Use of nickel (as a natural meteoric nickelâiron alloy) has been traced as far back as 3500 BCE. Nickel was first isolated and classified as a chemical element in 1751 by Axel Fredrik Cronstedt, who initially mistook the ore for a copper mineral.
One of the most powerful bankers of his era, J.P. (John Pierpont) Morgan (1837-1913) financed railroads and helped organize U.S. Steel, General Electric and other major corporations.
He was succeeded in the business by his son, also J.P. Morgan. Born at Irvington, New York, on September 7, 1867, the next J.P. Morgan was Harvard educated, where he graduated in 1889. Like his father, he did a brief stint in London before joining the New York office, becoming a partner in 1892.