Famous Lefthander Birthday, July 30

U.S. Automobile Manufacturer and Inventor Henry Ford

Henry Ford II (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was born in Greenfield, Dearborn, Michigan. He was the American founder of the Ford Motor Company and considered the father of modern assembly lines for automobile mass production. His introduction of the Model T automomobile revolutionized transportation in America.

His commitment to lowering costs resulted in many technical and business innovations, including a franchise system that put a dealership in every city in North America, and in major cities on other continents. He left most of his vast wealth to the Ford Foundation but arranged for his family to control the company permanently. As owner of the Ford Motor Company he became one of the richest and best-known people in the world. He is credited with what is termed as “Fordism” coined after his name, which means the mass production of large numbers of affordable automobiles using the assembly line, coupled with high wages for his workers. Ford had a global vision, with consumerism as the key to peace.

A friend of the famous inventor, Thomas Alva Edison, Henry Ford II was also a prolific inventor and an innovator, and was awarded 161 U.S. patents.

Photo credit:  Wikimedia Commons

June 27  Birthday Celebrants

Henry Ross Perot - American businessman, presidential candidate in 1992 and 1996.

Helen Keller - American writer and lecturer. Blind and deaf from infancy, left-handed Helen Keller became the first woman to receive an honorary degree from Harvard.

Famous Lefthander Birthday, October 28

Computer Mogul & Business Magnate Bill Gates

William Henry “Bill” Gates III was born October 28, 1955, in Seattle, Washington. He is an American business magnate, co-founder of Microsoft Corporation, and philanthropist. He co-founded Microsoft, the software company, with Paul Allen. He is ranked consistently one of the world’s wealthiest, and the wealthiest as of 2009. Gates has also authored or co-authored several books.

Gates is one of the best-known entrepreneurs of the personal computer technology. Later in his career, Gates has pursued a number of philanthropic endeavours, donating large amounts of money to various charitable organizations and scientific research programs through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, established in 2000.  He stepped down as CEO of Microsoft in January, 2000. He remained as chairman and created the position of chief software architect. In June, 2006, he announced he would be transitioning from full-time work at Microsoft to part-time work, and full-time at the B & M Gates Foundation. Gates’ last full-time day at Microsoft was June 27, 2008. He remains as non-executive chairman of Microsoft.

In 1994, Bill Gates purchased fellow lefty Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex Leicester, the artist’s treasured collection of writings, for more than $30 million in an auction.

Image source:  Bill Gates World Economic Forum, 2007, Wikimedia Commons

Famous Lefthander Birthday, August 13

Actress, inventor and entrepreneur, Quinn Cummings

Quinn Cummings was born on born August 13, 1967, in Los Angeles, California. She’s an American movie and television actress, entrepreneur, inventor, and author.  A child-actress, she was nominated for an Oscar in her role in Neil Simon’s 1977 adaptation of the The Goodbye Girl, as Marsha Mason’s daughter, Lucy McFadden.

Photo Source:  CelebrityNooz

Famous Lefthander Birthday, July 18

Malcolm Stevenson “Steve” Forbes, Jr., businessman, publisher and politician, is born on July 18, 1947, the son of Malcolm Forbes and the editor-in-chief of business magazine Forbes.  He is the president and chief executive officer of its publisher, Forbes Inc.

In 1996 and 2000, he was a Republican candidate in the U.S. Presidential primaries.

His grandfather, B.C. Forbes founder of Forbes Magazine.

Birthday Celebrants, July 8  – John D. Rockefeller, Senior (grandfather) and Nelson Rockefeller (grandson)

Yes, they have the same birthday!   John D. Rockefeller Senior and politician Nelson Rockefeller.

John Davison Rockefeller (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937), an American industrialist and philanthropist, revolutionized the petroleum industry. He had four daughters and one son, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. In 1870, he founded the Standard Oil Company and. Standard Oil began as an Ohio partnership formed by him, his brother William Rockefeller, Henry Flagler, chemist Samuel Andrews, and Stephen V. Harkness. Rockefeller kept his stock and as kerosene and gasoline grew in importance, his wealth soared and he became the world’s richest man and the first American billionaire, and is often regarded as history’s richest person. His fortune was mainly used to create the modern systematic approach of targeted philanthropy with foundations that had a major effect on medicine, education, and scientific research. His foundations pioneered the development of medical research. He also founded The University of Chicago and Rockefeller University. He was a devoted Northern Baptist and supported many church-based institutions in his life.

Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979), son of John D. Rockefeller Jr., and grandson of John Davison Rockefeller Sr., a philanthropist and businessman,  was the 41st Vice President of the U.S., and the 49th governor of New York.  He was a leader of the Republican Party liberal wing, and became the Governor of New York from 1959 to 1973. Rockefeller launched many construction and modernization projects. He retired from politics when his term as Vice President ended.  As a child, lefty Nelson Rockefeller had dyslexia impairment. His determination and hard work overcame his reading difficulty and he achieved success in business, eventually becoming the vice president of the U.S.