King Camp Gillette was a traveling salesman who spent years looking for something disposable — a product people would throw away and buy again. He landed on a thin stamped steel razor blade. By 1901 he had a patent. By 1904, he was selling 90,000 razors a year. He died in 1932, having invented the razor-and-blades business model — sell the handle cheap, profit on the blades — that Apple, inkjet printers, and video game consoles still use. Born January 5, 1855.
January 5, 1855
171 years ago
What Else Happened on January 5
Edward the Confessor died January 5, 1066 without an heir. Three men claimed the throne within months: Harold Godwinson, Harald Hardrada of Norway, William of N…
Charles the Bold spent his reign building Burgundy into something between a kingdom and an empire — richer than France, more powerful than most actual monarchie…
Charles the Bold fell at the Battle of Nancy and Burgundy fell with him. His body was found frozen in a pond, face down, three days after the battle. Without an…
Ludovico Sforza had been ruling Milan as regent when he invited the French king Charles VIII into Italy in 1494 — hoping French muscle would protect him from ri…
Felix Manz helped found the Anabaptist movement in Zurich — one of the earliest groups to insist on adult baptism and the separation of church and state. The ci…
A great fire swept through Eindhoven in January 1554, destroying most of the small Dutch market town. It was one of several catastrophic fires that struck Eindh…
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