America has always been a nation of tinkerers. Our Founding Fathers, notes author Alec Foege, were innovators in areas ranging from agriculture (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson) and electricity (Benjamin Franklin) to the swivel chair (Jefferson). …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
By Alex Planes, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
On this day in economic and business history …
James Cash Penney opened his first store, one of a chain known as “the Golden Rule,” in Kemmerer, Wyo., on April 13, 1902. Penney originally operated the store in partnership with two other entrepreneurs, but Penney proved the more dedicated of the three partners, and within five years the others had sold their interests and Penney was in sole control of three Golden Rule stores. Within a decade, there were nearly three dozen stores scattered across the Rocky Mountain states, and it was time for a new name for the business: J.C. Penney , named after the man who built it.
J.C. Penney grew rapidly throughout the western half of the United States and had more than 1,400 stores in 1929, just before the stock market meltdown. Unfortunately for James Penney, the crash of 1929 destroyed much of his wealth, and the economic effect of the Great Depression was such that he had to borrow against life insurance policies just to meet J.C. Penney’s payroll. Penney (the man and the company) survived the Depression and grew again, but it took a toll on the health of both. James Cash Penney wound up checking into the Battle Creek Sanitarium — the birthplace of Kellogg , where the highly religious Dr. John Harvey Kellogg attempted to cure his patients with boring food — to recover from the stress of nearly losing everything. That was the end of his corporate leadership, but James Penney remained chairman of the board until after World War II and would serve as an honorary chairman until his death in 1971.
J.C. Penney is also notable, beyond its leading role in American retail, for its formative imprint on Sam Walton. The Wal-Mart founder’s first job following his college graduation was as a management trainee in an Iowa J.C. Penney store. Penney’s focus on maximizing the value of customers’ visits and their purchases remain clear in Wal-Mart’s corporate focus to this day. By the time Walton opened his first Wal-Mart in 1962, J.C. Penney was already truly national — it had opened a store in Alaska that year, and its first Hawaiian location would open four years later. A decade later, J.C. Penney had more than 2,000 stores across the country. This was “Peak Penney,” and the company has never been quite as large, or quite as important to the American economy, since.
The roots of American insurance
A number of prominent Philadelphia citizens and businessmen came together on April 13, 1752, to form the Philadelphia Contributionship, the first property insurance company in the United States. As with many other important developments in early American history, this one owed its genesis to Benjamin Franklin, who had founded Philadelphia’s first volunteer fire brigade in 1736 and saw a clear benefit to insuring the properties that might eventually
From: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/04/13/jc-penneys-been-a-survivor-before/
A tiny hymnal from 1640 believed to be the first book ever printed in what is now the United States is going up for auction, and it could sell for as much as $30 million.
Only 11 copies of the Bay Psalm Book survive in varying degrees of completeness. Members of Boston’s Old South Church have authorized the sale of one of its two copies at Sotheby’s Nov. 26.
“It’s a spectacular book, arguably one of the most important books in this nation’s history,” said the Rev. Nancy Taylor, senior minister and CEO of the church, which was established in 1669. Samuel Adams was a member and Benjamin Franklin was baptized there.
At one time, the church owned five copies of the 6-by-5-inch hymnal. One is now at the Library of Congress, another at Yale University and a third at Brown University.
Taylor says the church voted to sell one of its two remaining copies– both in “excellent condition” — to increase its grants, ministries and “strengthen our voice in general as a progressive Christian church.”
The book was published in Cambridge, Mass., by the Puritan leaders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. It came just 20 years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth.
The hymnal was supposed to be a faithful translation into English of the original Hebrew psalms — puritans believed selected paraphrases would compromise their salvation. The 1,700 copies were printed on a press shipped over from London.
A yellowed title page, adorned with decorative flourishes, reads: “The Whole Booke of Psalmes, Faithfully Translated into English Metre.” At the bottom, it says: “Imprinted 1640.”
Historians believe an almanac may have come off the press before the Bay Psalm Book. But Mark Dimunation, chief of rare books and special collections at the Library of Congress, says the almanac was more of a pamphlet or a broadsheet rather than a book. No copy of the almanac exists today. He notes that in the Americas, in general, books were printed in what is now Mexico as early as 1539.
