Today is December 8th, 2006.

It was on this day in 1765 that Eli Whitney was born in Westborough, Massachusetts. He, of course, is credited with inventing the cotton gin, a device that revolutionized the cotton industry. Did you know that although history remembers Eli Whitney as the inventor, some believe that one of his employees, Catherine Littlefield Greene, was actually the person who invented the cotton gin. Unfortunately, in the late 1700’s when the patent was granted, US law prevented women from receiving patents.

At 10 minutes until 11 PM, on an otherwise quiet street in New York City, four gunshots rang out in the night. Those bullets found themselves lodged in the back of a man who was returning home from work with his wife. That mans name was John Lennon, and he was killed on this date, December 8th in the year 1980.

And finally..

William C. Durant was born in Boston, Massachusetts. William was one of those people who are destined to do big things. I'm sure you've known people like this, they are go-getters, risk-takers and no matter what they do, whether they succeed or fail, they do so in grand fashion.

Although William lived in Boston, his grandfather operated a lumberyard in Flint, Michigan. The fact that Williams grandfather lived and worked in Michigan would have a huge impact on our country's industrial landscape for many generations to come.

As I said before, William's personality was such that he was destined to do big things. So, for instance, had he chosen to move to New York, he may very well have become a very successful Wall Street stockbroker. Or, if he had decided to move to Los Angeles, he would likely have become a pioneer in Hollywood. But, as a teenager, William Durant chose to move from Boston to work in his grandfather's lumberyard, and it would be there, in Flint, Michigan that William would change American industry.

It's hard to imagine now, but 150 years ago, Flint, Michigan was one of the larger lumber-producing areas in the country. Some of that lumber was used to start a very successful horse-drawn carriage manufacturing industry in and around the city of Flint and the go-getter William C. Durant just had to be apart of it. A company that he had helped start would quickly become the nations largest horse-drawn carriage manufacturer.

At the turn of the 20th century as automobiles were quickly replacing horse-drawn carriages, William C. Durant partnered with the Buick Company and within 3 years, Buick produced nearly 9,000 vehicles annually, more than any other company in the United States.

As is the case with most entrepreneurs, William quickly grew tired of working for someone else, so he decided to start his own automobile company. With only $2000, he started a company that would become an icon of American manufacturing. In less than 2 weeks, William Durant would raise $12,000,000 in an initial public offering of stock and General Motors was born. William immediately purchased his former employer, the Buick Company using his GM stock and just 6 weeks later he had also purchased the Olds Corporation, the maker of Oldsmobiles. Next, William purchased another car company named the Oakland Company, based out of Pontiac, Michigan. Soon, this business was renamed Pontiac. Next, the Cadillac Company was purchased for $4.5 million. In an incredible period of just 18 months, William Durant had purchased, acquired or bought into nearly 30 different automobile manufacturers or car part producers.

This rapid growth came at a great cost though. Soon, bankers were demanding repayment of loans and they forced William out of the company that he had started. But William Durant was not a quitter. He immediately teamed up with a man named Louis Chevrolet to form the Chevrolet Motor Company. Within 5 years, profits from this new company allowed Durant to regain control of GM. However, after another 5 years, Durant resigned from the board and yet again started another automobile manufacturer. But the market slowdown leading into the great depression sealed the fate of the Durant Motor Company. After the closing of his last company, Durant would be keep busy with social issues and politics, but he never again regained his prominent position as an American industrial leader.

William C. Durant, the man who founded General Motors and along the way defined the Michigan auto industry was born, on this date, December 8th, in the year 1861.

And that is just one of the things that occurred on this day in history.