February 23, 1839 - William F. Harnden organized nation's first express courier service, operated between Boston, New York City.

July 20, 1841 - Lewis Tappan established Mercantile Agency in New York City, network of correspondents to function as source of reliable, consistent, objective credit information; one of first organizations formed for sole purpose of providing business information to customers; 1849 - turned Agency over to Benjamin Douglass, former clerk; rival John M. Bradstreet Company founded in Cincinnati, OH; 1851 - Bradstreet organization popularized use of credit ratings; published first book of commercial ratings; 1859 - Douglass turned over Agency to his brother-in-law, Robert Graham Dun; renamed R.G. Dun Mercantile Agency; 1933 - Dun's CEO, Arthur Whiteside, engineered merger with The Bradstreet Companies, formed D&B.

June 1, 1843 - Daniel Fitzgerald, of New York, NY, received patent  for an "Improvement in Fire-Proof Safes and Chests" ("intended to resist the action of fire and for the safe keeping and preserving books, papers and other valuables from destruction by fire, which I call a "Salmander" Safe or Chest"); mythical animal having the power to endure fire without harm.

May 5, 1859 - Perry and Fidelia Brink started cartage business in Chicago; 1891 - delivers first valuables, 1900 - makes first bank shipment; 1927 - built first fully armored vehicle; 1956 - acquired by Pittston; May 5, 2003 - name changed to The Brink's Company.

1860 - Henry Varnum Poor (editor of The American Railroad Journal since 1849) published "History of Railroads and Canals of the United States", comprehensive account of financial, operating details of capital intensive American railroads and canals ((leading issuers of debt securities); formed H. V. and H. W. Poor Company with his son; 1868 - published "Manual of Railroads of the United States" (442 p., $5, updated annually); leader in establishing the financial information industry on the principle of "the investor's right to know"; 1906 - Luther Lee Blake formed Standard Statistics Bureau to provide central source of previously unavailable financing and operating information on U.S. industrial companies (beyond railroads); 1913 - acquired Babson Stock and Bond card System (financial reports on stocks, bonds) from Edward Shattuck and Roy W. Porter; 1914 - became Standard Statistics, Inc.; Roy W. Porter acquired control of Moody's Manual Co., began negotiations to acquire Poor's Railroad Manual Co. (successor to H. V. and H. W. Poor Company); 1919 - Porter merged Moody's Manual Co. with Poor's Railroad Manual Co., changed name to Poor's Publishing Co.; 1916 - Standard Statistics began to assign debt ratings to corporate bonds, with sovereign debt ratings following shortly thereafter; 1923 - produced its first weekly capitalization-weighted stock market index (233 U. S. companies); 1930 - Poor's Publishing Co. went bankrupt; Paul T. Babson (cousin of Porter), refinanced company, acquired control; 1941 - Standard Statistics merged with Poor's Publishing Company; formed Standard & Poor's Corporation; published "Bond Guide" (statistics, quality ratings on corporate bonds; 7,000 municipal bond ratings); 1996 - acquired by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

1861 - Hiram H. Martin Jr. established funeral parlor in room of father’s wagon shop at corner of Washington and East Beekman streets in Saratoga Springs, NY; 1921 - acquired by Arthur C. Kark; 1947 - Mahlon C. Tunison Jr., embalmer in Grave Registration Service during World War II, became partner; 1978 - renamed Tunison Funeral Home; 1994 - acquired by Dan Warren; oldest funeral home in Saratoga Springs.

1878 - James M. Curtis (46) founded J.M. Curtis & Son in San Francisco, CA, oldest continually operating environmental analytical test, measurements laboratory in United States; served wine industry provided analyses for sugars, acidity, alcohol, solids in wines primarily for export to Europe; 1905 - Phillip W. Tompkins joined firm; president of Curtis and Tompkins Ltd. (1910 - 1953); 1926 - 45 people provided foods, feeds, mineral, petroleum, fats and oils analyses for California's agricultural, mining industries; satellite offices, labs served mining industry in Reno, NV, fishing products industry on Cannery Row in Monterey, CA; 1953 - acquired by employee group headed by Hugo deBusseries; 1976 - ownership changed; core business in Foods, Feeds, Agricultural, Fats, Oils analyses; 1991 - C&T offered agricultural, bacteriological, food, feed, petroleum, water, wastewater, bulk cargo inspection, consulting services from three labs with staff approaching 100; 1997 - exited food, bacteriology, petroleum, agricultural services sectors, concentrated on core competency in environmental testing and data management.