The Bay Psalm Book is “an iconic piece. It’s the beginning of literate America,” said Dimunation. “American poetry, American spirituality and the printed page all kind of combine and find themselves located in a single volume.”
“But there’s also something much more modest and humble about this piece, which makes its survival all the most extraordinary,” he said, noting that the hymnals were utilitarian books that were subjected to a lot of wear and tear.
The last time a copy came on the auction block in 1947, it sold for a record auction price of $151,000. At the time, it surpassed auction prices for the Gutenberg Bible, Shakespeare’s First Folio and John James Audubon’s “Birds of America.”
From: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/national/~3/PD243xJzC3Y/
By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
Arrow’s Brand Campaign Highlights Innovation’s Role as Key Economic Driver
Global technology company launches thought leadership and brand campaign
ENGLEWOOD, Colo.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Celebrating the impact that innovation has on improving daily life, Arrow Electronics Inc. (NYS: ARW) today announced a multifaceted, multichannel awareness effort designed to promote the company’s leading position in the electronics supply chain and distribution industry and its communities.
Launched with a series of television advertisements broadcast nationally on the CBS television network during the NCAA Division I men’s basketball semifinals on April 6 and continuing with placements during tonight’s championship game, the overall campaign will span national business media, industry vertical publications and social media. The campaign targets the full spectrum of company stakeholder audiences, including Arrow’s customers, partners, employees, investors and communities. The advertising highlights the role innovation plays in driving global economic markets and growth.
“For more than 75 years, Arrow has helped guide innovation for thousands of companies across multiple industries around the world, and it’s time to tell that story,” said Richard Kylberg, vice president of corporate communications and global marketing for Arrow. “This multifaceted campaign acknowledges the expertise, knowledge and innovative spirit of our employees, customers, suppliers and partners. The campaign aligns with Arrow’s focus on expanding into global markets, attracting the best talent and driving technology to inspire the next generation of courageous innovators to look five years out and create smart solutions that explore the boundaries of what’s possible and deliver what’s practical.”
The campaign builds on Arrow’s “Five Years Out” brand platform, the creative expression of Arrow’s unique vantage point across the entire technology landscape and ability to see trends long before they appear on the market. The campaign showcases innovators who make the world a better place by featuring renowned innovators such as Thomas Edison, Leonardo DaVinci, Benjamin Franklin and the Wright Brothers using present-day technological innovations such as mobile devices, solid-state lighting and cloud computing, and speculating about technology innovations yet to appear on the market.
Through approximately 25 acquisitions over the past three years, Arrow has expanded its portfolio to provide comprehensive support for the complete lifecycle of electronic components and enterprise computing solutions. The company’s product lifecycle services support the reverse logistics and end-of-life management arenas, among others.
The Innovators Club …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
By Maura Pennington, Contributor President Obama announced yesterday that he will voluntarily forfeit 5% of his salary because why should he be paid in full when the rest of the government underwent the slight trim of the sequester? What a benevolent gesture of unabashedly vacant political posturing. Before the White House pats itself on the back for yet another banal move to prove the executive understands what it’s like to be a real person in an age of austerity, they should reflect that the Constitutional Convention was not even unanimously in favor of paying the president in the first place. Though he was alone on the issue, Benjamin Franklin believed that federal officials should serve without a salary. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
By HistoryNet Staff The three-piece suit Benjamin Franklin wore while ambassador to France was called this.
Part 4 of IGN‘s video walkthrough for Assassin’s Creed 3: Tyranny of King Washington: The Betrayal. Return to Sender 100% Synch. Connor must steal a note for Benjamin Franklin in order to learn of the meeting spot. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at IGN Video Games
Part 3 of IGN‘s video walkthrough for Assassin’s Creed 3: Tyranny of King Washington: The Betrayal. Dive Bomb. Connor sets out to assassinate Benjamin Franklin. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at IGN Video Games
Merriam-Webster defines a Statesman as a “wise, skillful, and respected political leader.” The same dictionary describes a politician as “a person experienced in the art or science of government.” It also gives the definition: “a person engaged in conducting the business of a government.”
