the economy. Historical examples Thales of Miletus (c. 6th century BC) According to Aristotle in The Politics (Book I Section 1259a), Thales of Miletus once cornered the market in olive-oil presses: Thales, so the story goes, because of his poverty was taunted with the uselessness of philosophy; but from his knowledge of astronomy he had observed while it was still winter that there was going to be a large crop of olives, so he raised a small sum of money and paid round deposits for the whole of the olive-presses in Miletus and Chios, which he hired at a low rent as nobody was running him up; and when the season arrived, there was a sudden demand for a number of presses at the same time, and by letting them out on what terms he liked he realized a large sum of money, so proving that it is easy for philosophers to be rich if they choose. 19th century: Classic examples by Edwin Lefèvre Journalist Edwin Lefèvre lists several examples of corners from the mid-19th century. He distinguishes corners as the result of manipulations from corners as the result of competitive buying. James Fisk, Jay Gould and the Black Friday (1869) The 1869 Black Friday financial panic in the United States was caused by the efforts of Jay Gould and James Fisk to corner the gold market on the New York Gold Exchange. When the government gold hit the market, the premium plummeted within minutes and many investors were ruined. Fisk and Gould escaped significant financial harm. Lefèvre thoughts on corners of the old days In chapter 19 of his book, Edwin Lefèvre tries to summarize the rationale for the corners of the 19th century. 20th century: The Northern Pacific Railway The corner of The Northern Pacific Railway on May 9, 1901, is a well documented case of competitive buying, resulting in a panic. The 2009 Annotated Edition of Reminiscences of a Stock Operator contains Lefèvre's original account in chapter 3 as well as modern annotations explaining the actual locations and personalities on the page margins. 1920s: The Stutz Motor Company Called "a forerunner of the Livermore and Cutten operations of a few years later" by historian Robert Sobel, the March 1920 corner of The Stutz Motor Company is an example of a manipulated corner ruining everyone involved, especially its originator Allan Ryan. 1950s: The onion market In the late