In 1930, researchers for the DuPont Company studied chains of molecules called polymers in an attempt to find a substitute for silk.  Pulling a heated rod from a beaker containing carbon- and alcohol-based molecules, they found the mixture stretched and, at room temperature, had a silky texture.  This work culminated in the production of nylon marking the beginning of a new era in synthetic fibers.

 

Nylon was first used for fishing line, surgical sutures and toothbrush bristles.  DuPont touted its new fiber as being "as strong as steel, as fine as a spider's web," and first announced and demonstrated nylon and nylon stockings to the American public at the 1939 New York World's Fair.

 

DuPont built the first full-scale nylon stockings plant in Seaford, Delaware, and began commercial production in late 1939.  The company decided not to register nylon as a trademark but to allow the word "nylon" to enter the American vocabulary as a synonym for stockings, and from the time it went on sale to the general public in May 1940, nylon hosiery was a huge success  -- women lined up at stores across the country to obtain the precious goods."  The first year on the market, DuPont sold 64 million pairs of stockings.  That same year, nylon appeared in the movie, The Wizard of Oz, where it was used to create the tornado that carried Dorothy to the Emerald City.

 

In 1942, nylon went to war in the form of parachutes and tents.  Nylon stockings were the favorite gift of American soldiers to impress British women.  Nylon stockings were scarce in America until the end of World War II, but then returned with a vengeance.  Shoppers crowded stores, and one San Francisco store was forced to halt stocking sales when it was mobbed by 10,000 anxious shoppers.  Today, nylon is still used in all types of apparel and is the second most used synthetic fiber in the United States.  (Source:  Mary Bellis, Inventors Expert) 

   

With high school graduation just around the corner, students and parents are concentrating on choosing the "right" college for optimizing higher education goals. But, is a college education right for every student? Many experts are saying, "No" and backing it up with factual evidence.

While millions of college graduates prepare to join the workforce, they face an economy with high unemployment rates, increasing competition for jobs and mounting debt from college expenses.  Compare that to currently working employees who didn't attend college but have spent the past four years making money and honing their workplace skills while amassing little to no debt.

According to the U.S. Dept. of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, the minimum cost for obtaining a bachelor's degree in 2010 was $50,000.  Average debt for student loans is about $25,000, and debts of $100,000 are not unheard of. Assuming a high school graduate has no degree but is willing to do some advanced training (i.e. technical school), wages could be around $30,000 a year as a beginner. That means that over four years, they would earn about $120,000 while their counterpart who is in college earns little or nothing, and may even carry the same amount in debt by graduation.

Many very successful entrepreneurs choosing to start their own businesses are not college-educated. For some billionaires, especially those who saw their fortunes grow at very young ages, college probably seemed like a waste of time. A report released by market research firm Approved Index has revealed that just under a third of the world's billionaires do not have college degrees.

In the end, all business opera- tions can be reduced to three words:  people, product and profits.  Unless you've got a good team, you can't do much with the other two.

A little boy wanted $100 very badly and prayed for weeks, but nothing happened.  Then, he decided to write God a letter requesting the $100.

When the post office received the letter addressed to "God, USA," they decided to send it to the president.  The president was so amused that he instructed his secretary to send the little boy a $5 bill.  He thought this would appear to be a lot of money to a little boy.

The little boy was delighted with the $5 bill and sat down to write a thank-you note to God which read, "Dear God:  Thank you very much for sending the money.  However, I noticed that for some reason you sent it through Washington D.C. and they took $95 in taxes."