Friday, September 4, 2026, brings National Lazy Mom’s Day—an observance best celebrated by letting Mom ignore the laundry and allowing everyone else to locate their own clean towels.

Today’s stories are filled with ideas that seemed unlikely, incomplete, or nearly worthless—right before history proved otherwise.

Today we explore New York’s first self-service restaurant, where customers ate standing up; the helium-filled USS Shenandoah and its unusual christening by carrier pigeon; and the 1972 return of The Price Is Right, before the show even had its famous Big Wheel.

Along the way, we meet Mike Piazza, the 1,390th player selected in the 1988 baseball draft who became one of the greatest hitting catchers in history.

Sometimes the number—or price—attached to something tells you very little about where its story will end.