1880 - Roland M. Smythe established Smythe and Company to provide financial community, private individuals, with accurate information concerning obsolete securities and banknotes; developed into one of world's premier auction houses, specializing in Antique Stocks and Bonds, Banknotes, Coins, Autographs and Photographs.

1886 - Arthur Dehon Little and Roger Griffin founded Arthur D. Little to improve processes and products; 1909 - incorporated as world's first company seeking to apply technology to industrial growth; 1911 - organized first R&D lab for GM; 1930 - advised Campbell Soup on how to environmentally utilise their waste from tomato soup manufacture; 1949 - pioneered application of operations research to industrial problems; 1960s - developed SABRE (first real-time, on-line, computerized reservation system) for American Airlines with IBM; 1968 - designed NASDAQ stock exchange system; tailored services linking strategy, innovation, technology from inception to implementation.

February 3, 1888 - Alexander Dey, of Glasgow, Scotland, received a British patent for a "Workman's Time Recorder";  September 24, 1889 - received U. S. patent; dial time recorder (clock first manufactured by Dey Company, then as Industrial Time Recorders [ITR] after 1907); employees required to point to their assigned number, press to record time of arrival and departure; numbers of employees, times recorded on sheet of paper wrapped around a drum.

1892 - Oakleigh Thorne founded Corporation Trust Company "to carry on a general agency business, especially the acting as agent of and trustee for corporations"; opened in Jersey City, NJ, with 44 employees; 1895 - first company to assist lawyers with details of incorporating, qualifying corporations in all states, territories; 1903 - tracked, reported on activities of various state, federal legislative bodies for United States Steel Corp.; December 1913 - established tax department following passage of Tariff Act of 1913 (instituted nation's first income tax); signed up 1,000 subscribers to first Income Tax Reporter (400-page loose-leaf binder that summarized Act, provided space for updates on tax laws as influenced by court, administrative rulings); 1927 - merged with Commerce Clearing House (founded 1920 by William Kixmiller as monitor of import, export business practices; switched loose leaf tax service), formed Commerce Clearing House, Inc. (Corporation Trust, Thorne family assumed controlling interest); 1960 - over 1,000 employees; 1961 - went public; 1993 - acquired Matthew Bender & Co. (Bender's Federal Tax Service, eight state tax services, related tax publications) from Times Mirror Company; 1996 - acquired for nearly $2 billion by Wolters Kluwer, Dutch company.

1898 - German Jewish immigrant went into business as "William Morris, Vaudeville Agent" in New York City; January 31, 1918 - incorporated; signed Al Jolson, Marx Brothers, Mae West, Charlie Chaplin; 1930 - William, Morris, Jr., Abe Lastfogel took over (Jimmy Cagney, Louis Armstrong, Will Rogers); December 1949 - acquired Berg-Allenberg Agency (Frank Capra, Clark Gable, Judy Garland, Sammy Davis, Jr., Milton Berle, Rita Hayworth); 1965 - Music Department formed (Rolling Stones, Byrds, Beach Boys, Sonny & Cher); 1989 - acquired Jim Halsey Company (The Oak Ridge Boys, Waylon Jennings, Tammy Wynette); 1992 - acquired Triad Artists, largest acquisition of talent agency in show business history; 1993 - created Corporate Advisory/New Media Department (evolved into William Morris Consulting; August 1999 - Jim Wiatt, Vice-Chairman of International Creative Management, joined William Morris as President, Co-Chief Executive Officer.

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1900 - John Moody founded John Moody & Company; published Moody's Manual of Industrial and Miscellaneous Securities, provided data, information, statistics on stock and bonds issued by financial institutions, government agencies, on manufacturing, mining, utilities, food companies; 1907 - closed due to lack of capital; 1909 - reopened, published Moody's Analysis of Railroad Investments, opinions about relative investment quality of railroad securities (used letter rating symbols used by credit reporting firms since late 1800s); 1914 - incorporated as Moody's Investor Service, expanded ratings coverage to bonds issued by U.S. cities, other municipalities; 1962 - became part of The Dun & Bradstreet Corporation; 1970s - began to cover commercial paper market, bank deposits; started to charge issuers, investors for rating services; September 30, 2000 - D&B split into two separately publicly traded companies; ratings, related research and credit risk management business renamed Moody's Corporation.

