Pbs Who Made America? Elisha Otis

A biography of the man who invented the elevator.

He defied the naysayers to create 24-hour cable news network, democratizing information and changing forever the way America -- and the world -- sees itself.

This frontiersman helped people travel and trade in the nation's interior by opening up the only viable highways -- American rivers.

In popular mythology, Eli Whitney has been deemed the "father of American technology," for two innovations: the cotton gin, and the idea of using interchangeable parts.

Recognizing the power of advertising, Woodruff took the Coca Cola Company from an American success story to an international powerhouse.

From the series, They Made America, on PBS, this biography of George Westinghouse tells about his development of the air brake for railroad cars, and his experimentation with alternating current that revolutionized the transmission of...

An illiterate, impoverished daughter of freed slaves built the largest black-owned business in America, made a fortune, and touched thousands with her philanthropy.

Biographical essay on A.P. Giannini, the son of immigrants who loaned to immigrants when other bankers refused. He built a vast Western banking empire, fueling California's growth, and created a national system of branch banks to serve...

One-page profile of influential innovator, Henry Ford, whose vision and ideas created low-cost forms of production that made cars affordable to the average American.

One-page profile of influential innovator, Lewis Tappan, an abolitionist whose vision and ideas created America's first credit rating and reporting system.