Procter & Gamble
Founded during: The Panic of 1837
Candle maker William Procter and soap maker James Gamble joined forces to start a small household-goods business in Cincinnati.IBM
Founded during: The Depression, 1873-1896
Three startups – the Tabulating Machine Company, the International Time Recording Company and the Computing Scale Corporation – developed technologies during this 23-year period that were in demand despite the sour economy. A time clock for recording workers’ hours, for example, was needed as industrial production at the end of the century surged. Also, a tabulating machine was vital during the immigration wave, to tally up the expanding population. These three companies merged in 1911 as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company, which changed its name to IBM several years later.FedEx
Founded during: The Oil Crisis of 1973
Entrepreneur Frederick W. Smith identified a pressing business need: important documents had to reach their destinations within one or two days. He incorporated a company called Federal Express in June 1971 and began operations in 1973 from Memphis International Airport.Photo by Procter & Gamble.