Madam C. J. Walker

popular name: Isidor Straus

date_of_death: April 15, 1912

age: 67

cause_of_death: Drowning at sea (Titanic)

claim_to_fame: Business and Finance

best_know_for: Isidor Straus (1845–1912) was a German-born American businessman, politician, and philanthropist best known as a co-owner of Macy’s department store and for his tragic death aboard the RMS Titanic. Born in Otterberg, Germany, he immigrated with his family to the United States in 1854, settling in Georgia before moving north after the Civil War. Along with his brother Nathan, Isidor built a successful career in retail, becoming a partner in R.H. Macy & Co. in New York City. Beyond business, he served as a U.S. Congressman for New York’s 15th district from 1894 to 1895 and was widely respected for his integrity and charitable work. Isidor married Ida Blun in 1871, and the two shared a famously devoted relationship. The couple perished together on April 15, 1912, when the Titanic sank—refusing to be separated as the ship went down. Their enduring love story became one of the most poignant and enduring legends of the disaster. While Ida's body was never found, Isidor Straus' remains made their way to New York where he was interred (eventually) at the Straus Family mausoleum at historic Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York. Ida is represented by an urn of ocean water recovered at the sight of the sinking of the Titanic.

popular name: Herman Armour

date_of_death: September 8, 1901

age: 64

cause_of_death: Heart attack

claim_to_fame: Business and Finance

best_know_for: At the young age of 18 Herman Armour left home and made his way to Milwaukee where he opened a butcher shop, eventually becoming Armour, Plankington & Co. With loads of ambition he left the business in charge of his partner, John Plankington, in 1862 and headed to Chicago where he established a grain commission business. Three years later he moved again, opening a branch office of Armour, Plankington & Co. (now a major pork packing business) in New York City. In 1868 Armour founded the commission house, H. O. Armour & Company, in New York City. By this time Herman's brother Philip oversaw the Midwestern packing business, renamed Armour & Co. in 1870. In 1875 that operation was moved to Chicago. With the death of his brother Philip in 1901, his son, J. Ogden Armour, took over the meatpacking business, hired thousands of African-American workers to break a union strike in 1904, and by 1923, as Armour Refrigerator Line was broken up for anti-trust violations, the business was at the brink of bankruptcy. After the younger Armour was fired, the company recovered and remained a major meatpacker for decades.

popular name: Andrew Carnegie

date_of_death: August 11, 1919

age: 83

cause_of_death: Bronchial Pneumonia

claim_to_fame: Business and Finance

best_know_for: Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist who played a pivotal role in the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century. Born on November 25, 1835, in Dunfermline, Scotland, Carnegie emigrated to the United States with his family in 1848, settling in Pennsylvania. Starting as a bobbin boy in a cotton factory, he quickly rose through the ranks of the business world, eventually founding the Carnegie Steel Company, which became the largest and most profitable industrial enterprise of its time. After selling his company to J.P. Morgan in 1901 for $480 million (equivalent to billions today), Carnegie devoted the rest of his life to philanthropy. He believed in the "Gospel of Wealth," the idea that the rich have a moral obligation to use their wealth for the betterment of society. Carnegie donated over $350 million during his lifetime to causes such as libraries, education, and peace initiatives. He died on August 11, 1919, leaving behind a legacy as one of the richest men in history and one of its most generous philanthropists. Upon his death, Andrew Carnegie was laid to rest at the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York.