1996: Albert J. ("Chainsaw Al") Dunlap becomes Chairman of Sunbeam Corp., the struggling maker of coffee machines, barbecue grills, and massaging shower heads. The veteran tough-guy turnaround artist announces massive layoffs, factory closings, and other steps that he predicts will save the company $225 million and double revenues by 1999; the stock soars 50% on Dunlap's first day. Less than two years later Dunlap steps down amid allegations of massive accounting fraud.

Sunbeam Corp. Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, March 31, 1997, pp. 1-13 (available at www.sec.gov);Sunbeam Corp. press release, October 20, 1998, at http://

1968: Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore, engineering refugees from Fairchild Semiconductor, establish N.M. Electronics Corp. to miniaturize electronic circuitry onto silicon chips. The firm, based in a small leased building in Mountain View, Calif., generates $2,672 in revenues its first year. It soon changes its name to Intel Corp.

"Robert N. Noyce, 1927-1990," privately printed memorial pamphlet, Sematech, Inc., Austin, Tex., 1990, p. 16