Same Day, Different Century

The Bookkeeper's Empire

Zach Ipsen

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On July 8, 1839, John D. Rockefeller was born in Richford, New York, the son of a devout Baptist mother and a traveling-salesman father. He would eventually build Standard Oil into an empire controlling ninety percent of American refining. His methods drew admiration and fury in equal measure, and the government's effort to break the company apart helped him become one of the wealthiest people in American history.