Editorial Invest in Slovakia
Andrew Carnegie was at one time the richest man on the planet. But he started from the bottom. He did well for a while, but was eventually ruined by the Industrial Revolution. The same industrial revolution that would later catapult Andrew to dizzying heights. Well, did you know this about him?
1. He came from a weaver's family.
2. When the teacher at school asked him to tell a saying/wisdom from the Bible, he answered: Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves - (Watch out for the pennies and the euros will take care of themselves too).
3. He officially went to school for only 5 years, then he started working. He was only 13 years old then. He took care of the steam boilers. Later he became a messenger boy for the telegraph company.
4. He used to have nightmares from working on the steam boilers.
5. Met with a man named Thomas A. Scott, the superintendent of the western part of the American railroads. ️ That's how young Andrew first got his hands on the trains on which he later built his vast fortune.
6. He worked for Scott as his personal telegraphist. Scott became his mentor. Carnegie worked his way up to assistant and later partner.
7. He was perceived as a contradictory person. On the one hand he was a pioneer and a progressive-minded man, on the other a relentless capitalist and technocrat.
8. He took two things from the teachings of the philosopher Herbert Spencer: Everything is okay because everything improves. And the motto - upward and onward - or ever higher and onward.
9. He often said: "Watch your spending and profit for yourself, it will take care of itself."
10. Establish a competitive atmosphere among your employees. The fast pace reduced safety in his factories. Workers worked 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. They had only 1⃣ day off in a year, and that was the 4th of July.
11. At his own request, he was visited by his idol, the philosopher Spencer, who, however, did not see the Carnegie steel mills as the fulfillment of his dreams of an industrial utopia, quite the opposite. What Carnegie had built there the philosopher described as hell.
12. Carnegie's essay, The Gospel of Wealth, is a short reflection on the conditions of society and the distribution of wealth.
13. He was a strong opponent of inherited wealth. He believed that the sons of prosperous businessmen were rarely as talented as their fathers.
14. He was a proponent of a nearly % inheritance tax - not so that individuals' wealth would be forfeited to the state, but so that the wealthy would be forced to give it away during their lifetimes.
15. He built libraries, to which he often attributed his success - because most of his education was acquired there.
16. He had a deep appreciation for libraries. During his teenage years, he was forbidden to enter the local library because of a new rule that declared that only patrons of the school could enter.
17. The famous concert hall in New York - Carnegie Hall - is named after him.
18. Carnegie's actions indicated that he did not view his subordinates as full human beings.
19. His love of libraries dates back to his years in philanthropy, where he founded and funded approximately 3,000 public libraries in the United States.
20. At 20, he became a half-orphan when his father died.
21. Carnegie invested in an oil field in Pennsylvania in 1864. This earned him $1 million.
22. He founded his first company, the Keystone Bridge Company, and focused his efforts on ironworks. After expanding his business, he was well on his way to fame and fortune.
23. He founded the Foundation for International Peace, the Carnegie Institute of Science, and Carnegie-Mellon University. He further established the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust to enrich the lives of the residents of his hometown.
24. He invested his earnings and took out a loan to invest in the Woodruff Sleeping Car Company. His dividends from these investments soon brought him dividends of $5,000 a year.
25. He spent many hours ⏳ reading books.
26. With a group of young friends, he formed a debating society.
27. As a literature enthusiast, he learned all the lines in Shakespeare's plays.
28 He learned Morse code and became one of the few telegraph operators who could transcribe messages instantly.
29. The Homestead Steel Works successfully launched the Bessemer Process, which made mass production of steel more cost-effective.
30. By the late 1980s, American steel production had overtaken that of Great Britain, mainly because of Carnegie.
31. Carnegie Steel was awarded a contract to help build the Brooklyn Bridge.
32. He was buried in Sleepy Hollow, New York. His remaining fortune was given to charity and the legacy he created still endures today.
Sources:
https://factsking.com/historical-people/andrew-carnegie-facts/
https://www.podnikajte.sk/zahranicne-pribehy/andrew-carnegie
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Andrew-Carnegie
https://www.carnegie.org/interactives/foundersstory/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNYkor8IDoA&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR2LcPe7n89sWU444rX7NvQKhU3rjXXJ1ZpwzA0romHYh8eNXbSJRJ9j1Kw
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