partner in CBS Records in 1991 and has made more acquisitions within this division than in any of its others. That 1991 purchase included Columbia, founded in 1889, the oldest existing record label in the world with a roster of artists including Bob Dylan, Beyoncé, Adele, and Bruce Springsteen. Epic, also part of CBS Records, originally launched to house jazz and classical music and became a pop and R&B juggernaut—home to Michael Jackson during the Thriller era. Arista, the brainchild of Clive Davis, helped define 1980s pop and soft rock. It was resurrected in 2018 as Sony’s forward-looking boutique label.

The music conglomerates all operate with similar long-term artist contracts and often include “most favored nation” clauses in licensing deals with platforms such as Spotify and YouTube—meaning if one label secures better terms, the others can match them. This discourages price competition and helps maintain stable margins, while limiting artist mobility through long-term, multi-album contracts. While these companies don’t collude explicitly, their parallel structures and shared incentives often amount to tacit coordination that has drawn increasing scrutiny from US and EU antitrust regulators.

Throwing cabbages in baskets

While the official story credits Dr. James Naismith with inventing basketball in December 1891 at the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts, the town of Herkimer, New York, makes a competing claim. According to local accounts, Lambert Will, a teenage director of physical education at Herkimer’s new YMCA, devised a version of the game in 1890. Legend has it Will got the idea while tossing cabbages into a bushel basket at Ausman’s General Store on Main Street. He organized what Herkimer claims was the first-ever basketball game: a matchup between the Herkimer YMCA 9 and the Herkimer Businessmen 9, played on February 7, 1891, followed by a second game against a team from nearby Little Falls.

Supporters of the Herkimer origin cite several historical references, including an 1898 article in the Utica Daily Press mentioning the town had a basketball team by 1891, and a 1940 Herkimer Evening Times piece commemorating a 50th anniversary of the sport’s founding in New York’s Mohawk Valley. That article included testimony from a man who said he had witnessed the first game at the Herkimer Y and offered his 1891 YMCA membership card as evidence.

Meanwhile, in Springfield, Naismith developed his own version of the game using a soccer ball, two peach baskets, and a set of 13 rules he typed up and pinned to the gym bulletin board. He introduced the game to his students on December 21, 1891, an event long recognized as basketball’s official beginning.

There may have been earlier games that resembled basketball. A 1591 book from Frankfurt describes a game played in North America where players threw balls at a high-mounted target made of woven twigs, with prizes for accuracy. In pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, the Maya and Aztec played ollamaliztli, using rubber balls and stone hoops placed high on court walls. Medieval France had “La Soule,” a chaotic team ball game, while 18th century English children played “duck on a rock,” which required players to knock a stone off a platform—an influence Naismith later acknowledged.

Oxxo

Oxxo, the Mexican convenience store chain, sells more than four million Coca-Cola products daily.

Founded in 1978 in Monterrey, Mexico by beverage manufacturer FEMSA (Fomento Economico Mexicano SA), Oxxo began as a small-format store intended to sell beer made by FEMSA’s brewery division. Today, Oxxo operates more than 21,000 stores across the country (by comparison, 7-Eleven Mexico has fewer than 2,000 stores) and has expanded into other parts of Latin America including Chile, Colombia, and Peru. Oxxo’s stores are small but densely stocked with everyday items including snacks, cigarettes, alcohol, cell phone top-ups—and of course, Coca-Cola products. Mexico has one of the highest per-capita soda consumption rates in the world, and while roughly half of Coca-Cola products in Mexico are sold through traditional “mom and pop” shops, convenience stores account for 15%—of

Oxxo’s dominance in Coca-Cola product sales is not just a function of customer demand or its vast network of stores. It is also a result of FEMSA’s strategic relationship with Coca-Cola. In addition to owning Oxxo, FEMSA owns Coca-Cola FEMSA, the world’s largest independent bottler of Coke products by volume. Coca-Cola operates on a franchise bottling system: it owns the brand and produces the base concentrate, which it sells to regional bottlers. These bottlers—such as Coca-Cola FEMSA—are responsible for manufacturing, packaging, distribution, and retail relationships within their territories, effectively controlling the supply. What makes FEMSA unique, then, is its vertical integration. It not only owns the supply but also a sizeable portion of the retail distribution network.

