Before 2010, higher-income taxpayers were subject to a phase-out rule that curtailed deductions for personal and dependent exemptions. That rule was gone for 2010, 2011 and 2012 but is back for 2013 and beyond. Also back is the phase-out of itemized deductions for high earners.
Bernard Gotfryd/ Getty Images. In 1943, naval engineer Richard James was trying to develop a spring that would support and stabilize sensitive equipment on ships. When one of the springs accidentally fell off a shelf, it continued moving, and James got the idea for a toy. His wife Betty came up with the name, and when the Slinky made its debut in late 1945, James sold 400 of the bouncy toys in 90 minutes. Today, more than 250 million Slinkys have been sold worldwide.
The next famous scene in Slinky history has the pair arriving at Gimbel's Department Store in Philadelphia on a snowy day before Christmas, where Richard James ran his Slinky's down a sloped board. Crowds of customers clutched dollar bills. The couple sold out their stock of 400 toys in an hour and a half. Richard James would become the company's first face and eventually he seemed to succumb to the success and fame (yes, fame!) that came with the Slinky's popularity. He did the TV circuit, made increasingly large donations to shady religious charities.