This is an IHeart podcast.

Welcome to Aaron Menke's Cabinet of Curiosity's, A production of IHeart Radio and grim and mild.

Our world is full of the unexplainable. And if history is an open book, all of these amazing tales are right there on display, just waiting for us to explore.

Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosity's.

Sometimes the greatest institutions can come from the most unlikely places.

The money-sharing app Venmo wasn't created by a tech company but by two musicians looking for an easier way to split costs for their band.

Nintendo tried its hand at playing cards, taxis, and even instant rice before landing on video games.

And in 1900, two French brothers created one of the greatest honors in fine dining, all to sell

tires.

In 1888, brothers Edward and Andre Michelin launched a business together, the Michelin Tire Company.

They hoped to cash in on the new automobile industry that was just starting to take over France.

But by 1900, their sales had stalled.

The issue wasn't their tires, though.

It was the cars, or rather the lack thereof.

Because cars were new and expensive, there were only 3,000 on the road in France at the time.

So the brothers knew that they had to expand their business, and to do so, they would need

to get more French people into cars and wearing out their tires.

The brothers began publishing a free travel guide to France, which included instructions on car

maintenance, maps, lists of mechanics and gas stations, and, most importantly, recommendations

for where to eat.

The guide was immediately popular.

There might have been only 3,000 cars in France, but they were able to distribute over 35,000

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