It takes some doing to get your own holiday, at least in the United States. It helps if, for example, you were born of a virgin (Christmas Day is a federal holiday in the U.S.), were a notable president (viz, President’s Day), or were the public and martyred face of a century-long struggle for equal rights (Martin Luther King Jr. Day).

One of the richest men to ever live, and certainly one of the richest Americans to ever live, was John D. Rockefeller. He was born to an itinerant physician and snake-oil salesman, according to Britannica, but by his teens had found value in actual hard work instead of flimflam. Indeed, so important to Rockefeller was the day that he got his first real job that, decades later, he continued to celebrate it as his own personal holiday, even if it meant nothing to anyone else. Indeed, it was that first day on the job that planted the seeds that would eventually flower into his unimaginable wealth, and he was not going to let that day fade out of his memory.

Rockefeller celebrated 'Job Day'

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