They trimmed, soaked, scraped, polished and stretched the tanned leather until the city's name was branded on products around the world. Akron belt company's products helped drive the pulleys and wheels of industry. For more than 60 years, the Akron Belting co. helped drive the pulleys and conveyors of global industry. Its celebrated ''Akron'' and ''Eclipse'' lines of leather belting were always guaranteed to be ''the very best grade of goods. An 1887 photograph taken outside the company's...

They found themselves in frozen and unfriendly environments and were forced to produce in four months, the food, shelter and fuel required to sustain themselves for a full year. They were not geniuses; circumstances forced them to create technologies which multiplied the productivity of the individual; thus, the blade, the wheel and the hoe were invented. Around the year 1200, while travelling in their latest invention (ocean-going ships) the scion of that small band reached the land of...

Corn prices on the cash market have doubled since last fall due to explosive growth in the ethanol industry, driving up costs for cattle, dairy, hog and poultry producers. farmers plan to cash in on the fuel ethanol boom by planting the largest area to corn in 63 years, potentially yielding a record crop and calming fears that renewable fuels will steal grain needed for food and feed, the federal government said on Friday. Based on a survey of 86,000 farmers earlier this month, the...

And the lion s share of payments go only to growers of the five major crops corn, soybeans, wheat, rice and cotton. I am concerned that this proposal will most likely not be responsive to individual farming situations when they most need our support, Chambliss said. Southerners like Chambliss have opposed previous attempts to limit payments because southern farmers who grow cotton and rice would feel limits most keenly. The analysis shows these places have the biggest share of farm returns...

The supreme leader is the highest-ranking political and religious figure in Iran, though an elected president oversees the executive branch of government. Iranian oilfields produce about 4 million barrels a day, or about 5 percent of the world total. Iran has a thriving film industry, producing hundreds of popular and art-house films each year. Iran, which lies along a key drug smuggling route, has one of the highest opiate addiction rates in the world. One of the top-grossing films of...

It's that freedom to fail that's helped make America as prosperous as she is, because it frees people to do more productive things. You may not like it that someone in India takes your customer service call, but outsourcing helps the middle class by bringing lower prices and faster service. It's hard to think of them as needy with all that land, but costs have increased faster than prices. Fred Starrh said he looks at it as "a way to maintain a viable agriculture in this country. Most of...

LONDON: It is called fair trade - a movement aimed at making sure that farmers in Asia and the rest of the developing world get a reasonable price for their products. Like consumers in other rich countries, many British consumers are interested in buying ethically-made goods and produce, with producers getting a fair price. And that's anything from the produce and the coffee where it all started to things like cotton carrier-bags and cakes and ales and those sorts of things. While fair...

At the State House, opponents of illegal immigration upset at the lack of enforcement by Washington are pushing for state laws that would force employers to verify the citizenship of prospective employees, impose criminal penalties on employers who hire illegal workers and require English as the states official language. At the State House, opponents of illegal immigration upset at the lack of enforcement by Washington are pushing for state laws that would force employers to verify the...

Prices are low to clear out many years' worth of inventory from this custom furniture manufacturer before it remodels the building and reorients the business. Fill a basket with cards for all occasions and holidays and toss in some extras -- notepads, notebooks, gift tags, place cards or designs for framing. Choose from chenilles, velvets, tapestries, jacquards, damasks, mattelasses and more; weaves and textures in prints and solids in cottons, linen blends, and rayon and cotton blends....