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Levi Strauss & Company sells its first pair of riveted blue jeans.
Levi Strauss & Company sells its first pair of riveted blue jeans. -
Alexander Graham Bell receives the first telephone patent.
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Procter & Gamble launch Ivory bar soap.
Procter & Gamble launch Ivory bar soap. -
J. L. Hudson opens his first department store in Detroit, Michigan.
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Atlanta pharmacist John Pemberton invents the Coca-Cola formula.
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The first successful Kodak camera appears on the market.
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Candy maker Milton Hershey sells his first milk chocolate bars.
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Olds Motor Vehicle Company is started by Ransom E. Olds.
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Caleb Bradham invents Pepsi-Cola.
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J. P. Morgan combines ten separate companies, including Carnegie Steel, to form the United States Steel Corporation.
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Ford Motor Company is founded.
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The Warner brothers show their first film at their home in Youngstown, Ohio.
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W. K. Kellogg starts the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company.
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The Ford Model T is introduced.
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L. L. Bean is formed in Freeport, Maine.
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Ford introduces the assembly line.
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William Boeing renames his aviation company The Boeing Airplane Company.
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Eddie Bauer's Tennis Shop opens; name soon changes to Eddie Bauer's Sports Shop.
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Henry Luce forms Time, Inc.
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With his brother Roy, Walt Disney forms Disney Brothers Studio, which later becomes the Walt Disney Company.
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The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is formed, with General Electric a part owner.
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The first DC-3 airplane flight occurs on December 17.
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The United Auto Workers stage their first sit-down strike.
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Earl Tupper forms the Earl S. Tupper Company (later Tupperware, Inc.) to create industrial plastics.
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All Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors plants convert to military production.
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Richard and Maurice McDonald open their first fast-food restaurant in San Bernadino, California.
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The first Japanese car, a Toyota, is sold in the United States.
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Bank of America launches the first credit card.
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Bell Labs scientists invent the laser.
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Berry Gordy launches the Tamla and Motown record labels after borrowing $800 from his family.
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The first Wal-Mart store opens in Rogers, Arkansas.
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The first Kmart store opens in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan.
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The Instamatic, Kodak's most popular camera ever, appears in stores.
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Blue Ribbon Sports's (later renamed Nike) first best-selling shoe, the Cortez, takes the United States by storm.
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Donald and Doris Fisher open the first Gap store in San Francisco, California.
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Children's Television Workshop broadcasts the first episode of Sesame Street.
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The first Starbucks coffee shop opens in Seattle, Washington.
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From its hub airport in Memphis, Tennessee, FedEx begins service to twenty-five U.S. citites.
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Wally "Famous" Amos begins baking cookies to sell commercially.
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Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak form the Apple Computer Company and sell their first personal computers.
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Former model and stockbroker Martha Stewart starts a catering business in her Westport, Connecticut, home.
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Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield start Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc., and open their first ice cream scoop shop in Burlington, Vermont.
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Ted Turner starts CNN, the first twenty-four-hour cable news station.
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Apple introduces the Macintosh computer, which includes such features as a mouse and graphical user interface.
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AT&T is divided up into seven regional phone companies.
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Nike signs basketball player Michael Jordan to promote its shoes.
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Microsoft Bookshelf is Microsoft's first product on CD-ROM.
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Time, Inc., and Warner Communications merge, forming Time Warner.
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Dayton Hudson Corporation buys Marshall Field's. Vera Wang Bridal House Ltd. opens on Madison Avenue in New York.
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Jeffrey Katzenberg, Steven Spielberg, and David Geffen join forces to form a new entertainment company, DreamWorks SKG.
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Jeff Bezos opens Amazon.com on the Internet, offering one million titles.
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The U.S. Justice Department accuses Microsoft of violating antitrust laws.
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Netscape is bought by America Online for $4.2 billion.
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Reflecting the growth of its discount stores, Dayton Hudson changes its name to Target Corporation.
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Children's Television Workshop changes its name to Sesame Workshop.
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Amazon.com posts its first profit, $5.1 million in the fourth quarter.
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Kmart Corporation files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.