Frederick Trent Stanley was born in 1803 in Connecticut.

He began his career selling locks that he and his brother William had made. Business was marginal, and when the Panic of 1837 struck, it went under.

To get away from all the people he owed, he moved to Mississippi for a time, but returned to Connecticut in 1843. He brought with him enough money to buy a former armory to house the Stanley Bolt Manufactory. Stanley sold his bolts from a horse-drawn wagon.

In 1852, with the help of five friends, he was able to expand operations. He renamed the company the Stanley Works. In its first year, the company lost $361.

By 1995, however, sales exceeded $2.6 billion. Today Stanley is one of the world's most recognized brand names for tools and hardware, with over 50,000 different products.