Unlike many convenience store chains, Oxxo stores are not franchised—they are wholly owned and operated by FEMSA. This gives the company complete control over store operations, pricing, and merchandising strategy down to the individual store. Using transaction-level data, for example, Oxxo tailors inventory and product placement, stocking different brands, beers, cigarettes, and even Coke products based on local preferences.

Physician practices

Physician practices and clinical services accounted for roughly 16% of US health-care spending in 2023, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Physician practices deliver the majority of outpatient care across the country but the largest share of health-care spending by facility type—more than 30%—goes to hospitals. As the backbone of the US health-care system, these capital-intensive institutions provide emergency care, inpatient and intensive care, diagnostic services, and surgical procedures, all supported by 24/7 staffing and infrastructure.

Urgent-care centers and outpatient clinics represent another 3 to 4% of spending. These sites appeal to both patients and payers by offering convenient, cost-effective care for low-acuity conditions, chronic disease management, and routine diagnostic services. Behavioral-health facilities make up about 4% of spending and primarily serve individuals with psychiatric disorders, substance-use conditions, and co-occurring medical issues. Meanwhile, ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) account for roughly 2% of health-care spending by facility type. With more than 6,000 Medicare-certified ASCs performing tens of millions of procedures each year, they have become the preferred setting for elective surgeries. Compared to hospital outpatient departments, ASCs typically offer lower costs, faster turnaround times, and higher patient satisfaction.

The operators of these facilities include publicly traded corporations, nonprofit health systems, private equity-backed platforms, and government-run entities. Market fragmentation remains high, although consolidation has accelerated in recent years as operators seek scale, referral alignment, and cost control.

Payment history

Payment history is the most important factor in a FICO score, as a track record of on-time payments is considered the strongest indicator of future behavior. Delinquencies can remain on a credit report for years and meaningfully drag down a score.

The FICO score, created by Fair Isaac Corporation in 1956, is a statistical model used to predict loan-repayment probability. FICO scores range from 300 to 850 and are used by nearly every US lender to assess credit risk. The score is based on five components:

• Payment history (35%): whether credit obligations have been paid on time.
• Amounts owed (30%): how much available credit is currently being used.
• Length of credit history (15%): how long accounts have been active.
• Credit mix (10%): diversity across types of credit (e.g., cards, mortgages, auto loans).
• New credit inquiries (10%): how frequently new credit has been applied for.

Adopted by banks in the 1960s and 1970s, FICO scores became integral to credit reports by the 1980s. The score’s importance was solidified by US banking regulators and agencies such as the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which mandated its use for assessing risk in bank loans and government-backed mortgages. Today, FICO scores are used in virtually all consumer lending decisions—mortgages, auto loans, credit cards, and personal loans—and are distributed through the three major credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. Fair Isaac licenses its scoring software in more than 30 countries, with nearly 50% of its scoring-division revenue coming from outside the US.

Eli Lilly and Elizabeth Arden

Eli Lilly’s 1971 acquisition of Elizabeth Arden was emblematic of a broader trend in the 1960s and 1970s of major pharmaceutical firms and large conglomerates entering the fast-growing beauty and personal- care sector to diversify and access high-margin categories. Arden, one of the more iconic American beauty houses, had a global reputation for skin care, cosmetics, and of course distinctive red doors. Lilly, an innovative company flush with patents and profits in the post-war period, believed it could enhance Arden’s product quality through its formidable R&D capabilities. However, the theory unraveled in practice as Lilly’s deliberate, scientific approach clashed with the fast-moving retail and marketing-driven ethos at Arden. Lilly eventually sold Arden to Faberge in 1987.