1904 - Frank Couture started Couture's Fabric Care in Colorado Springs, CO; 1918 - acquired by Carl Peterson’s father; 2011 - third generation (Keith Peterson, grandson).

August 9, 1904 - Libanus McLouth Todd received a patent for a "Printing-Stamp" ("improved printing apparatus or stamp particularly adapted for marking or embossing upon checks, drafts, and similar instruments words or figures indicating a limiting amount beyond which such instrument is not good"); protectograph to protect against check forgers.

1906 - Sophus Falck founded Falck A/S in Denmark to prevent accidents, emergencies and illness, rescue people in distress,  help those who are ill, relieve after-effects of sickness and distress; 2006 - Europe’s leading rescue, assistance organization, with major tasks for the public and private sector and adapted to rules and conditions of individual countries.

Sophus Falck -  Falck A/S (http://www.falckfoundation.com/billeder/images/knap_sofusfalck1.jpg)

1907 - James E. ("Jim") Casey (19-year-old) borrowed $100 from friend to start American Messenger Company in Seattle, WA; 1919 - expanded to Oakland, CA, changed name to United Parcel Service: "United" served as a reminder that the company's operations in each city were part of same organization, "Parcel" identified the nature of the business, and "Service" indicated what was offered.

1913 - John Knowles Fitch founded Fitch Publishing Company; published financial statistics for investment community; 1924 - introduced Fitch ratings system for analyzing financial securities; 1997 - merged with IBCA Limited, London-based company owned by Fimalac S.A.; 2000 - Fitch acquired Duff & Phelps Credit Rating Company, rating business of Thomson BankWatch.

1914 - Edwin G. Booz founded consulting practice; 1929 - James Allen joined; 1935 - Carl Hamilton joined.  

1915 - Frenchman, John Libarle established Lace House Linen Supply, Inc. in Petaluma, CA; did family laundry services (sheets, towels, clothing); delivered laundry in horse-drawn carriage; 1930s - Lucien Libarle (son) joined business; World War II - provided linen services to many ships, submarines which operated out of Mare Island; 1963 - Daniel Libarle (grandson) joined family business; 2011 - over 500 customers in Sonoma, Napa, San Francisco, Marin, Solano Counties.

1917 - Andrew Pansini saw need for "off-street parking" in downtown Los Angeles; founded Savoy Corporation; opened Savoy Auto Park, world's first parking lot, fee was 5¢ a day; 1942 - opened Savoy's Union Square Garage in San Francisco, world's first, largest, underground parking garage; 1958 - Andrew L. Pansini (son) invented world's first automatic pool cleaner, created Jandy Industries; 1964 - opened first Rain Tunnel Car Wash in San Francisco at Fisherman's Wharf, first operation of its kind west of Mississippi; 1972 - developed its first commercial office building with construction of Savoy Building in San Francisco at Fisherman's Wharf; 2000 - sold its land interest in Los Angeles in exchange for five office buildings in Petaluma; 2007 - owns, manages over $50,000,000 in commercial real estate in Northern California (9 buildings in San Francisco, Larkspur, Petaluma, Napa).

September 1918 - Walter L. Jacobs (22) opened car-rental operation in Chicago; started with dozen Model T Fords (repaired, repainted himself); 1923 - business generated annual revenues of about $1 million; acquired by John D. Hertz, President of Yellow Cab and Yellow Truck and Coach Manufacturing Company (Jacobs continued as chief operating officer); named Hertz Drive-Ur-Self System; [1926 - Yellow Cab Manufacturing Co. acquired by General Motors (became GM truck division); 1929 - Morris Markin bought 60% ownership in Yellow Cab (all of Hertz's holdings); 1953 - Hertz properties GMC acquired by Omnibus Corporation]; 1954 - name changed to The Hertz Corporation (Jacobs became Hertz's first President, served until retirement in 1960); 1967 - became subsidiary of RCA; 1985 - acquired by UAL; 1987 - acquired by Park Ridge Corporation, investor group affiliated with Ford Motor Co.; 1994 - Park Ridge investors acquired by Ford, Hertz became Ford subsidiary; March 9, 2001 - Ford reacquired outstanding 18.5% of Hertz' stock; became wholly owned subsidiary; December 22, 2005 - acquired by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice; The Carlyle Group, Merrill Lynch Private Global Equity.

