Discovering Silicon Valley: Uncover 9 Surprising and Fun Facts You Didn't Know!
1. Pixar's Playful Campus
With a cornucopia of recreational activities designed to help its employees squash the stress out and lettuce be more productive, it's no surprise Pixar's headquarters was quite the apple of Steve Jobs' eye: This delightful campus, nestled in Silicon Valley, boasts an outdoor soccer field, an organic vegetable garden for on-site chefs, a wildflower meadow, and a wide array of trees for some Pixar-worthy shade. Staff can also have a splashing time in the Olympic-size swimming pool or go for an adventurous run on the jogging trail, all while enjoying beautifully landscaped surroundings that keep everyone engaged and egg-cited.
Source => officesnapshots.com
2. HP's Disney Connection
Well, hi-ho the glamorous life: Hewlett-Packard's first product, an audio oscillator, was snatched up by Walt Disney Studios for the 1940 film Fantasia, giving HP the magical touch it needed to become a Silicon Valley powerhouse.
Source => en.wikipedia.org
Did you know San Francisco has more dogs than kids? 🐾 Discover why this city is a canine paradise and the surprising statistics behind it. 🐶
=> Fun Facts about San-Francisco
3. Apple's Purple Secret
Hold onto your grape-flavored candy, folks: Apple's initial iPhone project was secretly called "Purple" and the team behind it roosted in a covert tech nest they dubbed the "Purple Dorm" in Cupertino's wacky wizard-walled Apple office. That fruity little nugget leaked out when former exec Scott Forstall unlocked the purple Pandora's box—and it all started on a fine January day in 2007 when Steve Jobs first dangled the iPhone before our incredulous peepers.
Source => inshorts.com
4. Elon Musk's Marital Recycling
It seems that billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk believes in recycling not just for electric cars, but also for marriages: He's been married to Talulah Riley, a British actress, not once but twice, with proposals involving a Beverly Hills hotel room and a noticeable lack of ring, and two divorces serving as dramatic interludes in their on-again, off-again love story from 2010 to 2016.
Source => dailymail.co.uk
5. Halsey Minor's Lemonade Mansions
When life gives you tech dollars, buy 20 lemonade mansions and an unrestrained love for luxury: Halsey Minor, founder of CNET, once boasted a net worth of over $100 million, but his unquenchable thirst for extravagant homes, art collections, and a doomed luxury-hotel project left him drowning in lawsuits, outstanding taxes, and mounting debt, ultimately sinking his once-glorious ship of riches.
Source => venturebeat.com
6. Nikola Tesla's Power Naps
Move over, Rip Van Winkle: Nikola Tesla, the Serbian-American wizard of electricity, had a sleep schedule that makes power naps look like hibernation! In his quest for innovation, he snoozed for a mere two hours a night and rested for just five hours total – a routine that could make even Silicon Valley's most hardworking techies green with envy.
Source => sciencealert.com
7. Google's Atari Love Story
In a twist fit for an 8-bit love story, tech giant Google cozies up with the ghost of a nostalgic arcade legend: Google has purchased a building in Sunnyvale, California that once housed an Atari engineering division in the 1970s, expanding its Silicon Valley real estate portfolio by adding this historical gem, built in 1978, to the mix.
Source => mercurynews.com
8. Babbage's Metal Lasagna
Before Charles Babbage became the "Father of Computing," he was just a humble inventor cooking up his fabulous metal lasagna: Assemble 8,000 parts, weighing 5 tons, and you've got yourself the first full-size Babbage Engine (Difference Engine No. 2), an enormous 11-foot by 7-foot mechanical marvel resembling a magnificent, intricate pasta dish with a side of 19th-century visionary engineering.
Source => computerhistory.org
9. Winchester's Ghostly Tech Support
When tech support just doesn't cut it for the supernatural bunch, the peculiarly-built Winchester Mystery House has got you covered in the heart of Silicon Valley: Originally constructed by the eccentric Sarah Winchester, widow of the Winchester fortune, this tourist magnet and alleged haunted domicile boasts countless architectural oddities, but there's no substantiated evidence of ghostly inhabitants or the home providing actual tech assistance, in case you were wondering.
Source => vanityfair.com