It happened This week!

The first major exhibit of Vincent van Gogh’s paintings took place in Paris in 1901, more than a decade after his death. Although he created almost 900 paintings, only one is known to have sold while he was alive, The Red Vineyard, which now hangs in a museum in Moscow!

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter— was published in 1850. The first printing of the scandalous story of adultery among the Puritans sold out in 10 days, forcing additional printings and making it one of the first mass-produced books in America!

The “Queen of Disco,” Donna Summer, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1992. While the late vocalist is known primarily for her musical talents, Summer was also an avid painter. In fact, her first painting sold for $38,000 and she claimed to have made over $1 million in art sales overall!

The world’s favorite fast-food Mexican restaurant, Taco Bell, first opened its doors in California in 1962. Although it now serves billions of customers a year at more than 6,000 location across the globe, there’s one market it hasn’t been able to crack: Mexico! Twice it opened restaurants there, and each time they failed fast!

One of Disneyland’s top attractions— Pirates of the Caribbean— opened in the California amusement park in 1967. The last ride that Walt Disney helped design before his death was so successful that it inspired the swashbuckler Pirates of the Caribbean film series, which, so far, has grossed almost $4 billion worldwide!