He Was Born Poor John Jacob Astor was one of the great industrialists of his era. Born in Germany in 1763, under the name Johann Jakob Astor, he moved to England at the age of 16. Here he Anglicized his name and began working for a piano manufacturer. Though born into a poor family he […]

Ted Turner is one of America’s best known and most accomplished business people. Best known as the founder of CNN, he revolutionized the news media business. It’s been said that not since the days of William Randolph Hurst has one man had such an impact on the news. Ted Turner is a larger than life […]

Who Was Will Keith Kellogg? Will Keith Kellogg is best known as the founder of the Kellogg company, usually referred to as Kellogg’s. From scratch he built a small business selling rudimentary breakfast cereal like Corn Flakes. From such humble beginnings he watch as the company grew rapidly, making his vastly wealthy in the process. […]

Who Was Edsel Ford? Edsel Ford was the only child of the American Industrialist and founder of the Ford Motor Company, Henry Ford. Because of this no one was surprised when he eventually took over as leader of the company. From a young age he was introduced to the workings of the business, holding multiple […]

Welcome To Newfoundland And Labrador Before we get to the biggest company in Newfoundland and Labrador you should first know something about the state. Newfoundland and Labrador is one of Canada’s more interesting provinces. Consisting of the island of Newfoundland and the mainland territory of Labrador, it seems an odd pairing. More than 90 percent […]

Welcome To Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is Canada’s second smallest province, only beaten out by the tiny Prince Edward Island. But despite being small, the land itself is complex, comprising more than 3 thousand islands off the coast of it’s mainland. Don’t be fooled by it’s size though. Nova Scotia’s geographic position has made it […]

Welcome To Wisconsin Admitted to the union in 1848, Wisconsin is among America’s most northern states. She is known for her physical features – large lakes, glaciers, and mountains. Because of this, and her fierce winters, Scandinavian settlers often thrived here while other Europeans struggled. Still today Wisconsin boasts a significant population of Scandinavian descent. […]

Welcome To Virginia Named after Queen Elizabeth I, Virginia is among the oldest and most interesting states. From the very beginning the colony of Virginia grew vastly wealthy, but settlers struggled to make advantage of this natural wealth. Many colonial companies were forced into bankruptcy. An example is the London Company, which was responsible for […]

Welcome To South Carolina Named after King Charles I, South Carolina has a long and grand history. In those days North and South Carolina were part of one single gigantic colony of the British empire. Georgia, Tennessee, and part of Florida also made up the colony of Carolina. Due to her size Carolina was divided […]

Welcome To Rhode Island Rhode Island is not exactly a giant of commerce. In fact, it’s not a giant of anything, literally being the smallest US state by land area. Yet she is home to more than a million people, making her the second most densely populated state in the union. It’s large population is […]

Welcome To Pennsylvania Pennsylvania was named after a man called William Penn, an English colonial who settled the area in the late 1600s. The land was actually granted to him by the king of England in order to repay a debt the crown owed the Penn family. It was among the largest land grants in […]

Welcome To Oregon Oregon has a long been seen as a wilderness. Settled by farmers in the 1800s, most knew it only as a land needed to be crossed to reach more wealthy areas like California or Washington. In those days it was but an unorganized territory. Much has changed since Oregon officially became a […]

Welcome To North Dakota Like it’s more southern sister, North Dakota was named after a native American people. Today North Dakota is one of America’s least populous states, with a population less than 800 thousand. In fact the state’s largest city is literally called Fargo. Still, the state’s low population is why it has the […]

Welcome To North Carolina One of the oldest of all American states, North Carolina was named after the king of England, Charles I. For the first few decades of existence the state grew quickly. A slave state, her economy was deeply routed in the plantation system, much like Mississippi or Louisiana. This way of running […]

Welcome To New Jersey New Jersey isn’t exactly one of the larger American states, covering less than 9 thousand square miles. In fact, she is actually the fourth smallest. Yet despite it’s size, New Jersey is home to more millionaires per capita than any other state. This is partly due to her proximity to New […]

Welcome To New Hampshire New Hampshire is among the smaller states, ranking just 46th in terms of land area, and 41st in terms of population. But New Hampshire boasts a long and rich history. She was the first state to establish it’s own constitution. Slowly over the initial centuries of United States history, New Hampshire […]

Welcome To Nevada Go back a few centuries and no one expected Nevada to be a wealthy or populous state. Sure, there was a gold rush in the 1800s, as there was in many other parts of the old west. But that alone could not change the fact that Nevada is mostly baron desert. In […]

Welcome To Missouri Missouri is middle America defined, laying almost precisely in the center of this nation. For generations it has been an important stopping point for settlers heading west. In fact the Oregon trail, the California trail, and the Santa Fe trail all started in this state. So it’s no wonder why Missouri is […]

Welcome To Mississippi Named after one of our world’s greatest natural rivers, this state was admitted to the union in 1817. In short time she grew to be an incredibly prosperous region, being America’s top cotton producer. Countless great fortunes were built in Mississippi during this period. While the cotton industry has certainly fallen over […]

Welcome To Minnesota Minnesota is known to many as the “Land of a thousand Lakes”. There are no bonus points for guessing how it came to be known as this. But strangely it’s actually a low estimate. Minnesota really has more than 11 thousand lakes! But Minnesota is not just lakes. Much of the land […]