John B. Curtis
Businessman
Died when: 69 years 246 days (836 months)Star Sign: Libra
John Bacon Curtis (October 10, 1827 – June 13, 1897) was an American businessman from Maine.He is credited as the inventor of chewing gum, as well as the first person to commercialize it using natural products and flavorings.
He got the idea for making chewing gum after seeing loggers chew spruce resin.He started with this product and changed it a couple of years later to a flavored paraffin wax gum, which was more successful.
He eventually built a factory in Maine that employed some 200 employees and produced several brands of chewing gum.From the profits he made from his business, he expanded into commercial farming and owned over 10,000 acres (4,000 ha) of land.
He had become wealthy and by the time he died at the age of 70 in 1897 he was worth $15.9 million in 2021 dollars.
