Computers and Finance and Vegetable Shortening … Oh My!

What a week this is for history in all of these industries. Let’s start off with the “yummiest” … Crisco.

Prior to 1911, kitchens across America relied on animal lard for all of their frying and cooking needs. That is until August 15 of that year when Proctor & Gamble unveiled its all-vegetable solution to lard – Crisco – changing the way housewives cooked and baked for years to come.

Also this week, we’ve got more financial milestones to report, but unlike last week, they’re all good news! August 17 marks the first time the Dow Jones Industrial average closed above 2,700, which happened back in 1987. That was just five short years after the New York Stock Exchange set a record of 132,690,000 shares traded on August 18, 1992. By the early 90s, the Dow had set another record … a high of 3612.13 on August 19, 1993 – over 10,000 points shy of its current all-time high of 14,164.53 that was set 14 years later in 2007.

Our other fun history facts this week revolve around the world of computers, starting with the launch of the very first artificial intelligence software. IBM introduced its product on August 16, 1988, and set the world on fire. By August 14, 1984, they were releasing their PC DOS version 3.0 and twelve short years later on August 13, 1996, Microsoft gave us Internet Explorer 3.0. And as you well know, our world, communication and access to information has never been the same.