Andrew Carnegie, a well-known Scottish-American, who rose from a life of utter poverty to become an industrialist, is considered as the second richest man in history. He built his fortunes mainly through the steel industry. He was a great visionary who could foresee and encash the business opportunities well in time thereby becoming the leader of the American steel industry. He built the Carnegie Steel Company which was the largest and most profitable industrial enterprise in the world in 1890s. Later, he sold it to J.P. Morgan who created U.S. Steel. He later turned towards philanthropy and did significant work in the field of education and culture. He founded various organizations like Carnegie Corporation of New York, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Carnegie Mellon University and the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh. His benevolence can be seen in the donations he made for the promotion of education, uplifting the weaker section of the society and world peace.
Andrew Carnegie was born on November 25, 1835 to William Carnegie and Margaret Morrison Carnegie in Dunfermline, Scotland. His father was a weaver and moved the entire family to Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, in 1848 after industrialization phase that rendered him jobless and in relentless poverty. He started to work in cotton factories but did not continue for long and ended up making linens at home.
It was only after Carnegie lost his father in 1855, he realized the importance of education. He quit his job at the cotton factories and diverted towards reading, theater and music.
Quite in time Carnegie was able to run the household through his earnings. Starting in 1850 as a messenger boy for a telegraph office in Pittsburg, he moved on to become secretary to Thomas A. Scott (superintendent of Pennsylvania Railroad) in 1853.
Carnegie also rendered services to the military telegraph during the Civil War and finally took the job the superintendent of Pennsylvania Railroad at the age of eighteen. His contribution was seen in laying down railway lines in Washington D.C.
His association with Thomas Scott proved quite beneficial. The Railroad business being the top rated business in America in those days, helped Carnegie in honing his managerial skills.
He was educated at the Free School in Dunfermline, which had been a gift to the town by the philanthropist Adam Rolland of Gask
