What - me worry?

 

Somewhere in the pages of history there is, what may have seemed at the time, an insignificant event.  It was not.  In fact, it was a complete accident that it was entered into the history books at all.

The actual documented record of the event was discovered on a discarded piece of paper, on the floor of Eastman Kodak’s office.   A paperclip held two pieces together, the application and a photograph. It was the sun coming in the window that highlighted the paperclip, causing Betty, a member of the janitorial service, to pick it up, and instead of putting it into the waste basket, she set it on Mr. Kodak’s desk.

He was not in the habit of reviewing potential hires, but this particular picture caught his attention.  He scribbled a note on the back of it and sent it to his close friend who worked on an up-and-coming magazine.

Mr. Alfred E. Newman did not get the job he had applied for, but the magazine paid him for his picture.

The rest, as they say, is history.