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.
Davis and Henderson, founded in 1875, and Harland Clarke, created from a pair of companies founded 1874 and 1923, both trace their origins back to the check printing business. But both companies have evolved, primarily through acquisitions of other types of financial services technology.