(1844–1922), U.S. industrialist, born near Dayton, Ohio; popularized the cash register, an 1879 invention by Dayton tavern owner James Ritty; worked as toll collector for Miami and Erie Canal and as coal salesman; bought newly invented cash registers to stop cheating by employees; bought Ritty's manufacturing firm and renamed it National Cash Register Company (now NCR); through innovation and aggressive marketing, made the registers commonplace; known for providing his employees with high quality working conditions and for his philanthropic work in Dayton.