Anne Cooper Funderburg

IN EARLY AMERICA, PAINT WAS EXPENSIVE, PERISHABLE, AND TEMPERAMENTAL, AND YOU HAD TO MAKE IT YOURSELF. HENRY SHERWIN TURNED IT INTO THE DURABLE MANUFACTURED COMMODITY IT IS TODAY.

Discovering it took luck. Developing it into a successful product took all of Du Pont’s technological resources—and the zeal of one French entrepreneur.

Very few high-tech products taste as good as ice cream

George W. G. Ferris built his awesome wheel in six months, saw it come to symbolize the achievements of a newly confident America, and died broke and alone three years later