Laurens Hammond (1895 - 1973)

Engineer, Businessman, Music Innovator. He was the founder and president of Hammond Organ Company. Graduated in Mechanical Engineering at the Cornwell University, he is known for being the inventor of homonymous electromechanical organ. The realization of this portable instrument was the result of his idea of introducing the people to the pleasure of making music, […]

Erle Palmar Halliburton (1891 - 1957)

Businessman. He established the New Method Oil Well Cementing Company in Oklahoma in 1919, a business that would become known as the Halliburton Company after 1960. He also designed the aluminum suitcases which are now manufactured by Zero Halliburton. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1957. (bio by: Jeff Janssen)  Family […]

Joyce Clyde Hall (1891 - 1982)

Business Magnate. Born in David City, Nebraska, son of George Nelson Hall and Nancy Dudley Houston Hall. He was named Joyce after a Methodist Minister that visited their town. His family was very poor, and he worked odd jobs, mostly involving sales, from age 8 on to supplement the meager income of his father. When […]

John Hall (1970 - 1836)

Engineer and Pioneer of Tinned Iron Food Canning. He was the son of a millwright, and served an apprenticeship at the Portal family’s paper mill in Laverstoke in Hampshire, England. In 1784 he travelled to Dartford in Kent to find work. He was given a one year contract to repair the paper mill of T. […]

Francis C. Hall (1908 - 1999)

Businessman. He started a radio and electronics store in Orange County, California, which started selling guitars and amps after World War II. His company became Rickenbacker Guitar after buying out stock from Adolph Rickenbacker. His success helped Leo Fender, the leading distributor for Fender guitars. Rock music groups such as the The Beatles, The Byrds, […]

Walter Newman Haldeman (1821 - 1902)

Newspaper Founder, Publisher, Editor. Haldeman started a newspaper career in 1840 working as a clerk for the “Louisville Journal”, where he remained three years. He then opened a bookstore and supplies business until one of his customers the “Louisville Dime” defaulted on its credit and he took over the paper and eventually changed the name […]

Najeeb Halaby (1915 - 2003)

Aviation Executive.  A graduate of Stanford University and Yale Law School, Najeeb Halaby was deputy assistant secretary of defense in the Eisenhower administration, head of the Federal Aviation Administration from 1961 to 1965, and chief executive of Pan American World Airways from 1969 to 1972.  He was widely lauded for desegregating air terminals and insisting […]

William “Billy” Haines (1900 - 1973)

Actor. He was a popular motion picture star of the 1920s and 1930s, and was the top box-office draw of 1930. After refusing to pretend to be “straight” for his studio bosses, his acting career was finished. His second talent was in design, and he built a successful career as the interior designer to the […]

Arthur Tyson Hagen (1852 - 1917)

Industrialist, Business Magnate. Founder of the American Laundry Machine Company and inventor of numerous commercial laundromat machines and processes.  (bio by: Mount Hope NY)  Family links:  Parents:  Oliver Hagen (1821 – 1893)  Spouse:  Emma Jane Chapman Hagen (1854 – 1943)  Children:  Roscoe Arthur Hagen (1880 – 1930)*  Siblings:  Arthur Tyson Hagen (1852 – 1917)  Benjamin […]

Horace Hagedorn (1915 - 2005)

Businessman. Born in Manhattan, he was an advertising executive who found a niche product in 1950 and turned the blue-crystal plant fertilizer, Miracle-Gro, a staple of American gardens, into the world’s top-selling plant food. His first full-page advertisement for Miracle-Gro in the New York Herald Tribune generated $22,000 in orders within three days. “Miracle-Gro All-Purpose […]

Charles Frederick Gunther (1837 - 1920)

Businessman. He was a confectionery manufacturing magnate who created the “Cracker Jacks” confection, and is credited with introducing caramel to the American populace. A native of Germany, he founded a candy business in Chicago, Illinois that was completely destroyed by the 1871 Chicago Fire. He rebuilt the business with an even larger candy factory, which […]

Charles Gulden (1843 - 1916)

Entrepreneur/”The Father of American Mustard.” Born to German immigrants, Charles Gulden began his working career as an engraver in 1858. In 1860 he went to work for his uncle, who owned Union Mustard Mills located at 123 Mott Street in New York City. During the American Civil War, Charles was drafted in 1863 serving only […]

Etienne Guittard (1970 - 1899)

Businessman. He first came to San Francisco from France to take his chances with the California Gold Rush. In 1868, he founded Guittard Chocolate which he ran until his death. The company is still run and owned by the Guittard family today. (bio by: G.Photographer)  Family links:  Children:  Horace C. Guittard (1878 – 1950)* *Calculated […]

Arthur Guinness (1725 - 1803)

Beer Magnate.  Family links:  Spouse:  Olivia Whitemore Guinness (1742 – 1814)*  Children:  Hosea Guinness (1765 – 1841)*  Edward Guinness (1772 – 1833)*  Benjamin Guinness (1777 – 1826)*  William Lunell Guinness (1779 – 1842)* *Calculated relationship

Solomon Robert Guggenheim (1861 - 1949)

Mining tycoon, philanthropist, art patron. He was the senior member of the firm of Guggenheim brothers and last survivor of the seven sons of Meyer Guggenheim. As a multi-millionaire copper king he also founded the Yukon Gold Company in Alaska. As head of the family firm, Guggenheim was director of a number of metals corporations […]

