Mar 22Campane MarinelliCAMPANE MARINELLI — Founded 1339 Art historians think that somewhere around 2000 BC, a craftsman living between the Black Sea and the Persian Gulf, created a sculpture out of beeswax. Then they covered it in damp clay and cooked it in a fire. Obviously the beeswax melted, creating an empty…Campane Marinelli3 min read
Mar 22Bushmills WhiskeyBushmills Whiskey — Founded 1608 In Ireland, distilling whiskey dates back to the 11th century when monks turned wheat and barley into a mash and let it ferment. …Bushmills Whiskey3 min read
Feb 24NISHIYAMA ONSEN KEIUNKANNISHIYAMA ONSEN KEIUNKAN — Founded 704 慶雲館 Riddle me this. Why would anyone open a hotel in the least populated town in Japan? And how could this same hotel continue to operate successfully since 705 AD? Well, it all began with a man named Masuto and a cloud that appeared…Entrepreneurship3 min read
Feb 22RaeapteekThe city of Tallinn, Estonia was settled in 1050, when the townspeople built an enormous wooden fortress to defend themselves against King Valdemar II of Denmark. It didn’t work. They lost. The area succumbed again to invaders during The Baltic Crusades, a brutal military campaign organized by Catholic popes to…Raeapteek3 min read
Feb 19TrudonTRUDON — Founded 1643 Imagine the flex of being the Royal Wax Manufacturer. Now it may not be that awe-inspiring today, but when the world (and France in particular) was lit by candlelight, Trudon, the world’s oldest candlemaker held that revered distinction. Still, it was a humble beginning. Claude Trudon…Entrepreneurship3 min read
Feb 19StiftskellerSTIFTSKELLER ST PETER — Founded 803 Christopher Columbus, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Johann Georg Faust walk into a bar. Well it’s really more a bar/restaurant. But it is the oldest continuously operating restaurant in the world. It’s called Stiftskeller St Peter and it’s in Salzburg, Austria. It opened its doors…Entrepreneurship2 min read
Feb 12FAMAEFAMAE — Founded 1811 Even though Europeans were endowed with all the right stuff for colonization, namely guns and disease, they had a difficult time going up against Chile. Because even as early as 1578 when Sir Francis Drake tried to colonize Chile, he failed. Why? …Entrepreneurship3 min read
Feb 4Mount Gay RumMOUNT GAY RUM — Founded 1703 Sometimes the longevity of a business is based on kismet. Intangible synchronicities that have supplied the enterprise with the right ingredients for success for hundreds of years. Having Mother Nature on your side definitely helps. The terroir (French for the environmental factors that ultimately…Entrepreneurship2 min read
Jan 28FiskarsFISKARS Founded 1649 Iron smelting is said to have taken place among the Calybes of Armenia, subjects of the Hittite Empire, at about 1500 BCE. When their empire collapsed around 1200 BCE, the various tribes took the knowledge of iron making with them, spreading it across Europe and Asia. …Productivity3 min read
Dec 28, 2021ZildjianImagine Istanbul in the year 1622. There’s this guy, Avedis, who spends all his waking hours valiantly trying to turn copper and iron into gold. Like so many other alchemists of his time, things will not go according to plan. …Entrepreneurship5 min read
