Yesterday on TV I heard that on March 18, 1850 American Express had been founded. I did a little digging and found this:

March 18, 1850
American Express Company is founded.
The three founders-Henry Wells, William G. Fargo and John Butterfield-were not newcomers to the express business. Each was engaged in his own express enterprise, and all three of those firms were competing for business along routes based in and around the state of New York. As the railroads grew, these men could see the demand for express services that westward movement was creating. They were not just at the right place at the right time; they were shrewd businessmen who could back up their ambitions with the capital necessary to achieve some degree of scale in the express business.

Original signatures of the company’s founding shareholders and the number of shares they owned (March 18, 1850)

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