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What do you need to know about business greats

Great men are born once in a while. Men are great not because

they are born with some attribute of greatness but their deeds

make them great and remarkable individuals in history. Such

people thus are not born overnight it takes one's whole lifetime

to achieve that success and fame that one only dreamt of. The

article throws light on some of the great men who brought

revolution in the business world. Their achievements not just

brought tremendous credit to their name but are largely

beneficial to the multitude.

* 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

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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 .