Military uniforms in the United States are as recognizable as they are iconic. Whether it’s in films such as Top Gun Maverick, television shows like M.A.S.H., video games like Call of Duty, or in real life, Americans are exposed to U.S. military uniforms on a regular basis. Most often represented is the active duty combat uniform which is officially called the battle dress uniform or BDU. This camouflaged uniform is complete with a series of patches indicating the identity of the soldier, the branch the soldier is enlisted in, their rank and so much more. What do all of those patches and pins mean? Luckily, the folks at Wizard Pins have created this ultimate visual guide to what every patch you might find on a military uniform means.

Click below to zoom

Differences between military patches on Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, and even the newly formed Space Force are surprisingly similar. Differences appear to be largely thematic between each military branch. For example, rank patches on U.S. Air Force uniforms resemble wings. Other patches are reserved for those belonging to special divisions, units, and those who have special skills. The visual does an exceptional job of explaining what each patch signifies and where they can be found.

On combat uniforms, rank patches are intentionally modest in appearance to prevent enemy combatants from being able to easily identify leadership from a distance. U.S. Army uniforms, U.S. Marine Corps uniforms, U.S. Navy uniforms, U.S. Coast Guard uniforms, U.S. Air Force uniforms, and U.S. Space Force uniforms may have subtle differences, but they are all uniforms representing one of the largest military forces on the planet.

Each year, Fortune Magazine recognizes the 500 largest companies across the United States, with the ranking being determined by the annual revenue earned by each of those companies. This list includes both private companies and companies that are publicly traded. Leading these companies are CEOs that are not only worth millions of dollars, but have seen much success throughout their careers.

From the team at Academic Influence comes this fascinating visualization that looks at which colleges and universities that have the most alumni as CEOs of Fortune 500 companies.

Click below to zoom

Which universities have the most alumni now working as CEOs?

According to the research by the team at Academic Influence, it was found that these were colleges and universities that had at least ten alumni who were now the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies.

1. Harvard University: 41
2. University of Pennsylvania: 23
3. Stanford University: 22
4. Northwestern University: 20
5. Columbia University: 18
6. University of Chicago: 15
7. University of Michigan: 12
8. Cornell University: 10
9. Dartmouth University: 10
10. University of Virginia: 10

Founded in 1936, Harvard University is one of the most prestigious universities in the entire world. Due to the university’s illustrious history, it’s no surprise that they take claim to having the most alumni who are now in prominent positions as CEOs. Per the research from Academic Influence, it was found that of the 41 alumni who are now serving as CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, 35 of them had completed graduate programs at Harvard University. Some of the more notable companies that includes this alumni as CEOs today include Amazon (Andy Jassy), JPMorgan Chase (Jamie Dimon), Citigroup (Jane Fraser), Prudential Financial (Charles F. Lowrey), McDonald’s (Chris Kempczinski), Mastercard (Michael Miebach) and Kellogg (Steve Cahillane).

This visualization also includes several interesting points of data, in particular listing out what the most common undergraduate degree programs were of Fortune 500 CEOs. Leading this ranking was engineering degrees, where 96 of the CEOs included had, with the breakdown of engineering degrees including studies in mechanical engineering (26), electrical engineering (23), chemical engineering (17), unspecified engineering (12), industrial engineering (6), civil engineering (5), petroleum engineering (3) and other types of engineering (17).

Per their research, here were the nine most common undergraduate degrees of Fortune 500 CEOs.

1. Engineering: 96
2. Economics: 59
3. Business administration: 40
4. Accounting: 36
5. Finance: 12
6. Computer science: 11
7. Marketing: 9
8. Political science: 8
9. Mathematics: 8

Do you need shoes? Zappos! Do you need prescriptions? PillPack! Do you need organic produce? Whole Foods! Do you need home security? Ring! Do you want to stream games to your friends or make money? Twitch! Do you want to listen to audiobooks while you walk your dog? Audible! Do you need dog food for that dog? Wag! Do you want to read book reviews? Goodreads! Do you want to read movie reviews? IMDb! You may be surprised to learn that all of these companies operate under one leader: Amazon. Take a look at this eye-opening chart by SMB Compass exploring everything that Amazon owns.

Click below to zoom

Amazon has been making bold acquisitions from the get-go and has infiltrated practically every market. Amazon’s most recent acquisition was of MGM Holdings in 2021 for a hefty price tag of $8.45 billion. You may recognize MGM by its renowned roaring lion, which is now a fitting representation of Amazon’s retail domination. Amazon’s biggest acquisition was in 2017 when it purchased Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion, igniting its venture into the grocery industry. Since then, Amazon has given Whole Foods delivery “wings” – customers can order groceries and receive them in as little as two hours! In 2014, Amazon acquired live-streaming platform Twitch for $970 million, which many were shocked about at the time. It was a smart move considering the video game industry continues to grow, earn passionate fans, and influence society as a whole.