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What do you need to know about business greats
* The Tobacco Industrialist Washington Duke (1820-1905)- the
personal life of this farmer from North Carolina was a sad story
for both his wife and son died of the same disease. Adding to
the disaster, his cotton crop too failed at the same time. Btu
Duke did not let this stop himself from proceeding in life. His
life was full of struggle he even became a prisoner of war
during the Civil War. Finally the big break that changed his
entire life came when he manufactured the popular product
'tobacco'. The Union Army that was staying in the North Carolina
had a great liking for tobacco. Duke's manufactured tobacco
which came to be known as 'Pro Bono Publico' was a brilliant
sensation that won the heart of all the tobacco lovers very
soon. Later Duke also manufactures cigarettes under the name of
his company W. Duke, Sons and Company which too was a big hit.
* The inventor of the reaper Cyrus McCormick (1809-1884) has his
own place in the B-world. McCormick was the son of a blacksmith
who had influenced and helped the people of Shenandoah Valley
with his exuberant skill in making agricultural devices. The
father made the reaping machine that the son modified extremely
and took it to places. The McCormick's designed inventor was a
huge success at his birth place and even when he went abroad.
McCormick went to Chicago in 1847 where he opened a factory
named the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company. The factory
scaled new heights despite massive competition. McCormick's
device that he had invented and built drastically shrunk the
labor and time required to produce grain. Where in 1830 it used
to take 20 hours to harvest an acre of wheat, it took just one
hour to do so in 1895...all thanks to the great mind behind it-
McCormick.
* The industrialist Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) needs no
introduction in the business market. He was a man who had
strived hard against poverty during his childhood. He worked as
a bobbin boy and as a telegrapher and also as a superintendent
for the Pennsylvania Railroad. His petite savings that hye
invested in oil, iron and steel during the Civil War fetched him
a turning point in his life. in 1880 Carnegie had brought a lot
of companies under the Carnegie Steel Company. By 1990 this
company produced a fourth of all the steel in United States.
Known to be one of the richest men of the world then, Carnegie
believed that rich men act as trustees to their wealth and they
must administer it in the favor of the public.
* Thomas Edison (1847-1931) perhaps is unknown to none and has
his own coveted place in the history. Edison was the man who had
about 1100 inventions in his name that have unbeatable use in
the world today and then. The man who spent few hours in school,
worked as a railroad newsboy was the first to start of a
publication typeset and printed on a moving train. The other
inventions added to his list are an electronic vote recorder in
1868, quadruplex telegraph in 1874, phonograph, light bulb and a
Dictaphone to name a few. But many of these were mere
improvements on what a team or so had manufactured and at times
he helped others in creating devices. For instance the
Dictaphone, working motion picture system that synchronized
pictures with sound and the stock ticker were prepared by others
under the help and guidance of Edison. He also formed a company
that later became General Electric.
* Apart from these the glorious men like George Eastman, Henry
Ford, Madam C.J Walker, Joseph Pulitzer and many others have
made significant contributions that has greatly helped mankind
every now and then
About the author:
Mansi gupta writes about business greats .