1. The hit song “Dedicated to the One I Love”
This song has been a huge hit for three bands and the band that wrote called the Triad home. The “5” Royales from Winston-Salem — guitarist Lowman Pauling and producer Ralph Bass get songwriting credits — recorded this song in 1957. In 1961 the Shirelles reached No. 3 on the Hot 100 chart for their rendition. But the most famous version was by the Mamas & The Papas. That version went to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1967.
2. Vick’s VapoRub
My grandmother would have loved Lunsford Richardson. As a youngster, we would always be given a dose of menthol vapor to fix any type of ailment we might have, even a bee sting. For us, the scent of menthol was something like the fragrance of incense in a shrine dedicated towards healing deities. Richardson, the man behind those smells, sold his first batch in Greensboro in 1894. Since then, Vick’s VapoRub sells in three different continents and has a ton of other product lines.
3. The Sit-In Movement
If you didn’t know this one you might have more important things to read than a listicle. But yes, on Feb. 1, 1960 four NC A&T University students sat down at Woolworth’s in downtown Greensboro and sent huge shockwaves throughout the nation and world, even inspiring anti-apartheid activists in South Africa.
4. Texas Pete
As a hot sauce, Texas Pete is pretty mild. But that’s okay, because a sauce doesn’t have to burn your lips off. It’s the third most important brand of hot sauce in the states, and there’s a bottle at pretty much every diner now, but the first bottle of Texas Pete was born here, in Winston-Salem. The inventor was originally going to call it “Mexican Joe,” but decided he wanted a name that was more “American.”
5. Goody’s Powder
Arguably one of the most useful inventions made in the Triad, Goody’s Powder has been fighting migraines for 83 years. It was made in conjunction with the Herpelscheimer Clinic in Austria, but manufactured in Winston-Salem where it still is today.
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