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Business

The History of the Bar Code

Inventor Joe Woodland drew the first bar code in sand in Miami Beach, decades before technology could bring his vision to life

Priscilla of Boston, 1973

From Sublime to Wacky, Nothing Says Fashion Forward Like a Collection of Historic Bridal Gowns

An unforgettable—but not timeless—walk down the aisle from the archives of the now defunct Priscilla of Boston’s Bridal Shop

At Indiana University, a team of scientists used this Roche 454 to sequence the 350 million base pairs of Theobroma cacao, the plant that gives us chocolate.

The World of Chocolate

The Big, Refrigerator-Sized Machine That Saved Chocolate

When cacao production was threatened by disease, the Mars candy company launched a global initiative to sequence the plant’s genome

Many foodies and soda lovers swear there’s a discernible difference between Coke made with sugar and Coke made with high-fructose corn syrup—a truer, less “chemical-y” taste; a realer real thing.

The Innovative Spirit

The Story of Mexican Coke Is a Lot More Complex Than Hipsters Would Like to Admit

A nasty trade war and questionable scientific assumptions make it difficult to discern what is, and what isn’t, the real thing

A 4.5-by 3-inch paper notepad with the word THINK embossed on its leather cover resides in the Smithsonian Institution's collections.

Innovative Spirit Health Care

How a Five-Letter Word Built a 104-Year-Old Company

THINK—printed on signs, deskplates, business cards and notepads—was the seed from which the rest of IBM’s culture would grow

Entrance to the new "American Enterprise" exhibition at the National Museum of American History.

How Curators Wrestled With the Complex Story of American Business

The broad and sometimes difficult history of business in the U.S., its rogues, heros, successes and failures, is the dynamic story in a new exhibition

Ornamental weathervanes once adorned the cupolas of the stand-alone Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants, hinting at a bygone folk era and forecasting the multi-directional dominance of its corporate future.

How Colonel Sanders Made Kentucky Fried Chicken an American Success Story

A weathervane from the Smithsonian collections is emblematic of Harland Sanders’s decades-long pursuit to make his chicken finger-lickin’ good

The remote broadcast set used in 1950s at the local 50,000- Watt Annapolis radio station is on view in the exhibition "American Enterprise," at the Smithsonian's American History Museum.

How Radio DJ Hoppy Adams Powered his 50,000-Watt Annapolis Station into a Mighty Influence

In post-war America, as advertisers discovered African American audiences, one local disc jockey drew top recording stars and a huge following

City Hall to Go is among the innovations the Office of New Urban Mechanics has developed in Boston to make services more accessible to residents.

City Governments Are Collaborating With Startups, and Acting Like Ones Themselves

By establishing offices that promote innovation, cities are taking more risks than ever before

Pyrex celebrates its 100th anniversary this year.

How Pyrex Reinvented Glass For a New Age

One hundred years after the birth of the brand, the Corning Museum of Glass pays homage to America’s favorite dish

Tech Watch

Forget Credit Cards, Now You Can Pay With Your Eyes

A new Japanese phone with an iris scanner may mark a new era of password-free mobile payments

Not pretty, but still edible.

Smart Startup

To Cut Down on Food Waste, a San Francisco Startup Is Selling Ugly Fruits and Vegetables

Looks aren’t everything, say the founders of Imperfect, a CSA-type service that delivers odd-shaped produce to customers’ doors

IBM Watson Makes Things Elementary, Indeed

The cognitive computing system makes for an ideal sidekick—in museums, kitchens, hospitals and classrooms

Trending Today

The Independent Bookstore Is Not Dead Yet

Membership in the American Booksellers Association is up

Still from Coca-Cola advertisement

American History Museum Scholar on the History of the “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke” Advertisement

The commercial that closed out the series finale of “Mad Men,” explained

Prototype of the original Jogbra

The Innovative Spirit - OLD

The First Jogbra Was Made by Sewing Together Two Men’s Athletic Supporters

An archive collected from the sports company reveals that the bra gave a boost to women’s athletics

Using millions of images and machine learning, Orbital Insight is able to estimate global oil surplus, weeks ahead of traditional estimates, by analyzing the shadows on the floating lids of oil tanks.

A Startup Wants to Track Everything From Shoppers to Corn Yields Using Satellite Imagery

Orbital Insight, founded by a NASA and Google veteran, is quick to predict crop failures and estimate the current global oil surplus

Navajo activist Delores Wilson opposes development on land she holds sacred: “You don’t want to anger the Holy Beings there.”

Who Can Save the Grand Canyon?

A holy war is being fought over a proposal to build a $500 million commercial development, on the rim of America’s natural treasure

What Is the Most Influential Oscar Dress of All-Time?

Far from being a sideshow of the awards hoopla, the fashion of the Academy Awards means big business for designers

A chart of chocolate future prices since Valentine's Day, 2014

The World of Chocolate

The Economics of Chocolate

Before becoming a kiss, bar, or hot drink, cocoa gets shipped, stashed, smashed, and, most critically for producers and consumers alike, commodified

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