Marcia Israel-Curley (1920 - 2004)

Designer, Entrepeneur and Philantropist. Born Marcia Satz, she and her sisters and mother lost the family farm in Upstate New York during the Depression after her father abandoned the family. The women moved to New York’s Lower East Side, where they all worked to help pay the rent. After high school, she took a job […]

J. Bruce Ismay (1862 - 1937)

J. BRUCE ISMAY Joseph Bruce Ismay was born in Liverpool, the eldest son of Thomas Henry Ismay, the owner of the White Star steamship company. He was educated at Elstree and Harrow. In 1888, he married Julia Florence Schieffelin of New York, the heiress to a pharmaceutical fortune. Upon the death of his father in […]

Taizo Ishizaka (1886 - 1975)

Business leader during the era of tremendous economic growth in Japan. He served as the president of the Dai-Ichi Mutual Life Insurance Company and the Toshiba Corporation. He was also the first president of the Japan Productivity Promotion Association and was president of the Japan Federation of Economics. He is the subject of a book, […]

Ichiro Ishikawa (1970 - 1970)

Industrialist. Ishikawa served as the first chairman of the Japan Science and Technology Union Foundation, and contributed greatly to Japan’s industrial development. In his honor, the Ishikawa Prize was established in 1970 and is awarded to enterprises and persons that develop original methods or systems which meet the needs of the times and achieve remarkable […]

Robert Irsay (1923 - 1997)

Businessman. He developed successful companies in the heating, ventilating, air conditioning, construction and development industries. On July 26, 1972, he traded the Los Angeles Rams NFL franchise, which he had recently acquired from the estate of the late Dan Reeves, for the Baltimore Colts. In 1984, he moved the Colts from Baltimore to Indianapolis.  Family […]

Tetsuzo Inumaru (1970 - 1970)

Having trained in England, France and the United States for the job, Inumaru was the general manager of Tokyo’s Imperial Hotel at the time it first opened to the public on August 31, 1923. (bio by: Warrick L. Barrett)

Junnosuke Inoue (1869 - 1932)

Former president of the Nippon Bank. (bio by: Warrick L. Barrett)

Elwood Ingledue (1899 - 1990)

Author. He began publishing the International Hotel and Travel Index in 1928. Soon afterwards his index listed over 45,000 hotels and travel locations. It became a must have for thousands of world travelers. With the success of the hotel index, Ingledue started publishing the International Golf Index. His indexes are still currently published. He has […]

Charles Henry Ingersoll (1865 - 1948)

Co-founder of the Ingersoll Watch Company, with his brother Robert Ingersoll in 1892. Their company made the ‘Yankee’, a popular, inexpensive watch that sold for a $1.00, a day’s pay at that time. By 1899 they were mass producing 8,000 watches a day. In 1917 they introduced the ‘Reliance’, another popular watch. By the end […]

John Vincent Imbragulio (1927 - 2000)

Businessman. He founded Ace Records, Ace Music Publisher and Avanti Records. Cause of death: heart failure

Hisato Ichimada (1893 - 1984)

Businessman. His efforts were important in helping develop Japan’s economy after the Pacific War, although he mistakenly did not believe that economic development through automobile manufacturing to be beneficial. At the height of his career,Ichimada,a native of Oita, served for over eight years as governor of the Bank of Japan. During that time, he led […]

Morihiro Ichihara (1970 - 1970)

Prominent banker. Also served as mayor of Yokohama. (bio by: Warrick L. Barrett)

Masaru “Genius Inventor” Ibuka (1908 - 1997)

Ibuka was co-founder of a tiny recording company that ultimately grew to become the Sony Corporation. One of his most important contributions was to lead the Japanese charge to make their own innovative electronic products instead of simply copying what was being done in the West.  He brought transistor technology to Japan, and Sony built […]

Paul F. Iams (1915 - 2004)

Businessman. A self-taught animal nutritionist whese premium pet foods bearing his name are sold in 70 countries. He started the Iams Food Company at a feed mill in Tipp City, Ohio in 1946, after working for several years as a dog food salesman for a grain company. He later moved his company to Dayton, Ohio […]

Henry Baldwin Hyde (1834 - 1899)

Business Magnate. Founded Equitable Life Insurance Co. in 1859, and built it into one of the country’s largest. (bio by: Ginny M)  Family links:  Spouse:  Annie Truesdell Hyde (1845 – 1922)*  Children:  James Hazen Hyde (1876 – 1959)* *Calculated relationship

Dorothy Rush Hustead (1904 - 1995)

Co-Founder of the famous Wall Drug in South Dakota.  Family links:  Spouse:  Theodore Edward Hustead (1902 – 1999)*  Children:  Bill Hustead (1927 – 1999)* *Calculated relationship

Henry Edwards Huntington (1850 - 1927)

Railroad tycoon and noted collector of art and rare books. The Mausoleum of Henry Huntington and his wife Arabella is considered to be the model for the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C. John Russell Pope designed the Mausoleum before he won the commission that made him famous. Henry intended the Mausoleum to be a Greek […]