Harry F. Guggenheim (1890 - 1971)

Businessman, Newspaper magnate. In 1941, Guggenheim co-founded the “Newsday” newspaper with his wife Alicia Patterson Guggenheim in Long Island, New York. The newspaper grew into the largest suburban daily newspaper in the nation. In 1963 his wife Alicia died after a lengthy illness, at this time, Guggenheim took full custody of the newspaper. In 1970 […]

Daniel Guggenheim (1856 - 1930)

Business Magnate and Philanthropist. Daniel was the second son of Meyer Guggenheim and father of Harry F. Guggenheim the Ambassador to Cuba. At an early age he became a member of the firm of Meyer Guggenheim and Sons. At the beginning of the 20th century the family had gotten involved in mining adventures. They were […]

Benjamin Guggenheim (1865 - 1970)

American businessman. A native of Philadelphia and son of mining industrialist Meyer Guggenheim. First class passenger who perished at sea in the sinking of the RMS Titanic. Faced with impending death Mr. Guggenheim and his valet surrendered their lifebelts to a ship’s steward and returned to their cabin suites to change into formal evening attire. […]

Kathryn Keeton Guccione (2024 - 1997)

Businesswoman. Raised on a farm in South Africa, she studied ballet in London but used her dance talents otherwise. At age 24 she met Bob Guccione, then manager of the fledgling Penthouse magazine. In 1969 the magazine was introduced in the United States. While she served as vice-chair and Chief Executive of General Media Communications, […]

Bob Guccione (1930 - 2010)

Publisher. Founder and publisher of the adult magazine “Penthouse”, which debuted in England in 1965 and first appeared in the US in 1969. For years it successfully competed with “Playboy” by catering to a  middlebrow readership, offering tabloid-style journalism and more forthright nudity. In September 1984, “Penthouse” notoriously published nude photos of reigning “Miss America” […]

Dietrich Gruen (1847 - 1911)

Watchmaker. A native of Osthofen, Germany, he was a pioneer of the pocket watch. Gruen was educated in public and private schools and learned watchmaking as an apprentice to Hans Martens in Friedburg. After emigrating to America in 1867, he married the daughter of a watchmaker and went to work for her father in Delaware. […]

Jennie Grossinger (1892 - 1972)

Hotel Developer.  Family links:  Parents:  Malka Grumet Grossinger (1870 – 1952)  Spouses:  Harry Grossinger (1889 – 1964)*  Charles C Herman (1895 – 1968)*  Siblings:  Jennie Grossinger (1892 – 1972)  Lottie Grossinger Grau (1895 – 1962)*  Harry Grossinger (1901 – 1965)* *Calculated relationship

Robert E. Gross (1897 - 1961)

Industrialist.  Chief executive officer and chairman of the Lockheed Company. (bio by: Theologianthespian)  Family links:  Parents:  Robert Haven Gross (1864 – 1942)  Mabel Bowman Bell Gross (1873 – 1964)

Courtlandt Sherrington Gross (1904 - 1982)

American Aviation Pioneer. For 25 years (1932 to 1967) he was a leading officer of Lockheed Corporation. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts and received his primary education at the Fessendon School a private boarding school for boys in West Newton, Massachusetts and his high school education at Saint George’s School, a private coeducational boarding […]

Joseph Griesedieck (1863 - 1938)

Griesedieck was a founder of Griesedieck Brothers Brewing Company, later Falstaff Brewing Company. He was a brewer in St. Louis for over 50 years. Born in Germany, Joseph came to the U.S. as a youth, working for a time in breweries in the East. Coming to St. Louis, he managed several breweries before becoming the […]

Henry Griesedieck (1860 - 1926)

Henry was the general superintendent of the Independent Breweries Company & former president of the company, which was a consolidation of nine St. Louis breweries. Born in Germany, Henry came to the U.S. in 1870 & entered the employ of the Lafayette Brewery in St. Louis as an office boy. In 1878 he associated with […]

Sir Thomas Gresham (1970 - 1579)

Businessman. Considered the greatest merchant of his day, financial agent to Queen Elizabeth 1st. Formulated ‘Gresham’s Law’ on the dangers of false coin (“bad money drives out good”). Founded the Royal Exchange in 1570 which marked the beginning of the growth of London as a financial centre. The grasshopper which was part of his coat […]

John Robert Gregg (1867 - 1948)

In 1888, he perfected the Gregg Shorthand System, which is used throughout the world and has been adapted to 11 languages. Gregg founded a school in Chicago to teach his system and other business subjects. He directed a firm that published his books and edited 2 business magazines.

Hank Greenspun (1909 - 1989)

Newspaper Publisher, Real Estate Entrepreneur. He was a pivotal figure in Nevada politics and history. He started out as publicity agent for the fledgling Flamingo Hotel, operated by Ben “Bugsy” Siegel. In 1949, he bought a struggling newspaper, renamed it the Las Vegas Sun, and transformed it into an independent voice in the corrupt, mob-influenced […]

William Augustus “Gus” Greenlee (1895 - 1952)

Businessman, owner of the Pittsburgh Crawfords baseball team.  William Augustus “Gus” Greenlee was born near the Blue Ridge Mountains in Marion North Carolina.  In 1916, Greenlee migrated north to Pittsburgh becoming a racketeer and bootlegger.  He put the fortune he made into the Crawford Bar & Grill and the Pittsburgh Crawfords baseball team.  He also […]