Here's something I learned in the last month or so:
The telecommunications provider Sprint used to be a business unit of the Southern Pacific Railroad.(!) Reportedly, "Sprint" really ought to be "SPRINT", for "Southern Pacific Railroad Internal Communications.
According to one source, "[t]he Sprint name dates back to a microwave long-distance network put together by [the] Southern Pacific along its railway lines in [the] 1970s. Called Sprint, for Southern Pacific Railroad Internal Telecommunications, the network was bought by GTE Corp. in 1983."
The Southern Pacific began offering dial-up service (ostensibly long-distance, not internet) in 1978, after the Execunet II decision (citation unknown).
Ack and bother, my favorite cellular provider once belonged to the bloody Southern Pacific! (No, I'm not a fan of red and yellow locomotives, and the GS-4 is inferior to the Norfollk & Western's J series when it comes to discussing the 4-8-4 wheel arrangement.
See here and here for the two articles used as reference; note that their information on the meaning of "SPRINT" conflicts.
Posted by Country Pundit at May 6, 2004 05:32 PM