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This Month in Business History

February

Black and white photograph of the Woolworth skyscraper and surrounding buildings in New York City, circa 1913.
The Pictorial News Company, NY. [View of Woolworth Building and surrounding buildings, New York City] c1913. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Woolworth's Five and Dime

It was 1878 and Frank Winfield Woolworth was working in a general store. The 5-cent merchandise table was set up and staffed by Frank. As he assisted the customers that crowded around the table, Frank resolved to start a store of his own stocked only with 5-cent merchandise.


The Flint, Michigan, Sit-Down Strike

Once called "the strike heard round the world," the first major labor dispute in the U.S. auto industry ended after General Motors signed a contract with the United Auto Workers Union on February 11, 1937.


First Bank of the United States Chartered

The first Bank of the United States was chartered for a term of twenty years, by the United States Congress on February 25, 1791.


Department of Commerce Founded

In 1902 Congress passed legislation to create the Department of Commerce and Labor which began operation in February 1903. The agency was renamed the Department of Commerce in 1913.


Patent for the Air Conditioner Issued to Willis H. Carrier

Patent 1,085,971 was issued for a “Method of humidifying air and controlling the humidity and temperature thereof” to inventor Willis H. Carrier on February 3, 1914.


Memphis Sanitation Workers Went on Strike

In February 1968, over 1,000 sanitation workers from the Memphis Department of Public Works working for the Memphis Department of Public Works went on strike after two workers were killed by a malfunctioning truck.

National Child Labor Committee Chartered by Congress

On February 21, 1907, the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC) was chartered by Congress (34 Stat 914) as a result of the tireless advocacy of two groups: the Alabama Child Labor Committee led by Rev. Edgar G. Murphy and the New York Child Labor Committee.