Collis Potter Huntington (1821 - 1900)

19th Century American businessman and railroad magnate, best known as a founding partner of the Central Pacific Railroad. He was born Collis Potter Huntington, the son of a poor farmer, on April 16, 1821, in Harwinton, Connecticut. After he had worked as a farm hand long enough to save $175, he moved to New York […]

Arabella Duval “Belle” Yarrington Huntington (1850 - 1924)

Philanthropist, Art Collector. Wife of railroad tycoon Henry Huntington. The Mausoleum of Henry Huntington and his wife Arabella is considered to be the model for the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C. John Russell Pope designed the Mausoleum before he won the commission that made him famous. Henry intended the Mausoleum to be a Greek temple, […]

Lee Hunter, Jr (1913 - 1986)

Businessman. A genius at inventing automotive-related devices, he invented the first rapid battery charger in 1936. After inventing an auto wheel alignment system in 1946 that was sold throughout the world, he founded Hunter Engineering. He served as President of the West Central County Association, was on the board of Washington University, and was honorary […]

J B Hunt (1927 - 2006)

J B Hunt Johnnie B. Hunt, who built a nationwide freight-hauling empire after calculating that driving a single transport truck was rather less profitable than owning and managing thousands of them, died Thursday. He was 79. His company announced his death. A family spokesman said Mr. Hunt had been in critical condition at a hospital […]

Haroldson Lafayette “H.L.” Hunt, Jr (1889 - 1974)

Businessman. Born Haroldson Lafayette Hunt, Jr., he was an extremely talented entrepreneur and a Texas oil magnate. He began creating his huge financial empire from a small investment in oil in Arkansas and founded the Hunt Oil Company in Texas, in the 1940s. By the late 1950s, his estimated wealth was between $400 million and […]

George M. Humphrey (1890 - 1970)

Statesman, Businessman. Secretary of the Treasury (1953 – 1957) under President Eisenhower.  Family links:  Parents:  Watts Sherman Humphrey (1844 – 1916)  Caroline Mary Magoffin Humphrey (1861 – 1946)  Spouse:  Pamela S Stark Humphrey (____ – 1979)  Siblings:  Effie G. Humphrey Lamont (1876 – 1943)**  George M. Humphrey (1890 – 1970)  Winifred E. Humphrey Tabor (1894 […]

Anton Hulman, Sr (1864 - 1942)

Father of Anton Hulman Jr. He willed Hulman & Co., a multimillion-dollar business, to his son, who was also a successful businessman and generous philanthropist, and who is best remembered for purchasing and resurrecting the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which had fallen into disrepair through inactivity during World War Two, and developing the Indianapolis 500 into […]

Anton Hulman, Jr (1901 - 1977)

Businessman. Yale-educated, he inherited a multimillion-dollar company, Hulman and Company, when his father died in 1942. “Clabber Girl” baking soda was one of its premier products. He is best remembered for having been persuaded by Wilbur Shaw to purchase the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which had fallen into disrepair during an inactive period during World War […]

Howard Robard Hughes, Sr (1869 - 1924)

Inventor. The father of Howard Hughes Jr., he invented the 64 tooth drill bit used to cut through hard rock while drilling for oil, it is still used today. The wealth he accumulated went to his son. (bio by: mike)  Family links:  Parents:  Felix Turner Hughes (1837 – 1926)  Jean Amelia Summerlin Hughes (1842 – […]

George P. Huffman (1970 - 1970)

Founded Davis Sewing Machine Company and the Huffy Bicycle Corporation.  Family links:  Parents:  William P. Huffman (1813 – 1888)  Anna M. Tate Huffman (1820 – 1900)  Spouse:  Maude McKee Huffman (1864 – 1927)*  Children:  Horace McKee Huffman (1885 – 1945)*  Siblings:  William Huffman (1838 – 1896)*  Charles T. Huffman (1848 – 1882)*  Torrence Huffman (1855 […]

Ernst Henry Huenefeld (1838 - 1931)

Manufacturer, Inventor. A native of Prussia, he was born at Ladbergen in Westphalia. Huenefeld emigrated to the United States and settled near Cincinnati, Ohio. Soon after the Civil War, he and his partner, John H. Schroer, went into business together importing and selling tin plates and related machinery. He established the Huenefeld Company in 1872 […]

Joseph Lowthian Hudson (1846 - 1912)

Department store magnate. More commonly known as J.L. Hudson, as in J.L. Hudson’s Deptartment Store, he came to Detroit, Michigan in 1877, opening a men’s & boy’s clothing store in 1881 at age 35. In 1891, he built an 8-story store in downtown Detroit, which, together with a 1907 addition, was demolished in the 1920s. […]

Capt James Howard (1814 - 1876)

Steamboat Builder. Considered by many to be the most successful steamboat builder in American history. Founder of the Howard Shipyards in Jeffersonville, Indiana on the banks of the Ohio River. Steamboats built by Howard included the “James Howard” and the second “Robert E. Lee.”  Of Civil War Fame: the “Glendy Burke,” the “General Buell” and […]