By Maxine Shapiro, KERA 90.1 business commentator
Dallas, TX – As history is being made in Iraq, let's take a lighter look at a couple of historical events which took place in the past on this day. I'm Maxine Shapiro with KERA Marketplace Midday.
Walter Hunt. Here's a name we should know, but we probably don't. Did he invent the sewing machine, the safety pin, or the knife sharpener? If you said all of the above, you win. On this day in 1849, Walter Hunt was awarded the patent for the safety pin. It is said that Hunt owed a friend $15 on a bet. Trying to figure out some way to pay the debt, he began twisting around a wire and came up with the safety pin. Not thinking much of his invention, he sold it for $400. Hunt paid off his debt and was content with the remaining $385.
There's a similar twist to Hunt inventing the sewing machine in 1834. It's said to be the first successful sewing machine in America. But like many of Hunt's other inventions, he lost interest and never reaped the financial rewards. Today, he would be ridiculed for his reasoning. Walter Hunt believed the sewing machine would cause unemployment. And his invention of the knife sharpener is still manufactured and widely use today.
And what about the name, Charles Keating, Jr.? Sounds so familiar but you can't place it. Here's a hint: Lincoln Savings and Loan. On this day in 1992, Keating was sentenced to nine years in prison for swindling investors. For years, he declared his innocence and got the sentence overturned. Finally in 1999, Keating, 75, pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud and one count of bankruptcy fraud. I would like to quote a 1991 issue of The CPA Journal discussing the lessons accountants can learn from this debacle: "The first and most discouraging of these lessons is that a well-orchestrated fraud will often succeed (at least for a time) even against well-intentioned, hard-working individuals." For KERA Marketplace Midday, I'm Maxine Shapiro.
Marketplace Midday Reports air on KERA 90.1 Monday - Friday at 1:04 p.m. To contact Maxine Shapiro, please send emails to mshapiro@kera.org.
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