Henry Clay Frick, The Chimpanzee Test and Better Morning Routines and Habits

Henry Clay Frick understood a fundamental truth about American capitalism: production creates the foundation for everything else. Born in 1849 to modest Mennonite parents in Pennsylvania, he transformed himself from rural obscurity into one of the most powerful industrialists in history. His weapon was coke — the refined coal essential for steel production.

By age 30, Frick was a millionaire. Not through inheritance or speculation, but by systematically building the infrastructure that would feed America's industrial hunger. He didn't just sell coke; he controlled the entire supply chain from mining to delivery, creating what would become the backbone of Andrew Carnegie's steel empire.