Pfizer did not buy Max Factor but in 1963 it did purchase the historic French fragrance brand Coty, hoping to marry its chemical capabilities with Coty’s innovation in scents. However, it also had challenges combining scientific backing with retail brands; after years of stagnant performance, Pfizer sold Coty to Benckiser in 1992 (which merged it with its own brands to create the modern Coty). Squibb bought Lentheric, a French perfume and cosmetics house, but the brand faded and did not create value. Bristol-Meyers was one of the few success stories in the conglomerates’ quest for dominance in the beauty sector. It purchased Clairol, a pioneer in in-home hair coloring, in 1957. The brand was part of Bristol-Meyers for decades until it was sold to Procter & Gamble in 2001.

Bank of New York

The Bank of New York was the first stock listed for sale under a compact signed on May 17, 1792, between 24 merchants and brokers in New York City. The businessmen usually met under a buttonwood tree on Wall Street, and this compact came to be called the Buttonwood Agreement, which marked the informal founding of what would become the New York Stock Exchange.

The agreement was a direct response to the Financial Panic of 1792, sparked by unscrupulous speculators who tried and failed to corner the bond market. When the speculators defaulted, it resulted in a run on the banks and panic selling of securities. To bring order to the securities business, brokers convened secretly at a hotel and committed to two key principles: to trade securities exclusively among themselves, excluding competitive outside dealers, and to charge a fixed commission of 0.25%, preventing price undercutting. Although the agreement was succinct (just two sentences), it established the foundation for organized capital markets in the US.

Other securities traded early in the life of the exchange included US government war debt and stock in newly established institutions such as the First Bank of the United States. The Tontine Coffee House, on the corner of Wall and Water streets, wasn’t a publicly traded stock but was an important part of Buttowood lore. There wasn’t enough space for all of the founding brokers to conduct business under the buttonwood tree so they relocated to Tontine Coffee House. Securities trading at the coffee house continued until 1817, when the burgeoning stock market was formalized as the New York Stock and Exchange Board, the precursor to the NYSE. US Steel was formed in 1901 by JP Morgan through the consolidation of Carnegie Steel, Federal Steel, and National Steel. It was the first company to reach US$1 billion in market capitalization. The Bank of New York, incidentally, still exists through its modern successor, BNY Mellon.

A remote customs location

In 1982, the French government mandated that all Japanese VCRs entering the country undergo customs inspection in Poitiers, a small inland town 210 miles southwest of Paris, distant from major ports. The faraway office employed only two customs agents and a total of nine people, handling inspections with such detail that few Japanese VCRs (of the 25,000 units being imported each week) reached the shelves of French retailers. Though it was not framed as a protectionist policy, the decision to force cumbersome inspections at a tiny customs depot in an inconvenient location functioned as a non-tariff barrier by creating extensive delays and logistical hurdles.

At the time, nine out of ten VCRs sold in France were Japanese. Companies such as JVC, Sony, and Panasonic led the VCR market while French and American firms such as Thomson Brandt and RCA struggled. The controversial customs policy was an attempt to reverse that imbalance and became known as the “Second Battle of Poitiers,” a reference to a famous battle in 732 AD when French warlord Charles Martel stopped the invading Saracen army. The customs code assigned to identify Japanese goods in Poitiers—732—even seemed to make the point. Japanese manufacturer Hitachi eventually took out a full-page ad in French papers that stated, “We are not Saracens.”

While the move was technically legal, it was widely viewed as a violation of the spirit of fair and open trade and became a symbol of the broader friction between Western countries and an emerging Japan during the 1980s. The French government lifted the Poitiers policy a year later; the incident helped catalyze discussions around strengthening global trade governance, eventually influencing the creation of more robust dispute-settlement mechanisms under the World Trade Organization in the 1990s.

Selfridge’s

The first formal and legally recognized depository receipt–a security that allows people to purchase shares in foreign companies through local exchanges—was created and sold in 1927 on the New York Curb Exchange (which would later become the American Stock Exchange) for Selfridge’s, the British department store founded by American entrepreneur Harry Gordon Selfridge. There are anecdotal references suggesting that shares of the Suez Canal Company may have been available to US investors in a depository format earlier than 1927, but those instruments lacked a formal regulatory framework and legal structure.

