Book excerpt: Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 New Year’s is a day filled with new hope and fresh starts, except for those who are unfortunate enough to live during the New Year. For some people, January 1 was a dead end. #2 Timothy Pickering was an early American pest. He was so obnoxious that even his own biographer couldn’t stand him. But he was the first senator to be censured for telling the truth. #3 Ronald Wayne, the co-founder of Apple Computers, was a lucky man when he was set free from the company in 1977. He had been given a 10 percent stake to serve as Apple’s parent, but he felt that the risk was too great. Instead, he sold stamps and coins out of his mobile home in Nevada. #4 The War of Currents was a fight between Edison’s direct current system and Nikola Tesla’s alternating current system. It was a vicious campaign to discredit the rival system, and it culminated in the public execution of a convicted ax murderer named William Kemmler in 1890.