Lost Wallet Returned to Owner After 40 Years

"Always look at what you have left. Never look at what you have lost."

~ Robert H. Schuller







40 years ago Rudolph Resta, now 77, was an employee of The New York Times. One day his wallet was stolen, the cash removed, and the rest of it stashed between a window and a masonry seal. It wasn't until recently that it was discovered and finally returned to him - along with a small treasure trove of family pictures, an old Social Security card and other mementos from the time.

You can read more about the wallet, its contents, and the people involved here.

Coke's Secret Formula Discovered!

"It's the real thing!"
~ Coca-Cola slogan








Producers from This American Life were researching Coca-Cola and found an article from 1979 that had - get ready! - a hand-written copy of the original recipe as one of its illustrations.

This recipe has been closely guarded for over a century, with precautions as extreme as taking all labels off ingredients (mixers use sight/smell only to identify them) and only having two people alive at the same time who know how to mix the mysterious "7X flavor".



Here's the recipe, as posted Time.com:

The recipe:

Fluid extract of Coca: 3 drams USP
Citric acid: 3 oz
Caffeine: 1 oz
Sugar: 30 (unclear quantity)
Water: 2.5 gal
Lime juice: 2 pints, 1 quart
Vanilla: 1 oz
Caramel: 1.5 oz or more for color

The secret 7X flavor (use 2 oz of flavor to 5 gals syrup):
Alcohol: 8 oz
Orange oil: 20 drops
Lemon oil: 30 drops
Nutmeg oil: 10 drops
Coriander: 5 drops
Neroli: 10 drops
Cinnamon: 10 drops




You can read more about this neat discovery here.