Monkey Trial, squared off against the legendary defense attorney
Clarence Darrow.
7
DR. DAVID STARR JORDAN David Starr Jordan (1851-1931) was the world’s foremost scientific authority on fish. He named more than species of the finny creatures. In his later career (after his tenure as Stanford’s
president, he served as chief director of the World Peace
Foundation.
7
DANIEL WILLARD In addition to his railroad responsibilities,
Daniel Willard (1861-1942) served
as a member of the Board ofVisitors of the US. Naval Academy and as chairman of the War
Industries Board in 1917.
7
KING GILLETTE On one of his trips as
a traveling hardware salesman, King Camp Gillette (1855-1932) was advised by some wag to invent something that would be used and thrown away Such an idea—a thin double-edged steel razor blade secured in a T-handle—
flashed into his mind while he was honing a permanent straightedge razor. In 1903 he sold 51 razors and 168 blades. By the end of his American Safety Razor Company (later the Gillette Company) had sold 90,000 razors and 12.4 million blades.
7
JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER John D. Rockefeller’s (Standard Oil Company dominated the oil industry and was America’s first great business trust. His near monopoly in oil led directly to the passage of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. By 1910 Rockefeller’s fortune was equal to almost 2.5 percent of the entire US. economy—
about $250 billion in today’s dollars. In 1911 the courts broke up
Standard Oil into several huge companies—Standard
Oil of NewJersey (Esso, then EXXON, Standard Oil of New York (Socony, then
Mobil), Standard Oil of California (Chevron, Standard Oil of Indiana
(Amoco,
then part of BP, and Standard Oil of Ohio. His donations made possible the founding of the University of Chicago, Rockefeller
University, and the Rockefeller Foundation. He gave away million to philanthropic
causes during his lifetime, and his total charitable gifts, together with those of his son John D. Jr, amounted to billion by 1955 (approximately $17 billion in today’s dollars).
