Robert Chesebrough Vaseline. In 1875, he founded the Chesebrough Manufacturing Company that in 1955 became Chesebrough-Ponds, a leading manufacturer of personal-care products. Chesebrough patented the process of making petroleum jelly (U.S. Patent 127,568) in 1872. By 1874, stores were selling over 1400 jars of Vaseline a day. Chesebrough's success stemmed from firm belief in his product. Before he began selling petroleum jelly, he tested it on his own cuts and burns. Chesebrough was still unable to sell any to drug stores until he travelled around New York demonstrating his miracle product. In front of an audience, he would burn his skin with
What Is a Nation? What Is a Nation? "What is a Nation?" ("Qu'est-ce qu'une nation?") is an 1882 lecture by French historian Ernest Renan (1823–1892), known for the statements that a nation is "a daily referendum", and that nations are based as much on what the people jointly forget, as what they remember. It is frequently quoted or anthologized in works of history or political science pertaining to nationalism and national identity. Renan wrote "What is a Nation" in order to symbolize the nationalism which was born in France as a result of the French Revolution of 1789. Renan begins his essay by noting