Cracked took a look at some unexpected origin stories:

• Cosmopolitan magazine started off as a conservative magazine aimed at families. Editor Helen Brown turned it into the sexually liberal publication that we all know today in the 60s.
• Shell, the oil company, got its start literally selling decorative sea shells.
• The Secret Service – the agency currently charged with protecting the President of the United States – was created to fight counterfeit money. A host of assassinations convinced the government that they needed them to protect the President instead.
• The stock market got its start in coffee houses, which were popular gathering places for rich businessmen.

Read other origin stories, and more history behind each of them, here.

Source: Cracked