Albuquerque, New Mexico

:This article is about the largest city of New Mexico. For other uses, see Albuquerque (disambiguation).

Trivia

• When Bill Gates and Paul Allen were hammering out a BASIC operating system for the MITS Altair 8800, they lived at the Sundowner Motel, at 6101 Central Avenue N.E. The building has since been converted into a veterans' rehabilitation home. Their success at this venture led to the founding of Microsoft in Albuquerque in 1975. Microsoft's first official address was the One Park Central Tower on the northeast corner of San Mateo and Central Avenue (across the parking lot from the First Security Bank building), where the company shared office space.
• In February 1992, Stella Liebeck, a 79-year-old woman from Albuquerque ordered coffee from the drive-thru of a local McDonald's restaurant on Central Avenue across from UNM, which she then spilled on her lap while the car was parked. This caused third-degree burns, eight days in the hospital, skin grafts, and $11,000 in medical expenses. The famous McDonald's coffee case was fought in court, 2.9 million dollars was awarded by the jury, but only $640,000 was required by the judge.
• In October 2001, an Albuquerque police officer and his civilian pilot made national news by landing their OH-58 Kiowa helicopter at the West Side Krispy Kreme outlet to pick up doughnuts.
• In April 2005, the so-called "runaway bride" Jennifer Wilbanks called police from an Albuquerque convenience store, ending a nationwide search and prompting a national media frenzy.
• Vivian Vance, who played the character of Ethel Mertz on the television show, I Love Lucy, always claimed Albuquerque as her home town, even though she was born in Cherryvale, Kansas. Vivian was a founding member of the Albuquerque Little Theatre. In fact the character of Ethel was noted as having been born in Albuquerque, and her show business education there was mentioned in episode #113, Ethel's Home Town.