Joseph P. Day, the great salesman, sold about a third of the Bronx, a third of Queens and large swaths of Brooklyn during his lifetime. In one 12-hour auction he sold 1,574 properties. Day was the quintessential New Yorker. Day's story is a text-book lesson on what it takes to become a great salesman, and his 10 rules for success a menu on the qualities and characteristics he espoused.

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...

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 Amelia Earhart. Earhart's disappearance has mesmerized the American public ever since her fateful around-the-world flight in 1937. However, the public's fascination with Lady Lindy began long before her disappearance as she ventured into what was an almost exclusively male domain: airplanes and flight, flaunting convention with panache. This is her story.

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 ...

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...

Microsoft founder Bill Gates writes: "Genuine pioneers don't stop after just one discovery or innovation. They are driven to build on their accomplishments and to follow them into new frontiers." He was speaking about Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com which ushered in the brave new world of internet commerce; and the mind behind Kindle, the ebook platform that blazed the road for what has become the eBook Reformation or eBook Revolution, affecting, even transforming, publishers, auth...

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 ...

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...

Biographical profile of William Wrigley, Jr., the master salesman who established the Wrigley chewing gum empire. Wrigley's story, as told by award-winning author and syndicated columnist Daniel Alef, is the quintessential Horatio Alger-like tale of rising from the depth of poverty to achieve unrivaled success and fortune through hard work, perseverance, dedication and an innate understanding of human nature--the earmarks of a great salesman. Although Mars, Inc., the confectionery giant,...

Although Samuel Colt died in 1862 at age 47, he had lived a remarkably full life, one filled with enough controversy, calamity, failure and success to fill several novels. And, at the time, he was America's wealthiest inventor. Colt's widow took over the reins of the Colt Armory, memorialized Colt's name in American mythology, sanitized his foibles and misdeeds, and oversaw the amazing growth of the largest private armory in the world. Although Henry Ford is recognized for introducing th...