American Icons Facts

Harley-Davidson was bought in 1969 by AMF - a company best known for bowling equipment. They nearly quintupled output. Oil leaks, bad welds, and faulty electrics became routine. Riders called them "Hardly Ableson." Harley's market share fell from 80% to under 20%. In 1981, 13 executives led an $81.5 million buyout - and rode their Harleys to Milwaukee to celebrate. They rebuilt the American icon.

Smokey Bear was a poster before he was a real bear. In 1950, firefighters in New Mexico found a three-month-old black bear cub clinging to a burned tree, his paws scorched from a wildfire. They nursed him back to health, named him Smokey, and sent him to the National Zoo in Washington DC. He lived there for 26 years. He got so much fan mail he was given his own ZIP code: 20252. He is buried in Capitan, New Mexico.