1Free Bread and Herring
In 1574, the Dutch city of Leiden was under siege by Spanish forces. The defenders breached dykes, flooding the low-lying countryside. Naval ships reached the city on Oct 3rd, bringing bread and herring and ending the siege. Leiden still gives citizens free bread and herring every Oct 3rd.
2. A town in Texas renamed itself to DISH in 2005 for 10 years of free television service from the Dish network company.
3. Red Cross Clubmobiles served free hot coffee and donuts to US soldiers in England. The Clubmobiles were staffed by women called "Donut Dollies." The service was so popular, Clubmobiles accompanied soldiers on D-Day and through the end of the war in Europe.
4. Awardees of the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honor, are entitled to a lifetime of free first-class tickets on Air India.
5. On Pretzel Sunday, a spring celebration in Luxembourg, the Pretzel Queen and a group of bakers parade through the city of Luxembourg and hand out pretzels for free, accompanied by a small tourist train decorated with pretzels and a marching band.
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6Heart Attack Grill
The Heart Attack Grill is a hospital-themed restaurant in Tempe, Arizona, where “patients” over 350 pounds eat for free and the wait staff are dressed as sexy nurses.
7. About 1389 people died at a banquet celebrating the crowning of Tsar Nicholas II. The banquet was free to the public but a rumor of gold coins as gifts and there not being enough beer for everyone caused a stampede; trampling many. The festivities continued anyways and the incident was cleaned up.
8. MLB gives out “golden ticket” that gives free admission to the bearer to any game. It’s given to players after 8 years in the major leagues, people who have worked for a team for 25 years, and other VIPs. NASA astronauts, returning Vietnam POWs, and the 1979 hostages in Iran were all given one.
9. “University of the People” is a tuition-free, American-accredited online University providing Bachelor, Masters and Associate degrees in Computer science, Business, Health Science and Education.
10. A man named Stuart Drummond was elected to be the first and only mayor of the English town Hartlepool under the guise of thier football mascot, H'angus the monkey. He barely campaigned and his only promise was to provide free bananas for school children. He became the first elected mayor in Britain to win a third term.
11Overnight Free Parking
Most Walmarts allow people to camp in their parking lot overnight for free.
12. The “cyber seat” was world’s first park bench that gave free internet. It was installed in the UK in 2001 by Microsoft. Within days, two teens had plugged their house phone into it, attempting to call Bill Gates to say ‘we are calling you from your bench.’ They managed to reach his secretary.
13. Anyone can purchase a Volvo and get a free trip from the US to Sweden to tour the factory and test drive your car in the land that it was built in. All costs including airfare and shipping the car to the US are complimentary.
14. During the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Mcdonald's ran a nationwide promotion offering free products every time a US athlete won a medal. It turned into their most costly promotion ever when the Soviet Union, the powerhouse team of the time, boycotted the event, letting the USA win big.
15. British breweries donated free beer to soldiers during World War 2, but after D-Day, there was no room for it on the ships going across the English Channel. Spitfire mechanics and pilots worked together to modify pylons to carry beer kegs and deliver brews to the troops. Flying high enough chilled it.
16Free Jack Daniels
Employees who work at Jack Daniels get a free bottle of Jack Daniels with their paychecks on the first Friday of every month.
17. Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles premiered at a drive-in movie theater and people riding horses got free admission to watch the movie.
18. There is a Nikola Tesla statue that radiates Free Wifi in Silicon Valley.
19. There is a government program in USA called “Every Kid Outdoors” that gives a free year-long national park pass to every fourth-grade student that prints one out.
20. In 1996, the Argentine branch of Coca-Cola announced they would give away free tickets to a Ramones concert in exchange for ten bottle caps. Massively underestimating the band’s appeal in Argentina, Coca-Cola didn’t have enough tickets available, resulting in riots and looting.
21Free Whistle
Cap’n Crunch once gave a free prize whistle that blew a 2600 Hz tone - so if you dialed a long-distance phone number and blew the whistle, it gave you free long-distance calls.
22. For free, the US Treasury Department provides blind US citizens with a machine to read their currency for them. “The iBill is compact enough to slip into a side pocket. It can identify all US currency.” They have also developed free apps to read currency with a smartphone.
23. Dolly Parton has a book gifting program called the Imagination Library, which gifts free books every month to children, from birth until school.
24. Steven Thrasher was awarded free cigarettes for life from Phillip Morris as part of a settlement following being shot by his supervisor in 1974 and had to sue when they tried to stop.
25. The Swedish maker of Jeppson's Malört was free to sell the "medicinal" spirit in Chicago during prohibition, since law enforcement concluded no-one in their right mind would drink it recreationally.
