American Business
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History of Opportunity Cost: Be careful what you choose
In the late 19th century the Austrian economist Friedrich von Wieser is credited with conceiving and formalizing the concept of “opportunity cost”. Source Example: A good example of opportunity costs is in the synaptic pruning of our brain. From birth to age three the brain rapidly grows, increasing our synapses from approximately 2,500 to 15,000. However, by the time we reach adulthood, that number is cut in half. The reason for this reduction? As we gain new experiences, some brain connections are strengthened, while those we neglect are reduced or eliminated. The reality is, for everyone, that you cannot have it all; at least not everything all at once. Each…
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The “Hustle and Bustle”: an old saying associated with the Industrial Revolution
The phrase “hustle and bustle” originated in the 19th century. The Dutch word “hutselen” means “to shake”, while the word “bustle”, stemming from the Old English word “bersten”, means to act vigorously. The combined words represent an atmosphere of lively activity and movement. The pace of life was dramatically transformed by a revolution of industry that introduced amazing innovation; a life filled with “hustle and bustle”. What once was a slow and routine life of chores on the farm, became, seemingly overnight for many, a change in density of people and an introduction of diversity and invention like never before. The migration into cities between 1880 and 1900 in America…
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Industrial Revolution: A Different Way of Life
Before the Industrial Revolution, people worked in small-scale businesses. The two primary and predominant examples, are farming and artisan handicrafts. Those social structures had basically remained unchanged, since the Middle Ages. Life was lived in small to medium sized villages. Travel beyond a person’s village was rare. Then, during the middle decades of the 18th century, Britain and other European countries saw a rise in their population. In order to serve this increased number of people, a gradual transformation from villages and small-scale production into a large, mechanized system of higher productivity took place. Read more about this transformative time in history: Source: National Geographic
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First March On Washington
The first march on Washington took place during what is referred to as The Gilded Age. A time period in American history spanning the years from 1870-1898 characterized by “economic inequality and technological innovation; conspicuous consumption and philanthropy; monopolistic power and populist rebellion”. A businessman from Ohio, Jacob Coxey, led the march consisting of unemployed men, Coxey’s Army, beginning with 100 men on March 25, 1894 in Massillon, Ohio. Gilded is not the same as golden. Gilded means having a thin gold coating. Read more about how the original Gilded Age is repeated in history. source: USA Today
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One of the Largest Financial Frauds in United States History
Bernie Madoff was at once family man, trusted friend, business success story, and one of the most notorious Ponzi Scheme Kingpins in history. His scheme devastated the lives of thousands including his own family. By all appearances the Madoffs were to be envied. They flew in private jets living the high life of luxury, but the stability of their American Dream was fragile built upon the shifty foundation of fraud. The decades long gig was finally up, when Madoff was arrested on December 11, 2008. He was surprised by the FBI in the early morning hours, while still dressed in his pajamas. Upon hearing the big confession his sons did not wait,…
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History of Smiley Face
The Smiley Face symbol’s origin was in 1963. It was created by graphic artist Harvey Ross Ball in Worcester, Massachusetts. Charles Ball Founder of Harvey Ball World Smile Foundation
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Kodak Founder George Eastman
George Eastman was not the inventor of the camera. His genius was in making the less than ideal camera that he first worked with as a bank employee at the age of 24 in 1878 better. Its awkward size was like a “soap box“. He made it smaller and introduced a compact rolled film with gelatin on a strip of paper. He innovated a new camera named the Kodak (1888). Source
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IBM’s Launch of Personal Computer Model 5150
Researching the history of the personal computer reveals how far along we have come, since IBM launched its first personal computer, model 5150, on August 12, 1981. It was an extravagant affair held at the New York Waldorf Astoria Hotel. The New York Times’ article in August of 1981, NEXT, A COMPUTER ON EVERY DESK, boasted of a “second generation of machines” with the ability to, “…use microprocessors capable of handling 16 ”bits,” or units of information, at the same time, twice the processing power of existing 8-bit machines. ” At 21 pounds and costing $1,565 the 5150 was a great success having much to do with a big advertising push that moved the…
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Napoleon Hill: Habits of Success
It was the late 19th century, during the industrial revolution, a time when some men made riches well beyond the average American, that Andrew Carnegie made his great wealth in the steel industry. A philanthropist he funded an important and influential project that would take 20 years to complete. The 1908 Carnegie funded project was conducted by Napoleon Hill. Napoleon interviewed hundreds of men based on their common defining factor of great power and success in the world. He compiled his data and extrapolated from it a list of common core principles. He proposed that if you follow the laws of success that great men held to, you too could succeed in a significantly large scale manner.…
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Henry Ford and the Assembly Line
It was on this day in history, December 1, 1913, that Henry Ford introduced us to the mass production of the American automobile. Ford installed the first moving assembly line that succeeded in mass producing all the parts necessary to make a complete car. His inspiration was modeled after the continuous-flow methods that were used in the production of flour, beer, canned goods and also seen in Chicago’s meat-packing plants. However, the concept had its origin several hundred years prior in Venice’s ship building industry, where they used pre-made parts and an assembly line. The Venice Arsenal factory managed to produce nearly a ship a day! It is the first…
