It Happened Today in New York City

On March 1, 1932, cosmetics salesman Charles Revson founded the new company Revlon and revolutionized the makeup industry. Provoked by the Great Depression and his employer’s failure to promote him to a national distribution position, Revson went into business with chemist Charles Lachman (whose name provides the “L” in Revlon) and they produced one product: nail polish. Soon providing matching lipsticks, Revlon became an enormous staple in the world of cosmetics. By the time of Revson’s death in 1975, he had a personal worth of a billion dollars.

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