I found a better list of the SO spinoffs than my memory. The following companies were once part of the Standard Oil Trust:
Amoco
Chevron
Marathon Oil
Exxon
Atlantic-Richfield
Sohio
Mobil
Conoco
Sinclair Oil (remember the Sinclair Dinosaur?)
In addition to 11 oil companies being spun off, there were an additional 24 products and services companies that were extracted from the Standard Trust.
Jupiter!
… what?
From my perspective- and I’m not prepared to debate, so I shouldn’t post this- I’d definitely say the founders of Christianity. Most of the ‘disciples,’ if they existed, which they prob. did not, were prob. illiterate. They prob. did not even use any of the rabbi’s actual written teachings or recorded miracles when they spread their religion.
It was up to Paul to invent things to create the backbone of this church. And he did! Drawing from saviour gods, midrash, etc. By the end of the first century, there may have been 7,000? Christians in these established churches!
Apostle Peter may have written in 2 Peter: Don’t worry about why he hasn’t come back yet- 1,000 years is like a day to him, and v.v.! Nice one, Petie!
The anonymous writer of Mark was able to combine the miracle myths of Jesus with the sayings gospel in a concise read for the Roman church.
Author of Matthew cannibalized the Septuagint while copying Mark to get Jews to believe.
Author of Luke made up/copied all the legends/false history he knew of, often wrong, in hopes of drawing it all together. Same with Acts. But his is certainly the least-propagandish of them all. He was only writing for one man, poss., had little bias?
Whoever wrote Revelations certainly knew his OT, and knew exactly how to keep the churches going 100%.
And then there were the writers of Gosple John, who wrote an eloquent document (around 130 AD?) that:
[ul]
[li]Using great OT imagery in poetic manner to condemn the Jews and gain them as converts! Also, more decontextualized verses.[/li][li]Uses a mystical saviour god to gain Gentile converts![/li][li]Gives the churches what they needed: something that shouts I AM AN EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT! AND YOU CAN BE SURE THIS ACCOUNT IS TRUE; JESUS LOVED ME MOST OF ALL! [/li][li]Thomas, you believe b/c you have seen- BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO DON’T SEE YET BELIEVE ANYWAYS (HINT HINT)[/li][li]FATHER, MAY MY BELIEVERS BE AS ONE (HINT: COME TOGETHER, CHURCHES)[/li][/ul]
These guys had NO IDEA how far their religion was going to spread across Earth, so I can’t say they planned the last 2,000 years. But I can say that these individuals planned pretty well in terms of the early churches. They knew exactly how to run this scam!
Napoleon. He conquered Italy in his 20s, was the leader of France by his 30s and conquered most of Europe by the time he was 40. He also helped codify a new set of laws for France, and he brought some stability to France for a bit.
He also completely reformed the justice system, the administrative system, the education system, and most of what he implemented is still more or less in place.
(some aren’t anymore, but were nevertheless as much important at his time. For instance, the concordate signed with the Vatican settled the issue of the status of the clergy, which had been during all the revolution era a major issue).
He also reinstated slavery, which had been abolished by the republic.
I can’t consider people like Hitler or Napoleon great planners considering the ultimate failures of their plans.
Aaiiee, Zombie thread?
Any way, since it’s been resurrected, I’ll have to say the founding fathers. They built what is IMHO the best possible political system ever from scratch. Obviously, there was a huge flaw in it–slavery–which nearly tore the country apart, whose ugliness will forever be a stain on the nation, and whose ramifications cause damage to this day. However, even given that horrible flaw, the ideals in the constitution are noble, and to see them actually carried out is awe inspiring.
To have a revolution and not have it degenerate into tyranny is rare.
actually, i am the greatest planner of all time, and the proof of this will be delivered on the twenty-second of february, 3874, at forty-one minutes past three in the afternoon, eastern standard time, by courrier, to the mayor of a small town that does not yet exist in what is today northern quebec.
I know. But I made sure that the postman will be bribed so that he won’t deliver your letter.
a-ha! you fell for my decoy… the real letter hasn’t even been written yet.
step 507 of 8391 complete!
… and besides, it’s not even me who will write the letter.
ok, i’ve said too much… or have i?
Keyzer Soze in ‘The Usual Suspects’
Oops.
Sinclair was not part of the Standard Oil trust - it bought out a couple of the smaller Standard Oil 1911 spinoffs and acquired rights (unexercised) to use the Standard name and brand.
Marathon Oil also wasn’t an original part of the trust, but it still counts as it was bought out by one of the 24 smaller companies that the Trust was dissolved into (the Ohio Oil company - a different entity than Sohio (which merged with BP in 1968)), these 24 being in addition to the Seven Sisters. So Rockefellers creation was actually broken up into 31 separate corporations, all of them money-makers.
This’ll cause groans, but I say Quentin Tarantino. There have been many great directors, but with Tarantino, I feel like he is the most logical, sensible, energetic, creative, flawless filmmaker so far. In terms of planning, I can think of no other filmmaker who planned his career so well.
All his movies are 100% perfect in concept, energy, and execution, and his trademarks- the surprises, the drawing from other films, the incredibly skilled use of music, the non-linear storytelling, the pop-cultural references- they all seem perfect. It seems like it was absolutely necessary for a Tarantino to exist in the film world; someone had to do things the way he does.
[/admiration]
Back to military. I’m going to go with Wellington: he was the first general to master logistics.