Rembrandt Haremenszoon Van Rijn, 1606-1669, the famous Dutch painter, accumulated more debts than he could repay and filed for bankruptcy at the age of 50 in 1656. Jacob Peter Thomasz, a lawyer, supervised the sale of his assets in 1657 and 1658. Many of Rembrandt's paintings and his house were sold at an auction. After the bankruptcy, he continued to paint but was not allowed to sell his works directly to customers. He was able to circumvent this law by having his son take over his business and sell his paintings.

1871 Phineas Taylor Barnum, 1810-1891, the greatest American showman, filed for bankruptcy in 1871 due to losses he incurred in unwise business ventures. He even contemplated suicide at the time. After bankruptcy he organized his famous circus, "The Greatest Show On Earth." In 1881 he merged his circus with his most successful competitor, James A. Bailey, under the name of Barnum and Bailey Circus. He made over $2 million in his life time. 1872 Mathew Brady, 1823-1896, distinguished Civil War photographer, filed for bankruptcy in 1872 in Washington, D.C. when, after the Civil War, people lost interest in his work and he became unable to pay his business debts. Three years after he filed for bankruptcy the United Stated War Department agreed to purchase part of his photography collection for $25,000.00. He then reopened his gallery and was successful in attracting new clients for his work.

1875 Henry John Heinz, 1844-1919, condiment manufacturer, started his company in 1869 selling horseradish, pickles, sauerkraut and vinegar. In 1875 the company filed for bankruptcy due to an unexpected bumper harvest which the company could not keep up with and could not meet its payroll obligations. He immediately started a new company and introduced a new condiment, tomato ketchup to the market. This company was, and continues to be, very prosperous.

1884 Ulysses S. Grant 1822-1885 , 18th U.S. President; Civil War general whose face is pictured on the U.S. fifty dollar bill. Late in life, he got involved in a banking house which went bankrupt. The fallout from this left him so destitute that he had to hand over all his property, including his swords and trophies. Broke and dying of cancer, he spent the last of his days writing his memoirs, to provide an income for his widow. Mark Twain published the book, generously offering Grant 70% of the profits, and 300,000 copies were sold door to door. After Grant died, his widow received $350,000 in royalties.

1888 "Wizard of Oz" author L. Frank Baum ran a store into bankruptcy in Aberdeen, SD, before he turned to writing.

1894 Mark Twain, (Samuel Langhorne Clemens), 1835-1910, pre-eminent American author, lost most of his money investing in a worthless machine called the Paige Compositor, an automatic typesetting machine, rather than Alexander Graham Bell's telephone company, to the tune of $250,000. He filed for bankruptcy in 1894 and discharged all his debts, but was determined to repay the debts. He knew he could earn money by giving lectures to large audiences, so he traveled to Europe and spent the next four years lecturing in every major city. He used the proceeds from these lectures to repay all his debts. He also wrote several of his more famous books after filing bankruptcy including Pudd'nhead Wilson and Following the Equator.

Henry Ford, 1863-1947, automobile manufacturer, his first two automobile manufacturing companies failed. The first company filed for bankruptcy and the second ended because of a disagreement with his business partner. In June 1903, at the age of 40, he created a third company, the Ford Motor Company with a cash investment of $28,000.00. By July of 1903 the bank balance had dwindled to $223.65, but then Ford sold its first car, and as they say the rest is history.

Milton Snavely Hershey, 1857-1945, founder of Hershey's chocolate, started four candy companies that failed and filed bankruptcy before starting what is now Hershey's Foods Corporation. Mr. Hershey had only a 4th grade education, but was certain he could make a good product that the public would want to purchase. His fifth attempt was clearly successful.