Walter L. Jacobs - The Hertz Corporation (http://www.wien-vienna.at/images3/hertz16.jpg)

John D. Hertz - The Hertz Corporation (http://www.hertzfoundation.org/lib/images/JohnHertz/John_Hertz.jpg)

1926 - James O. McKinsey left academic career as professor of accounting at University of Chicago, founded McKinsey & Co. to build firm that provided finance, budgeting services; quickly gained reputation for providing advice on organization and management issues.

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1932 - George E. Phelps, employee of First Wisconsin Company, William H. Duff, of Commerce Clearing House, Inc., invested $125 each, formed partnership in Chicago "for the purpose of furnishing investment counsel to banks, insurance companies, and individuals"; concentrated counseling services on utility industry (Duff - sales, Phelps - analysis); 1994 - credit ratings business spun off (eventually purchased by Fitch Ratings); focused on investment banking, financial advisory businesses; November 2000 - 65% interest in Duff & Phelps, LLC acquired by Webster Financial Corporation, through newly formed subsidiary, Webster D&P Holdings, Inc.; 2004 - acquired by partnership consisting of management, investment banking boutique Stone Ridge Partners, investor group led by Lovell Minnick Partners LLC.

1936 - Ettore G. Steccone set up shop in garage at back of his house in Oakland, CA to manufacture, market squeegee innovation under name of 'New Deal Manufacturing Co., E. Steccone (used one blade instead of two, held in place by pair of clips rather than number of screws, created lighter tool, improved quality of rubber); 1938 - visited George Racenstein in New York, head of J. Racenstein Co., largest supplier of window-cleaning tools in U.S.; Racenstein refused to buy squeegee; Steccone bet Racenstein the finest hat in New York that Racenstein would order squeegees within month; gave squeegee to all fellow window cleaners, asked them to try it on job for one day - if tool was superior to anything currently used, order it from Racenstein (successful); July 12, 1938 - Ettore Steccone, of Oakland, CA, received a patent for a "Squeegee" ("...to provide a squeegee that is operative to remove liquids and dirt efficiently, within a wide range of angles and a wide range of pressures"); November, 1938 - licensed manufacture, sale of patented device to Morse-Starrett Products Co. subject to cancellation or disposal of previous contract with Dormeyer; December 3, 1938 - granted supplemental license to Morse-Starrett, indemnified company against all loss by reason of Dormeyer contract; turned over to plaintiff, at cost less depreciation, his dies, tools, material and equipment used in making of squeegees; gave his customers list to Morse-Starrett, retired from business; July 1939 - Morse-Starrett began to sell squeegees under 'Steccone' named, instead of 'New Deal' (impressed mark on metal handles of squeegees; Steccone had never registered his named as trademark or used his name in any form on squeegees prior to license agreements); October 31, 1940 - Circuit Court invalidated Steccone's patent for lack of novelty and for anticipation; November 13, 1940 - Morse-Starrett cancelled license agreement because of annulment of patent; December 9, 1941 - Ettore Steccone, of Oakland, CA, received a patent for a "Curved Surface Cleaner"; October 16, 1942 - Steccone demanded Morse-Starrett discontinue use of 'Steccone' on squeegees; 1945 - Steccone began manufacture, sale of squeegee again; October 25, 1949 - Morse-Starrett Products Co. won trade-mark infringement and unfair competition litigation against Ettore G. Steccone; January 11, 1950 - District Court determined that Morse-Starrett was entitled to use of mark "Steccone" as applied to squeegees, handles thereof; required Steccone to indicate on squeegees, their handles that they were not product of Morse-Starrett); early 1950s - moved into first real factory with five employees; June 15, 1953 - patent infringement judgment upheld by United States Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit); May 3, 1988 - Morse-Starrett Products Co. registered "Steccone" trademark first used January 1, 1939 (squeegees and parts thereof for windows washers); 2005 - Ettore Products Company produced three-quarters of squeegees used by professional window washers, 60% of squeegees bought by consumers; sales of about $40 million, 80 employees, manufacture about 150,000 squeegees/month.LLC.

