The teachers who taught a lesson in how to brew coffee

It's a moot point whether, with a name like Cargo House or Pequod, 85 million cups of coffee would still have been sold weekly at the 28,039 stores that are currently branded Starbucks, whose first store opened on March 30, 1971.The name was selected by one of the three founders, Gordon Bowker, a writer by profession who after toying with Cargo House and Pequod, finally settled in on Starbucks, after the chief mate, called Starbuck, of the fictional character Ishmael in the 19^th century Herman Melville novel Moby-Dick.

Starbucks' other two founders were teachers - Jerry Baldwin, who taught English and Zev Siegl, who taught history. For the next 16 years the trio was content to run things at their pace, which their Director of Marketing, a fellow who went by the name of Howard Schultz found not just sluggish but also frustrating.The trio later went in different directions - Baldwin venturing into wine production, Siegl into startup mentoring while Bowker ventured into starting an ale brewery and a tabloid.

The credit for making a star out of Starbucks goes to Howard Schultz, who initially worked with the coffee chain for three years, from 1982-85 before frustration at the lack of ambition of the three founders got the better of him. Leaving to start his own chain, he was back as Starbucks owner when the owners decided to exit in 1987.For Schultz, Starbucks has been a fortunate investment - his current net worth hovering at $2.8 billion.

The Siren Lady logo of Starbucks, representing a mermaid, is based on North Germanic mythology. Its first version, which showed it with a prominent bare torso was considered too risqu, leading to protests from women. That is when Terry Heckler, the designer and a partner of Bowker's at an advertising agency owned by the duo, decided to cover up the mermaid's breasts with her hair.

Starbucks, which entered India in 2012, operates 113 stores across the country, contributing a little over $40 million to the company's last fiscal's revenues of $22.39 billion.The company has a presence in 76 countries and owns the stores it operates - eschewing the franchisee route right from the beginning.