Bill Graham

popular name: Cyrus West Field

date_of_death: July 12, 1892

age: 72

cause_of_death: Natural causes

claim_to_fame: Business and Finance

best_know_for: Cyrus Field (1819-1892) spearheaded the mission to lay the first telegraphic cable across the Atlantic Ocean. As the head of a paper company, he amassed wealth that he used to finance his idea of the transatlantic cable. Leading the Atlantic Telegraph Company, he arranged for the British and American naval ships Agamemnon and Niagara to lay the cable. On August 16, 1858, the first transatlantic message was sent from Queen Victoria to President Buchanan. The cable stopped working three weeks later. In 1866, the Great Eastern successfully laid a functioning and more durable cable across the Atlantic. In later years, he supported other trans-ocean cables from Hawaii to Asia and Australia.

popular name: George Peabody

date_of_death: November 4, 1869

age: 74

cause_of_death: Pneumonia

claim_to_fame: Business and Finance

best_know_for: George Peabody was an American financier and philanthropist and is widely regarded as the father of modern philanthropy. Born into a poor family in Massachusetts, Peabody went into business in dry goods and later into banking. In 1837 he moved to London (which was then the capital of world finance) where he became the most noted American banker and helped to establish the young country's international credit. Having no son of his own to whom he could pass on his business, Peabody took on Junius Spencer Morgan as a partner in 1854 and their joint business would go on to become J.P. Morgan & Co. after Peabody's 1864 retirement. In his old age, Peabody won worldwide acclaim for his philanthropy. He founded the Peabody Trust in Britain and the Peabody Institute and George Peabody Library in Baltimore, and was responsible for many other charitable initiatives. Peabody would have been the first American buried in Westminster Abbey in London had his will not stipulated that his final resting place would be near his boyhood home.

popular name: Rowland H. Macy

date_of_death: March 29, 1877

age: 54

cause_of_death: Bright's disease (kidney failure)

claim_to_fame: Business and Finance

best_know_for: Rowland H. Macy (1822–1877) was an American businessman best known as the founder of Macy’s department store. Born in Nantucket, Massachusetts, he began his career at sea as a whaler before turning to retail. Macy opened a series of small shops, most of which failed, before achieving success with his New York City store, R.H. Macy & Co., founded in 1858 on Sixth Avenue. His innovative business practices—such as fixed prices, cash sales (no credit), and extensive advertising—helped revolutionize retail and set the foundation for the modern department store. Macy’s business thrived, and his store became a landmark of American consumer culture. Rowland H. Macy died in 1877 in Paris, France, reportedly of Bright’s disease (a kidney ailment). After his death, his store continued to grow under Isidor and Nathan Straus, eventually becoming one of the largest and most iconic retail chains in the world. Today visitors can view the grave of Rowland Macy at the historic Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York