Ettore Steccone - squeegees (http://www.ettore.com/wp-content/themes/ettore/library/media/images/img_image004.png)

1934 - Name of Wireless Radio Inc. changed to Muzak (a la Kodak; created in October 1922 by North American Company, one of original Dow Jones Industrial Average stocks in May 1896, based on 1922 patent application by former U. S. Army Major General George Owen Squier for 'wired wireless' - new methods and apparatus for the reception of high frequency signals transmitted over lines or through space; September 6, 1927 - Squier, of Washington, DC, Joseph O. Mauborgne, of Chicago, IL, Louis Cohen, of Washington, DC, received a patent for "Electrical Signaling" ("...improvement in the method of and apparatus for receiving high frequency signals whether they are transmitted over lines or through space, as in the case of radio signals...facilitate the operation in the matter of 'tuning in' any particular signal"); first 1934 recoding performed by Sam Lanin's orchestra; began marketing audio service to hotels, restaurants in New York City (had tested service in homes in Lakewood, OH in 1930, couldn't compete with radio); April 9, 1935 - Wired Radio, Inc. registered "Muzak" trademark first used September 17, 1934 (radio and wired radio turners, radio and wired radio receiving sets and convertors); 1936 - marketed to factories, work areas; 1937 - S. Wyatt, J. Langdon, British industrial psychologists, published influential paper: "Fatigue and Boredom in Repetitive Work" (Medical Research Council Industrial Health Research Board Report 77, London, HMSO); 1938 - acquired by Warner Brothers (merged into Associated Music Publishers); 1939 - acquired by Waddill Hutchings, Alan Miller (founder of Rediffusion Ltd. in UK), William Benton (co-founder of Benton & Bowles advertising agency); 1941 - Benton acquired control for $100,000; virtual monopoly in field of background music for businesses (dish-based technology vs. multiple satellite use by alternative music delivery technologies); 1950s - world's biggest consumer of telephone lines; April 2008 - merged with DMX, Inc. (provided music design, full motion video, audio messaging, environmental scents to clients; Muzak LLC business music services reached more than 100 million persons/daily); February 10, 2009 - Muzak Holdings LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

George Owen Squier - Muzak (http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/gosquier-loc-photo-01.jpg)

1946 - Henry and Leon Bloch founded United Business Company in Kansas City, MO with $5,000 loan; offered bookkeeping, other services to small businesses; Leon left business after few months; Richard (brother) joined company; January 1955 - advertised tax preparation service in Kansas City Star; January 25, 1955 - specialized in income tax return preparation, changed name to H&R Block Inc. ("Block" simpler, could be spelled phonetically); company grossed more than $20,000 in weeks (third of annual volume United Business Company had taken years to develop); 1956 - opened 7 offices; revenues tripled to more than $65,000; January 1957 - opened franchise offices in Columbia, MO, Topeka, KS; 1962 - 206 offices, nearly $800,000 in revenues; went public; 1978 - prepared more than one out of every nine tax returns filed in United States; 1982 - Richard Bloch sold his interest in company, gave up position as chairman; 1990s - speed of refund, refund anticipation loans drove client growth; 2003 - company filed 16.4 million returns electronically; 2007 - world's largest tax services company, served clients at more than 12,500 U.S. retail offices, through digital tax solutions.

Richard and Henry Bloch - H.&R. Block (http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/IROL/76/76888/rbloch_img2.jpg)

1946 – Warren Avis founded Avis-rent-a-Car at Willow Run Airport near Detroit with an $85,000 investment; first car rental operation located at an airport; 1950 - franchises in 75 cities; 1954 - franchises in 350 cities; acquired by Richard S. Robie for $8 million; 1956 - acquired by investment group led by Amoskeag Company; Avis, Inc. formed as formal holding company for company's related business interests; 1962 - acquired by investment banking firm, Lazard Freres & Company; 1963 - "We Try Harder" advertising, marketing campaign debuted; 1965 - acquired by ITT Corporation for $51 million; 1977 - acquired by Norton Simon, Inc. for $174 million; 1986 - acquired by Wesray Capital Corporation for $263 million plus assumption of debt; 1987 - acquired by Avis’s Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) for $750 million, plus assumption of debt; 1996 - acquired by HFS Incorporated, world’s largest franchiser of hotels, residential real estate brokerage offices; 2001 - Cendant acquired all outstanding shares of Avis Group Holdings it did not currently own in a transaction valued at $937 million; Avis Rent A Car System, Inc. became wholly owned subsidiary of Cendant; 2006 - structure, name changed to Avis Rent A Car System, LLC.