The invention of depository receipts marked a turning point in international investing for Americans. They offer a streamlined and accessible path to investing in companies located abroad and solve key logistical challenges that US investors face in buying foreign equities. Today there are two main types of depository receipts: American depository receipts (ADRs), available only in the US and issued by companies that partner with a US bank to make them available, and global depository receipts (GDRs), which operate like ADRs but allow companies to list shares in multiple foreign markets. GDRs are commonly used by developed-markets investors to invest in companies domiciled in emerging markets. In the US, ADRs are a well-established component of capital markets, with more than 2,000 programs in place representing more than 70 countries. According to Bank of New York Mellon, the use of ADRs can save US investors between 10 and 40 basis points of charges annually related to the trading and custody of foreign securities.

Unilever established its ADR in 1988, Air Liquide established a French DR in 1928 but did not establish an ADR until 2007, and Suez Group, the successor firm to the Suez Canal Company, recently established an ADR in 2020.

An astronomer

Dr. Vera Rubin (1928-2016) was an American astronomer known for her groundbreaking work on galaxy rotation curves, which provided some of the first compelling evidence for the existence of dark matter. While studying how stars orbit within galaxies, Rubin found that stars at the edges of galaxies rotated just as fast as those near the center, when according to Newtonian physics and visible mass outer stars should move more slowly. This suggested the presence of a vast amount of unseen mass—dark matter—holding galaxies together, an idea that has transformed scientists’ understanding of the composition of the universe.

NVIDIA often names its semiconductors after prominent scientists, mathematicians, and computer scientists. Its Tesla chip (2006) was named after the inventor and electrical engineer Nikola Tesla (yes, a car company also bears his name). The Turing chip (2018) was named after Alan Turing, a foundational figure in artificial intelligence and computer science; the Ampere chip (2020) was named after Andre-Marie Ampere, a pioneer of electromagnetism; and the Hopper chip (2022) was named after Grace Hopper, a computer-programming pioneer and inventor of the first compiler. The names are not entirely random: the Turing chip was focused on intelligent inference, Ampere on electric performance, and Hopper on programming breakthroughs.

The Rubin chip will be the successor to NVIDIA’s newest and most advanced chip, the Blackwell chip, which the company launched in late 2024. It was named after statistician and mathematician David Blackwell, the first Black scholar inducted into the National Academy of Sciences, who is known for his work in probability theory, game theory, and information theory.

1850s

The first elevator suitable for passengers was successfully demonstrated in 1854 by Elisha Otis at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in New York. Rudimentary elevators had been used as far back as the third century BCE to lift goods in factories, warehouses, and elsewhere—Rome’s Colosseum had 25 of them. But they were too dangerous for passengers due to the risk of the rope breaking.

Otis overcame that by inventing a safety brake that would stop the elevator from falling if the hoisting rope snapped. During his demonstration at Crystal Palace, Otis stood on an elevated platform and had the supporting rope cut. Instead of plummeting to the ground, the platform was held securely in place. Shortly after his demonstration, Otis founded the Union Elevator Works, later renamed the Otis Elevator Company, and in 1857 the company installed the first passenger elevator inside a New York department store called E.V. Haughwout & Co.

Today, elevators, escalators, and moving sidewalks transport more than 2 billion people every day. Otis is still a leader in the industry, which has high barriers to entry due to strict safety standards. Four companies—Otis, Kone, Schindler, and TK Elevator—comprise more than half the market by value. Otis has a greater presence in the US, Kone was the first to enter the Chinese market, and Schindler is stronger in Europe. TK Elevator was spun out of Thyssenkrupp in 2020.

Myopic loss aversion

Myopic loss aversion is a fusion of two well-documented behavioral phenomena: loss aversion, when the pain of losses outweighs the pleasure of equivalent gains, and narrow framing or myopia, which is a tendency to focus on short-term outcomes. A cycle of panic begins as the investor constantly check the performance of their portfolio, making them acutely aware of the short-term performance. Because those losses are psychologically more painful than gains, even modest declines can come to feel severe, causing irrational decisions such as selling during a short-term downturn even if fundamentals haven’t changed.

