John Henry was born in Dayton, Ohio back in 1844. He graduated from Dartmouth in 1867. From the day he graduated until 1870, he worked as a canal toll collector. In 1870, you could find him managing the Southern Ohio and Iron Company. In 1882, he invested in a company and by 1884 he and his brother bought the company, (more on that in a moment).
In 1893, he constructed the first “daylight factory” with floor-to-ceiling glass windows that could be opened to let fresh air in. He was a harsh business owner, firing people that could not tell him why the flags were flying that day or how to ride a horse properly. During the Great Dayton Flood of 1913, he organized the building of 300 flat-bottomed boats, saving thousands of people while using his building to house, feed and provide medical care for those effected. He died in 1922 at 77.
What you may not know about John Henry Patterson is that the company he bought out in 1844, well it was the National Manufacturing Company, he later changed the name to the National Cash Register Company (NCR). Today the company employees over 30,000 people. Until tomorrow keep that smile on your face and a penny in your pocket
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