1948 - Aaron Scheinfeld, Elmer Winter (brother-in-law), opened Manpower, Inc., nation's first temporary employment service in Milwaukee, WI, as sideline to their law practice.

1957 - Jack Taylor founded Executive Leasing Company in St. Louis, MO with seven cars and hunch that customers would lease automobiles, 1962 - added rental car business division with fleet of 17 vehicles; started Car Sales division; 1969 - company renamed Enterprise (in honor of aircraft carrier aboard which Taylor served as decorated fighter pilot in World War II); 1970 - perceived best growth opportunities were with hometown renters, not airport travelers; 1974 - established "We'll Pick You Up" tradition; 1980 - company's fleet reached 6,000 rental vehicles; 1989 - name changed to Enterprise Rent-A-Car; more than 500 locations, more than 50,000 rental vehicles; 1992 - surpassed $1 billion in annual revenues, nearly 10,000 employees; 1994 - more than $2 billion in annual revenue, more than 250,000 rental vehicles; 2004 - more than 6,000 offices in U.S. (locations within 15 miles of 90 percent of the entire population), Canada, U.K., Ireland, Germany; 600,000 rental car, 135,000 Fleet Services vehicles in service; surpassed $7 billion in annual revenue.

1960 - Mark McCormack, Arnold Palmer shook hands on agreement that formed foundation of IMG and sports marketing, company dedicated to marketing, management of sport, leisure, lifestyle; 2004 - acquired by Forstmann Little for $750 million.

June 27, 1962 - Ross Perot founded EDS, incorporated  company with state of Texas for $1,000; chose Electronic Data Systems from potential names he scribbled on pledge envelope during service at Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas; August 1962 -  Collins Radio in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, became  first customer; ompany flew computer tapes, data to Dallas for processing; February 1963 - five-year agreement with Frito Lay became IT industry’s first facilities-management agreement.

1965 - Frederick W. Smith, undergraduate at Yale University, wrote term paper about economic inadequacy of passenger routing systems used by most airfreight shippers; wrote of need for shippers to have system designed specifically for airfreight that could accommodate time-sensitive shipments such as medicines, computer parts, electronics; June 1971 - Federal Express incorporated; August 1971 - bought controlling interest in Arkansas Aviation Sales (Little Rock, AR); April 17, 1973 - began operations with the launch of 14 small aircraft from Memphis International Airport; first night - delivered 186 packages to 25 U.S. cities from Rochester, NY to Miami, FL.

September 1970 - Paul Orfalea (nicknamed "Kinko" because of his kinky, curly hair) and Bradley Krause (24), student in graphic arts and photography class at Santa Barbara City College, opened printing shop near University of California, Santa Barbara; 100 square feet, single copier, offset press, film processing, small selection of stationery and school supplies; 1975 - 24 Kinko's stores; 1979 - 72 stores; customer base shifted from mostly academics to broad range of personal, business customers; mid-1990s - more than 800 stores; 1996 - Clayton, Dubilier & Rice invested; 1999 - more than 1,000 locations and 25,000 employees; February 2004 - acquired by FedEx for $2.4 billion; April 2004 - name changed to FedEx Kinko's Office and Print Services; more than 1,500 locations in 11 countries, 20,000 team members.

January 20, 1975 - William Morris agent Michael Ovitz left  agency he joined in 1968; founded a new agency; Creative Artists Agency; developed into most powerful firm in Hollywood.

1990 - Gary Hoover, Alta Campbell, Patrick Spain, Alan Chai started The Reference Press; 1991 - published first book "Hoover's Handbook 1991: Profiles of Over 500 Major Corporations"; partnered with Sony to create first electronic product: Hoover's Handbook Electronic Book for the Sony Data Discman (flopped); 1992 - first online distribution deals with LexisNexis, Bloomberg, AOL; signed additional distribution deals with CompuServe, Apple, Microsoft, AT&T; 1994 - Warner Books invested; firm launched Hoover's Online (HOL); featured both free advertiser-supported, for-pay premium access to Hoover's company information; 1996 - distributed information through more than 20 online, Web-based services; changed name to Hoover's, Inc.; 1997 - Infoseek, Media General invested in company; 1998 - signed first e-commerce deal with Amazon.com; 2002 - acquired by Dun & Bradstreet for $119 million.

