{"id":1092,"date":"2023-05-27T16:25:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-27T20:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spreadsheet-day.com\/blog\/?p=1092"},"modified":"2023-05-27T16:18:16","modified_gmt":"2023-05-27T20:18:16","slug":"5-fun-facts-about-spreadsheets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spreadsheet-day.com\/blog\/2023\/05\/27\/5-fun-facts-about-spreadsheets\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Fun Facts About Spreadsheets"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"d942c2121bfbd137a3b44056a000f09c\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:10px 0 10px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Responsive Top -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-9531091850463532\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"6574318169\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p>Some people think spreadsheets are boring, but we know better! Here are 5 fun facts about spreadsheets, that you can share with your family, friends, and co-workers. Or strangers on the subway!<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<h3>1) Spreadsheet Collection<\/h3>\n<p>Do you have a few old spreadsheet packages hidden away in your office closet?<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve got manuals for Excel 3.0, and an old Microsoft Multiplan disk, and finally got rid of my Lotus 1-2-3 disks and manuals. Of course, I took a photo of them before letting them go!<\/p>\n<p>But did you know that Ariel Fischman, from Mexico City, holds <a href=\"https:\/\/www.guinnessworldrecords.com\/news\/2019\/1\/meet-the-man-who-has-the-largest-collection-of-spreadsheets-in-the-world-557907\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the Guinness World Record for the largest collection of physical spreadsheet software<\/a>?<\/p>\n<p>When Fischman was interviewed in 2019, there were 506 items in his collection, and it has probably grown, since then!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/spreadsheet-day.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/lotus1234manualsa.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"Lotus 1-2-3 manuals\" style=\"border: 0px currentcolor; border-image: none; display: inline; background-image: none;\" alt=\"Lotus 1-2-3 manuals\" src=\"https:\/\/spreadsheet-day.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/lotus1234manualsa_thumb.jpg\" width=\"450\" height=\"450\" border=\"0\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>2) Spreadsheets Sold Computers<\/h3>\n<p>The first spreadsheet program, VisiCalc, was launched in 1979, and it was so revolutionary that people actually bought computers just to use this &#8220;killer app&#8221;!<\/p>\n<p>VisiCalc was created by Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston, and it only ran on the 32 KB Apple II computer, at first. You can <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bricklin.com\/visicalc.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">read Dan Bricklin&#8217;s notes on VisiCalc history<\/a> on his website.<\/p>\n<p>Despite its limited size, with only 254 rows and 63 columns, people loved VisiCalc, as soon as they saw it, and bought expensive Apple II computers, so they could get started using it<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/spreadsheet-day.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Visicalcwikipedia01b.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"Visicalcwikipedia01b\" style=\"border: 0px currentcolor; border-image: none; display: inline; background-image: none;\" alt=\"Visicalcwikipedia01b\" src=\"https:\/\/spreadsheet-day.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Visicalcwikipedia01b_thumb.png\" width=\"450\" height=\"309\" border=\"0\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>3) Spreadsheet Nightmares<\/h3>\n<p>If you&#8217;re sitting around a campfire this summer, telling scary stories, be sure to include a spreadsheet horror story or two!<\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s an <a href=\"https:\/\/eusprig.org\/research-info\/horror-stories\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">excellent collection on the European Spreadsheet Risk Interest Group (EuSpRIP) website<\/a> \u2013 maybe you&#8217;ve heard some of these already.<\/p>\n<p>And remember, these stories are only &#8220;fun&#8221; if they&#8217;re not happening to you!<\/p>\n<h3>4) Secret Code Name<\/h3>\n<p>While Excel was being developed, it had a project code name, like most other Microsoft programs. Do you know what that code name was?<\/p>\n<p>If you guessed &#8220;Odyssey, you&#8217;re right! Yes, in its earliest days, Excel sailed through the seas of software development under the cloak of Odyssey. I&#8217;m sure it was&nbsp; a long and epic journey, with exciting adventures along the way.<\/p>\n<p>In this <a href=\"https:\/\/learn.microsoft.com\/en-us\/shows\/history\/history-of-microsoft-jeff-raikes-story-part-two\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">video, on the Microsoft site<\/a>, Jeff Raikes talks about Excel&#8217;s history, and why its initial release was on the Apple Macintosh.<\/p>\n<p>The Mac is where I started using Excel, and I still have a working copy on this old Apple PowerBook!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/spreadsheet-day.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/excelmac01.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"Microsoft Excel on old Apple PowerBook\" style=\"border: 0px currentcolor; border-image: none; display: inline; background-image: none;\" alt=\"Microsoft Excel on old Apple PowerBook\" src=\"https:\/\/spreadsheet-day.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/excelmac01_thumb.jpg\" width=\"365\" height=\"336\" border=\"0\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>5) Spreadsheet Day<\/h3>\n<p>And last, but definitely not least \u2013 did you know that spreadsheets have their own day?<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s true! October 17th is Spreadsheet Day \u2013 the best day of the year!<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s when we celebrate the glorious grids that have saved us from countless calculations, and hours of pencil sharpening.<\/p>\n<p>Be sure to mark your calendar with this important annual event, if you haven&#8217;t done that already!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/spreadsheet-day.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/spreadsheetdaylogo2013.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"spreadsheet day october 17th\" style=\"border: 0px currentcolor; border-image: none; display: inline; background-image: none;\" alt=\"spreadsheet day october 17th\" src=\"https:\/\/spreadsheet-day.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/spreadsheetdaylogo2013_thumb.png\" width=\"330\" height=\"205\" border=\"0\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>___________________<\/p>\n<h3>5 Fun Facts About Spreadsheets<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/spreadsheet-day.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/fivefunfacts01.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"5 Fun Facts About Spreadsheets\" style=\"border: 0px currentcolor; border-image: none; display: inline; background-image: none;\" alt=\"5 Fun Facts About Spreadsheets\" src=\"https:\/\/spreadsheet-day.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/fivefunfacts01_thumb.jpg\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" border=\"0\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>___________________<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Some people think spreadsheets are boring, but we know better! Here are 5 fun facts about spreadsheets, that you can share with your family, friends, and co-workers. Or strangers on the subway!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1091,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65,58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-friday-fun","category-spreadsheet-days"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spreadsheet-day.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spreadsheet-day.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spreadsheet-day.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spreadsheet-day.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spreadsheet-day.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1092"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/spreadsheet-day.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1092\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1094,"href":"https:\/\/spreadsheet-day.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1092\/revisions\/1094"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spreadsheet-day.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spreadsheet-day.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spreadsheet-day.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spreadsheet-day.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}