When we think of a President today, who do we think of? Our first thought may well come towards our current President. Or we may think of JFK, or Ronald Reagan, or Franklin Roosevelt. But if we are honest with ourselves, what exactly comes to our minds when we think of our current President? Could it be intimidation, class-warfare, or an iron fist of demands that must “take place or else”? The problem with our current President is that he wasn’t elected to be President. What came to be, as a result of the media outlets and the entertainment industry, is the election of “Hollywood” to be our leader. Not Hollywood in the real sense of the word such as film, actors, movies, and film producers, but a political celebrity.
Now, when we look in our wallets and pull out a dollar bill, does anyone take the time to think about the face on that bill? It is a man we refer to as the “Father of our Country,” George Washington. Our first President was not the intellectual beast that graced such men as Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, or James Madison. As a matter of fact, Washington’s educational background was minimal with no more than maybe five years of formal education, with the rest of his learning occurring through his mother and self-teaching. He didn’t come across as a particularly affectionate man; and according to the Catholic Exchange, he spoke little in public meetings and “lacked the charisma of many of his successors. Defeating the British with his ragtag army was an impressive feat, but he was not a traditional military hero. He won no spectacular victories during the Revolutionary War. Although he is widely admired as an outstanding president, few of his policies were stupendous successes.”
What was it that set this leader aside from most leaders in America during his day? His character and statesmanship was what gained respect from those who far exceeded Washington in so many areas, including intellect. He was a master at mastering self-control. Washington wrote to his friend and aide de camp Alexander Hamilton: “I hope I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain (what I consider the most enviable of all titles) the character of an honest man.”
Though he was not a master of great military exploits, he was nonetheless a master of himself. Virtue and character were the great President’s high marks as nothing was more profound than when he resigned as Commander and Chief of the Continental Army and then declining a third term as President of the United States. Keep in mind that this man could very easily have ran a third, a fourth, and a fifth term; and every time, Washington would’ve received a perfect electoral vote. Every time! Does anyone feel the same could be said of the most “cool and hip” President of this generation? Voting for a leader should never be based on race, which is something the milquetoast G.O.P needs to get through their thick skulls. But if it must, hypothetically speaking, please consider Allen West. Because if there is one thing we all need to remember this upcoming President’s Day, it is that true leadership doesn’t rest with leaning on the backs of racist, misogynist “rap artists” but rather in the mastery of one’s character and virtue.
Photo Credit: OZinOH (Creative Commons)
By Maura Pennington, Contributor In July, I highlighted phrases that were cut from Thomas Jefferson’s rough draft of the Declaration of Independence. He penned an original line about breaking ties with our British brethren that read: “be it so, since they will have it: the road to glory & happiness is open to us too; we will climb it in a separate state, and acquiesce in the necessity which pronounces our everlasting Adieu.” While florid prose can occasionally produce a stirring effect, it’s not such a bad thing that people like John Adams and the pithy Benjamin Franklin were standing by to edit such an important document.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
By Pat Brans, Contributor Benjamin Franklin (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Nearly three hundred years ago, Benjamin Franklin came up with an approach to changing habits that has yet to be surpassed. A young adult seeking to straighten out his act, Franklin developed a list of thirteen virtues, jotting down a brief definition of each. These were […]
Source: Forbes Latest
A housekeeper has pleaded guilty to a federal charge in the case of a bust of Benjamin Franklin taken from a home in suburban Philadelphia.
Forty-six-year-old Mobile, Ala., resident Andrea Lawton pleaded guilty Tuesday to interstate transportation of stolen property for allegedly fleeing with the bust to Alabama in August. Prosecutors allege she had made plans to sell it.
Defense attorney Martin Isenberg says his client made a mistake. A second charge was dismissed as part of a plea agreement; she faces up to 10 years in prison.
Police allege Lawton stole the bust from a home in Bryn Mawr because she had been fired. She allegedly told police it was valuable and wanted to get her boss fired.
Isenberg says the bust was damaged, but there is debate over how much it is worth.
Source: Fox US News
