5 Surprising Facts About Exxon Mobil

Exxon is working on developing ways to capture carbon dioxide emitted from refineries and power plants. It also has invested in projects like removing carbon dioxide from natural gas and putting it back into the earth. Exxon has long been a target of environmental activists, and the oil giant is under investigation by the New York Attorney General for allegedly misleading the public and investors about the risks of climate change.

When the Ebola outbreak hit Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, Exxon provided experts, materials and equipment, personal protective gear, and vehicles to the Nigerian government. The company also sent a six-person team from Baylor College of Medicine to help train Nigerian public health officials and others on how to prevent and treat the deadly virus.

Rubbing alcohol was the first commercial petrochemical, meaning the first mass-produced substance obtained from petroleum and natural gas. Initially produced by Jersey Standard, part of Standard Oil, in 1920, the product was first used for industrial processes. The company changed its name to Exxon in 1972.

The Wright brothers used Exxon Mobil fuel and lubricants for their historic first flight at Kitty Hawk, N.C. Amelia Earhart used Mobil oil for her solo flight across the Atlantic, as did Charles Lindberg, and Pan American Airways used Exxon Mobil to fuel its first trans-Atlantic Boeing 707 flight from New York to London.

Tillerson sees the Common Core, a government initiative aimed at boosting the educational performance of American youth, as a "business imperative." The company ran a commercial during the Masters golf tournament, touting Common Core as "unlocking a better way to prepare our children for college and careers."