May 14 1998: Last episode of Seinfeld airs on NBC. Commercials are offered at $2M for 30 seconds. Seinfeld was slow to gain a following when it first aired on NBC July 5, 1989 but by its sixth season it was number one in the Nielsen ratings. It ran for nine seasons; the final episode was Read More …
May 1, 1931: The Empire State Building opens in New York City, standing as the tallest building in the skyline for 40 years. It is now the fifth tallest building in the United States and the 28th tallest building in the world. Opening during the Great Depression, the building has been a part of many Read More …
Nov. 21, 1995: The Dow Jones industrial average closed at 5,023.55, surpassing 5,000 for the first time. Although it took from 1972-1995 for the Dow to move from 1000 to 5000, the next few years saw a rapid rise with the Dow increasing to 10,000 in 1999. The Dow Jones Averages, 1885-1995, by Phillis S. Read More …
November 14, 1904: King C Gillette patented the Gillette razor blade. This disposable razor was the first safe alternative to the straight razor, which usually required visiting a barber. By selling the replaceable razor blade along with the permanent handle, King established a successful business model still used in razor sales today. King founded the Read More …
November 6, 1861: James Naismith, credited with inventing the game of basketball, was born in Almonte, Ontario, Canada. He created the game in 1891 at a YMCA, and later went on to found the University of Kansas basketball program. Years later, he helped bring basketball at the 1936 Summer Olympic Games. While there, he presented Read More …
October 31, 1993: After New York City had hosted a “Press Week” for fifty years where different designers showed in diverse venues throughout the city, in October 1993 for the first time all the shows took place in a single location under tents in Bryant Park and was called Seventh on Sixth. Now called, New York Read More …
October 16, 1923: Walt Disney and M. J. Winkler sign an agreement for Disney to produce a series called “Alice Comedies.” Five years before the existence of Mickey Mouse, this date is considered to be the founding of The Disney Brothers Studio. A few years later, in January of 1926, the company would change names to Walt Read More …
September 12, 1950: The Pennsylvania Insurance Department approves the Insurance Company of North America’s request to go to market with a new “package” that allowed homeowners to insure their properties against multiple risks including fire, theft, storms, explosions, and vandalism, rather than the multiple policies required previously. This innovation saved customers over 20% and has become the standard in Read More …
September 11, 2001: September sadly marks the 16th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Being a working day, many lives were lost at businesses in the two towers. The financial firm Cantor Fitzgerald lost the most with the demise of two-thirds of its 960 employees. It had offices on floors just above Read More …
August 12, 1920: On this day, Charles Ponzi was arrested on 86 counts of mail fraud and went down in infamy for his expansive investment scheme, which became known as a “Ponzi Scheme.” After working many odd jobs and spending a few years in jail for crimes such as check forging and smuggling Italian immigrants across Read More …
