Kelly Johnson designed the Blackbird, a plane that flew non-stop from London to Los Angeles in less than four hours, outracing the sun and landing four hours before it had taken off, a remarkable feat--and this was more than 35 years ago. Johnson was the innovative genius behind Lockheed's "Skunk Works," and played a leading role in the development of more than forty aircraft, including some of America's most sophisticated planes. In 2003, as part of its commemoration of the 100th a...

Biographical profile of EstéeLauder who combined charm, gall and a ferocious ambition to create one of the great empires in cosmetics and perfumes. Estéee was never able to shed her roots in Queens, NY, and perhaps this is what made her such a successful entrepreneur, one who mingled and rubbed elbows with heads of state, celebrities and royalty while making her way to star status and becoming a billionaire.She was as outrageous as she was brilliant, a marketing and sales genius who understoo...

Mary Kay Ash is the quintessential example of a Phoenix rising from the ashes. After 10 years at World Gift Co., a direct sales organization, Ash resigned when an underling she had trained was promoted ahead of her--because he was a male. Ash, a 45-year-old unemployed divorcee with three children, was at her nadir. But a few months later, she formed what is now known as Mary Kay Inc., a cosmetics company that grew into a behemoth with current annual revenues in excess of 2.4 billion. And she ...

Biogrphical profile of one of America's most intriguing financiers, a man who made a fortune on Wall Street as a speculator. As to his chosen path, he said: "I am a speculator; and I make no apologies for it. The word comes from the Latin speculari -- to observe. I observe." Dispensing advice from his "office" at Lafayette Park across from the White House or at Central Park in New York, Baruch became a confidante or adviser to American presidents from Woodrow Wilson to Jack Kennedy. He w...

Biographical profile of Ransom E. Olds, regarded as the first of the great American automobile pioneers. He not only sold the first car manufactured in America, his company was also the first of the great automobile enterprises, a model and training ground for the Dodge brothers, Henry Ford, Henry Leland (founder of Cadillac and Lincoln), and other automotive trailblazers. His first horseless carriage, a vehicle made of whitewood and oak, resting on three steel-tired buggy wheels, steered by ...

Biographical profile of Andrew Carnegie, one of the wealthiest American tycoons of the Gilded Age, the late 19th century when America's moguls amassed great fortunes and lived extravagant lifestyles. Countless books and articles refer to Carnegie as a "robber baron." A few hail him as one of America's greatest industrialists and philanthropists, a man who gave away more than 300 million before his death in 1919 -- 90 percent of his fortune -- and much of the balance after his death....

Biographical profile of Benjamin Franklin, the most famous and highly regarded American in Europe during colonial times and the Revolutionary War. One of the Founding Fathers, Franklin was instrumental in virtually every phase of the birth, creation and establishment of the United States. However, Franklin was a man of many talents, a true American Leonardo da Vinci who excelled in many fields. His printing and publishing business made him independently wealthy. A man of wit and charm, he was...

In 1928 William Paley, son of one of the nation's largest cigar producers, purchased United Independent Broadcasters Inc., a collection of 16 radio stations. He renamed it the Columbia Broadcasting System and built it into one of the nation's largest radio networks before turning to television. Although NBC had the largest networks, Paley focused on providing his stations, first for radio and subsequently for television, with unique programming and top talent. He turned to public af...

On Jan. 2, 1910, leading aviators from around the globe converged on Dominguez Hills near Los Angeles for the Los Angeles Air Meet. During the 10-day event, 226,000 spectators saw a dazzling display of airplanes and flight. Many world records were shattered; one pilot soared to 4,164 feet, while Glenn Curtiss hit a blistering 55 mph with a passenger on board. The planes so fascinated one onlooker, 29-year-old William Edward Boeing, that he left a lucrative business and embarked on a new caree...

Biographical profile of one of America's iconic automobile pioneers, Walter Chrysler, a man Time magazine described as a "doctor of sick automobile companies." The Chrysler Building in New York, topped by its world-famous art deco tower, an enduring symbol of America's industrial evolution, is also a standing tribute to its namesake. Walter Chrysler was a monumental pioneer in the automobile industry, helping Buick, General Motors, Willys and Maxwell survive before starting his own ...

Biographical profile of America's first millionaire, John Jacob Astor, a German immigrant who arrived in Manhattan with five English pounds in his pocket and amassed ownership of large swaths of Manhattan en route to becoming the largest and wealthiest landholder in New York. Astor established a major fur trading firm that extended its operations across the nation, helping blaze the Oregon Trail. He founded Astoria in 1811, the first American settlement on the West Coast. His ships cross...

Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson were staunch opponents of a national bank. When President Jackson let the charter of the second bank lapse after 20 years it left the nation unprepared and powerless to respond quickly or effectively to major economic declines or emergencies. J. Pierpont Morgan became America's central bank initiating monetary policies that saved the nation from a severe depression on more than one occasion. During the Panic of 1907 Pierpont called a meeting of all the l...