November 7, 2007 - Visa agreed to pay $2.1 billion to American Express to settle damages related to 2004 antitrust lawsuit; claimed that Visa and MasterCard barred member banks from offering their customers credit cards which could be used on rival payment networks, in violation of antitrust law; believed to be largest amount ever paid to resolve antitrust violation.

(Enterprise Rent-A-Car), Kirk Kazanjian; foreword by Andrew C. Taylor (2007). Exceeding Customer Expectations: What Enterprise, America’s #1 Car Rental Company, Can Teach Us About Creating Lifetime Customers. (New York, NY: Currency Doubleday, 256 p.). Enterprise Rent-A-Car; Customer services--United States. How Enterprise consistently outperforms, outsmarts competition; philosophy: "Take care of your customers and employees first, and the profits will follow."

(Executive Recruiting), Joseph Daniel McCool (2008). Deciding Who Leads: How Executive Recruiters Drive, Direct, and Disrupt the Global Search for Leadership Talent. (Mountain View, CA: Davies-Black Pub., 232 p.). Executives--Recruiting; Executive search firms; Management. How, why executive recruiters are at center of simmering public scrutiny on corporate scandals, executive hiring, golden parachute deals, globalization, outsourcing, decreased executive tenure; how they influence compensation, workplace diversity, CEO succession, organizational performance, culture, profits, leadership.

(source: 2008 ExecuNet Executive Job Market Intelligence Report;  (http://www.execunet.com/graphics/image_lcol_ejmirpiechart_07.gif)

(FedEx), Robert A. Sigafoos with Roger R. Easson (1988). Absolutely Positively Overnight!: The Unofficial Corporate History of Federal Express. (Memphis, TN: St. Lukes Press, 190 p. [2nd ed.]). Federal Express Corporation; Express service--United States.

Frederick W. Smith - FedEx (http://www.fi.edu/franklinawards/08/img_smith.jpg)

(FedEx), Vance H. Trimble (1993). Overnight Success: Federal Express and Frederick Smith, Its Renegade Creator (New York, NY: Crown, 342 p.). Smith, Fred, 1944- ; Federal Express Corporation--History; Businessmen--United States--Biography; Express service--United States--History.

(FedEx), Michael Basch (2002). Customer Culture: How Fed Ex and Other Great Companies Put the Customer First Every Day. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall PTR, 304 p.). Corporate culture; Organizational effectiveness; Quality of work life; Customer loyalty; Corporate culture--Case studies; Organizational effectiveness--Case studies.

(FedEx), Madan Birla (2005). FedEx Delivers: How the World's Leading Shipping Company Keeps Innovating and Outperforming the Competition. (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 215 p.). 22-Year FedEx Employee; Managing Director and Preceptor in FedEx Leadership Institute. Federal Express Corporation--Management; Express service--Management.

(FedEx), Roger Frock (2006). Changing How the World Does Business: FedEx’s Incredible Journey to Success: The Inside Story. (San Francisco, CA: Berrett--Koehler, 250 p.). Federal Express Corporation--History; Express service--United States--History. Real-life hardships, hard-fought triumphs -  how FedEx overcame huge odds to become one of world's greatest success stories, changed way world does business.

(Fly Clean), Eddie Hinton as told to Lynne Washburn (1988). Locker Room to Boardroom: Super Bowl Player Eddie Hinton's Strategies for Tackling Life's Choices, Challenges, and Changes. (Sugar Land, TX: Candle Pub. Co., 183 p.). Founder (Fly Clean). Hinton, Eddie, 1947- ; Hinton, Eddie, 1947- ; Football players--United States--Biography; Businesspeople--United States--Biography; Football players; Businesspeople; African Americans--Biography. 

(Harlem Office Supply, Inc.), Dorothy Pitman Hughes (2000). Wake Up and Smell the Dollars! Whose Inner-City Is This Anyway!: One Woman's Struggle Against Sexism, Classism, Racism, Gentrification, and the Empowerment Zone. ( Phoenix, AZ: Amber Books, 214 p.). CEO of Harlem Office Supply, Inc. Hughes, Dorothy Pitman; African American business enterprises; Small business--United States; Enterprise zones; Women-owned business enterprises; African American businesspeople--Biography.