Recency bias refers to placing too much weight on recent events when forming expectations about the future. Recency bias does shape expectations during volatility (“things are bad now, so they’ll stay bad”) but it doesn’t fully explain the emotional decision to act. Disposition effect describes the tendency of investors to sell assets that have appreciated (realizing gains) while holding onto losing investments (avoiding realized losses) and is caused more by a desire to feel successful and avoid admitting a mistake. While it doesn’t perfectly align with panic selling in a downturn, it can be relevant in how investors choose which positions to sell. Availability bias occurs when people rely on information that is the most readily available rather than that which is most comprehensive or relevant.

In volatile markets, instinctive responses can be the biggest challenge. Investors who recognize these behavioral traps and build investment processes to counteract them are far more likely to stay disciplined and capitalize on the inevitable recoveries.

Mesopotamia, 20st century BCE

The oldest known example of a lock, a basic wooden bolt lock discovered in the ancient Mesopotamian kingdom of Nineveh, dates to around 2000 BCE.

Lock technology evolved steadily over the centuries as an entire industry grew up around it. Roman engineers introduced warded locks (with fixed internal barriers) that restricted access based on the shape of the key, while at the same time lock makers during the Tang and Song dynasties developed early versions of puzzle and spring-loaded locks. Through the medieval period, locksmithing became a skilled trade across Europe and Asia, with tradesman and engineers building ornate, puzzle-like locks that balanced function and craft. The Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries further transformed the industry due to advances in machine tools and precision engineering that allowed for production for standardized lock mechanisms at a mass scale.

Today, companies in the locks industry don’t just sell locks, but also door hardware, entrance and access control systems, and related services. About two-thirds of industry sales are commercial or institutional, with the balance of sales being residential products. The top three companies—Assa Abloy, Allegion, and Dormakaba Holding—command around 30% market share, having consolidated the industry through acquisitions over the past two decades. These companies operate globally though Sweden’s Assa Abloy has both the widest international reach and the broadest range of product offerings. The leading global lock companies are currently integrating mechanical security with digital technology, producing electronic, biometric, and smart locks that connect with mobile devices, home automation systems, and cloud-based security platforms.

To promote its brand

The Guinness Book of World Records was created to promote the Guinness beer brand in pubs. Sir Hugh Beaver, the Guinness Brewery’s managing director, found himself in a debate during a hunting trip about the fastest game bird in Europe. When he realized there was no reference book to settle such questions, he saw an opportunity to create one–particularly one that could be used in pubs where Guinness was served. Beaver thought a book of verifiable records would reinforce Guinness’s association with lively conversations and social gatherings.

He hired Norris and Ross McWhirter, twin brothers known for their fact-finding expertise, to compile the first edition. Published in 1955, it was originally a promotional giveaway to pubs serving the beer. It quickly became a bestseller and evolved into the world’s most famous authority on record-breaking achievements. But the first edition, nor any subsequent edition, didn’t answer the question that inspired Beaver to create the book (the most likely answer is the red-breasted merganser).

Guinness Brewery was founded in 1759 in Dublin by Arthur Guinness, who reportedly had loyalist tendencies and was once accused of being a British spy before the 1798 rebellion against the Crown. The stout that Guinness created is distinct in appearance due to its nearly black color topped with a white velvety foam. Proper pouring is essential to achieve the optimal balance of body, head, and lacing in a glass, with numerous social media accounts dedicated to the art of pouring Guinness correctly (and incorrectly).

Guinness Brewery became a public company in 1886 and merged with Grand Metropolitan in 1997 to form Diageo, a British multinational that is among the world’s largest producers of spirits and beers. Despite declining alcohol sales worldwide, demand for Guinness remains stout. Its growing popularity (with a 20% increase in sales in the UK in 2024) can be attributed to its recognizability on social media amid a plethora of pale lagers, as well as the growing appeal of Guinness 0.0, a non-alcoholic version. Towards the end of last year, Diageo implemented purchase limits for pubs in the UK due to exceptionally high consumer demand for Guinness.