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Henry Fox Talbot photo

Henry Fox Talbot

Photographers
United Kingdom
Date of Birth: 1800 — 1877

Henry Talbot was an English polymath - a person whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects. His interest in photography led him to invent the salted paper and calotype process, also called talbotye, in the 1830s. In this technique, a sheet of paper coated with silver chloride was...

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Hester Bateman no photo available

Hester Bateman

Silversmiths
United Kingdom
Date of Birth: 1708 — 1794

The most famous woman silversmith, Bateman was the widow of John Bateman. After his death in 1760, she took over his London-based metalwork business and transformed it into one of the most successful and prolific silversmithing workshops in London. Hester and her sons were known for their...

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Henry Birk, & Sons no photo available

Henry Birk, & Sons

Silversmiths
Canada
Date of Birth: 1879

Birks was by far the largest and most influential Canadian silversmith in the 20th century. Henry Birks & Company was established in Montreal in 1879 as a retail jeweler. It became Henry Birks & Sons in 1893 when his three sons joined the business. In 1897 Birks bought out Hendery & Leslie,...

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Hunt Brothers -  Nelson, Lamar & William Hunt photo

Hunt Brothers - Nelson, Lamar & William Hunt

Scoundrels
United States
Date of Birth: 1926 — 2014

Silver Thursday was an event that occurred in the United States silver commodity markets on Thursday, March 27, 1980, following the attempt by brothers Nelson Bunker Hunt, William Herbert Hunt and Lamar Hunt to corner the silver market. A subsequent steep fall in silver prices led to panic on...

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Henry Comstock photo

Henry Comstock

Scoundrels
Canada
Date of Birth: 1820 — 1870

Henry Tompkins (or Thomas) Paige Comstock (1820–1870) was an Canadian miner after whom the Comstock Lode in Virginia City, Nevada was named. The Comstock Lode was the richest silver mine in American history.

Referred to by history books variously as a "sanctimonious gaffer", an "illiterate...

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Horace Tabor photo

Horace Tabor

Miner
United States
Date of Birth: 1830 — 1899

Horace Tabor's life story is a testament to hard work but also a great anecdote about short-sightedness. From a simple stone-cutter, he would grow to become one of the country's wealthiest men, only to lose his riches after spending lavishly and investing poorly.

Born in Vermont in 1830, Horace...

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Henry Lawrence Vincent Day photo

Henry Lawrence Vincent Day

Miner
United States
Date of Birth: 1902 — 1985

Hank Day (1902-1985) was born in in Spokane, Washington, to Helen Dwyer and Harry Lawrence Day, and grew up in Burke, Idaho, site of the great Hercules mine. In 1905, the family moved to Wallace, Idaho where he remained with the exceptions of when he attended the University of California where,...

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