Business Birthdays and Anniversaries in March

BIRTHDAYS

• Mar 1, 1926 - Pete Rozelle: NFL commissioner from 1960 to 1989. Seeing the business potential in professional sports, he consolidated the AFL and NFL and created a cartel of equal revenue-earning teams.

• Mar 3, 1847 -  Alexander Graham Bell: Inventor of the telephone, refined Edison's phonograph, also developed first successful phonograph record and the audiometer.

• Mar 5, 1893 -  Emmett J. Culligan: Founder of the world's largest water treatment organization

• Mar 6, 1926 -  Alan Greenspan: Economist, former Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve of the United States.

• Mar 12, 1973 -  Larry Page: Co-founder with Sergy Brin of search giant Google. The two met at Stanford while they were PhD students in computer science.

• Mar 13, 1908 -  Walter Annenberg: Inherited Philadelphia Inquirer and founded many publications including Seventeen (1944) and TV Guide (1953).

• Mar 13, 1931 -  Herbert D. Kelleher: Founder of Southwest Airlines, low-cost, no frills and highly profitable carrier.

• Mar 14, 1879 -  Albert Einstein: Theoretical physicist best known for Theory of Relativity.

• Mar 18, 1909 -  Ernest Gallo: Founder with brother Julio of E & J Gallo Winery. The company achieved great success targeting the low end of the wine market.

• Mar 20, 1865 -  Frederick Winslow Taylor: "Father of Scientific Management", introduced time-and-motion studies to help companies find efficiencies in worker movement and drive out time wasting on assembly lines.

• Mar 22, 1924 -  Allen Neuharth: Created USA Today, now a national leading newspaper

• Mar 26, 1873 -  Condé Montrose Nast: Founder of Conde Nast publications, magazine publishing powerhouse that includes Vogue and Glamour

• Mar 29, 1918 -  Sam Walton: Founder of Wal-Mart discount stores. From a single store in Bentonville, Arkansas, Wal-Mart grew into the world’s largest retailer.

• Mar 31, 1927 -  Cesar Estrada Chavez: Labor leader who organized migrant farm workers, Chavez initiated the National Farm Workers Association in 1962.

• Mar 31, 1929 -  Elisabeth Claiborne: She worked in New York City as a designer for 25 years before founding her own company, Liz Claiborne, in 1976 with a vision to design clothing for working women. Her company joined the Fortune 500 list of the largest industrial companies only a decade later, one of the youngest companies ever to achieve this mark.

ANNIVERSARIES IN MARCH

• 1 - 1936: Hoover Dam completed. One of the seven man-made wonders of the world, it was originally called the Boulder Dam, but was renamed in honor of Hebert Hoover, the Secretary of Commerce during the critical planning stages of the project. The dam is 70 stories high and 660 feet thick. It required 4.4 million cubic yards of concrete – portions of the concrete are still curing. The dam holds back the Colorado River, creating Lake Mead, the largest man-made lake.

• 2 - 1925: The Federal Highway System standardizes road numbers and signs. “US Highway” signs are numbered sequentially from east to west and north to south. Principal routes end in “0” for east/west routes and “1” for north/south routes. Highways with 3 digits are branch highways or spur routes.

• 3 - 1923: Time Magazine first published. The first issue featured Joseph G. Cannon on the cover.

• 7 - 1933: Monopoly game invented by Charles Darrow, an unemployed salesman and inventor. When Darrow first attempted to interest Parker Brothers in producing the game, they rejected it, citing “52 fundamental errors.” Darrow hired a printer friend to make 5,000 copies and sold them through Philadelphia department stores. One of the Monopoly games was purchased by a friend of Sally Barton, daughter of Parker Brothers founder, George Parker, and wife of Parker Brothers president, Robert Barton. After hearing how much fun the game was, Mrs. Barton suggested that her husband buy a copy. Parker Brothers bought the rights to the game, which became a best seller, making Charles Darrow a millionaire, the first game inventor to make that much money.

• 8 - 1913: IRS begins to levy and collect income taxes. The 16th Amendment to the Constitution gives Congress the power to levy and collect taxes from individuals.

• 9 - 1959: “Barbie” doll debuts in stores. Created by Ruth Handler, the first Barbie wore a black and white striped swimsuit and a ponytail.

• 10 - 1876: First telephone transmission by Alexander Graham Bell, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Although his initial focus was on developing a multiple telegraph, Bell’s experiments led to the construction of a device that could transmit sound. Working with his assistant Watson, he transmitted the now-famous words, “Watson, come here: I want to see you.”

• 13 - 1974: Arab Oil embargo is lifted after 5 months. Begun in October 1973, the embargo resulted in skyrocketing oil, gasoline and electricity prices, oil and gasoline shortages and lines at gas pumps. In the U.S., drivers with odd-numbered license plates could purchase gas on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; drivers with even-numbered license plates could purchase gas on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. The crisis spurred a revolution in auto making, replacing the large cars of the 50s and 60s with more compact and energy-efficient models.

• 18 - 1931: First electric razor is marketed by Schick, Inc.

• 19 - 1918: US Standard Time Act is passed to establish time zones for the US. “Daylight Savings Time” is also established to save fuel and promote the economy. Standard time in time zones had been used by the railroads in the US and Canada since 1883 and had become more popular because of its practical advantages. The Standard Time act established the practice as law. Daylight savings time was repealed in 1919, and was not re-established nationally until early in World War II.

• 23 - 1953: IBM ships its first stored-program computer, the 701. It was shipped to the University of California at Los Alamos, New Mexico.

• 24 - 1989: Exxon Valdez Oil Spill at Prince William Sound. The largest in US history, the 11 million gallons of crude oil tested the abilities of local, national and industrial organizations to deal with the massive clean-up effort required.

• 25 - 1911: Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire in New York City kills 146 workers. A fire broke out on the top floors of the building. Many of the workers, mostly young women, were trapped on the ninth floor by a locked stairway door. Rather than burn, dozens jumped to their deaths. The fire became a turning point in labor history, bringing about health and safety laws

• 28 - 1979: Three Mile Island nuclear power plant accident. A malfunction in the cooling system led to the most serious commercial nuclear accident in US history and paved the way for reforms in the operation and regulation of the industry.

• 29 - 1951: UNIVAC I is installed at the Bureau of Census. The first commercial computer made in the US, it was designed by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly, the men behind ENIAC, the first electronic computer. A total of 46 UNIVAC I systems were eventually built and shipped.

• 30 - 1842: Anesthetic first used in surgery. Ether was first used by Crawford W. Long, a physician in rural Jefferson, Georgia. Ether was not widely used until after two Bostonians, a doctor and a dentist, also discovered its anesthetic properties and published a paper on it in 1846.

• 30 - 1858: First pencil with eraser top is patented by Hyman Lipman. Approximately 2 billion pencils are used in the U.S. per year. A single pencil can write up to 45,000 words, and will write upside down, under water and in zero gravity.

• 30 - 1878: Thomas Edison secures basic patent for a phonograph machine. He established the Edison Speaking Phonograph Company to sell the new machine.

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