The biggest takeaway is just how many achievements IBM has actually has been a part of -- everything from typewriters and the modern day credit card magnetic strip, to the computing power behind the Apollo space mission.

ENGADGET: IBM's THINK Exhibit invades NYC, aims to inspire (video)

The research is based on how many times tobacco use was shown in the biggest-grossing US films released between 1991 and 2009.

BBC: Tobacco use in movies 'falling'

To understand how Microsoft and Google could be both the biggest winners and losers, Top Prospect used a ratio to compare how many new people a company hired for each employee it lost.

FORBES: Winners And Losers In Silicon Valley's War For Talent

The success of America's biggest experiment in social reform depends in large part on how many people can find, and keep, private-sector jobs.

ECONOMIST: The muddled maths of welfare-to-work

She is, for instance, about to finalise a settlement with Microsoft that many describe as disappointing, given how tough she has been with the world's biggest software firm in recent years.

ECONOMIST: Oracle and Sun Microsystems

It is difficult to get exact numbers from the owners of Rakwena Crocodile Farm about how many of the crocodiles initially escaped into dense bush and the Limpopo River, the second biggest in South Africa.

BBC: South African crocodiles hunt 'continues by night'

Devine has spent many months trying to figure out how to get the money back and avoid one of the biggest losses ever associated with an investment in a sports team.

FORBES: The Liverpool Fiasco: Ron Devine Is Still Trying To Get His $70 Million Back

In 1997, Standard Life's Graham Wood spoke for many fund managers when he said that the "biggest test" for Sir Peter would be how he handled BT's plans to takeover US telecoms firm MCI.

BBC: Sir Peter Bonfield: A profile

Prior to 1939 Poland was home to the biggest Jewish diaspora in Europe and I wonder how you square your view with the fact that so many Poles risked their lives to rescue Jews during the Holocaust.

ECONOMIST: On the diaspora