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Raised turkeys to sell as a small business when he was only 7 years old
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John D. Rockefeller drops out of high school two months shy of commencement. He enters a professional school, where he studies double-entry bookkeeping, penmanship, banking, and commercial law
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Rockefeller and Clark opened their own bussiness
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Rockefeller founded Standard Oil of Ohio with $1 million in capital, the largest corporation in the country. The new company controls 10 percent of U.S. petroleum refining.
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At age 38, Rockefeller -still relatively unknown to the public -- controls almost 90 percent of the oil refined in the United States.
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At age 40, Rockefeller is numbered among the country's 20 richest men
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Rockefeller created the first trust.
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At Laura's suggestion, John gave $5,000 to a school for black women in Atlanta, Georgia. It was later renamed Spelman College in honor of Laura's parents who were abolitionists.
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Standard Oil moves into new headquarters at 26 Broadway in New York. The address will become synonymous with Rockefeller's business empire
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John D. Rockefeller gave $600,000 to a small school in Chicago, Illinois. John continued to give large amounts of money to what would become the University of Chicago.
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Rockefeller agrees to contribute to the founding of a new Baptist College in chicago University of chicago will become his first major philanthropic undertaking.
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Congress passes the Sherman Antitrust Act, which outlaws trusts and combinations in restraint of trade and also establishes fines for violators. The law is still in effect today
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Late 1890's Standard Oil attains its peak influence, its dividends surge to 31% and it's control of the market is uncontested.
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once retired from the daily operations of running one of the world’s largest businesses he kept himself busy with charitable endeavors, becoming one of the more respected philanthropists in history.
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Rockefeller decides to retire from Standard Oil, gradually and secretly, in a move designed to keep the press and the public in the dark
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Rockefeller Institute for Medical research is created. the institute called Rockefeller University today, will become a leader in the new field of experimental medicine.
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The United States Justice Department ordered the break-up of Standard Oil into 39 companies
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President Wilson sends federal troops to curb an outbreak of violence in tent camps in Colorado.
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World War I begins. The Rockefellers donate millions to international relief agencies
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Two years after Rockefeller dies World War II begins.