Krispy Kreme: Vernon Rudolph began selling doughnuts to grocery stores in 1937. After people repeatedly stopped at the Winston-Salem doughnut factory to see if they could buy hot ones, Vernon cut a hole in the wall and began selling the hot, glazed doughnuts directly to customers.

Pepsi: Caleb Bradham, a young pharmacist in New Bern, experimented with soft drink concoctions in the late 1800s and settled on one that he named “Brad's Drink.” Shortly thereafter, it was renamed “Pepsi-Cola,” and the rest is history.