In the spirit of C.A.N.I. (Continuous And Never-ending Improvement), here are this week’s new facts—one for each day of your coming week. Pass them on to others to keep the spirit alive or invite your friends and family to visit our blog where they can also view previous entries.    

• When Disneyland opened in 1955, “Tomorrowland” represented a futuristic city from 1986.
• “Seinfeld” wasn’t Jerry Seinfeld’s first sitcom.  He played the governor’s speechwriter on “Benson” but was fired after three episodes.
• How Lotus (Notes) Got Its Name: Mitch Kapor got the name for his company from “The Lotus Position” or “Padmasana.” Kapor used to be a teacher of Transcendental Meditation of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
• How Microsoft Got Its Name: Bill Gates coined the name to represent the company that was devoted to MICROcomputer SOFTware. Originally christened Micro-Soft, the hyphen was removed later on.
• How Motorola Got Its Name: Founder Paul Galvin came up with this name when his company started manufacturing radios for cars. The popular radio company at the time was called Victrola.
• How CISCO Got Its Name: It is not an acronym as popularly believed. It is short for San Francisco.
• How SUN Got Its Name: Founded by four Stanford University buddies, SUN is the acronym for Stanford University Network. Andreas Bechtolsheim built a microcomputer; Vinod Khosla recruited him and Scott McNealy to manufacture computers based on it, and Bill Joy to develop a UNIX-based OS for the computer.

NEW YEAR’S HOLIDAY BONUS

• On New Year’s Eve this year, three tons of confetti was dropped on Times Square. It cost $25,000 to have it removed New Year’s Day.
• The first New Year’s “ball drop” in Times Square happened in 1907.
• This year New York’s Waterford Crystal Ball was 6 ft. in diameter and weighed 1,070 pounds!
• “Auld Lang Syne” means “time goes by.”
• The Top Ten most popular New Year’s resolutions:
  1. Lose weight.
  2. Stop smoking.
  3. Exercise more.
  4. Find a better job.
  5. Save more money.
  6. Stick to a budget.
  7. Eat better.
  8. Become more organized.
  9. Be more patient.
  10. Be a better person.

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management.  For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.