John Hays Hammond, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

John Hays Hammond

American businessman

Date of Birth: 31-Mar-1855

Place of Birth: San Francisco, California, United States

Date of Death: 08-Jun-1936

Profession: businessperson, engineer, diplomat, geologist, mining engineer

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Aries

John Hays Hammond (31 March 1855 – 8 June 1936) was a mining engineer, diplomat, and philanthropist.
Known as the man with the Midas touch, he amassed a sizable fortune before the age of 40.
An early advocate of deep mining, Hammond was given complete charge of Cecil Rhodes' mines in South Africa and made each undertaking a financial success.
He was a main force planning and executing the Jameson Raid in 1895.
It was a fiasco and Hammond, along with the other leaders of the Johannesburg Reform Committee, was arrested and sentenced to death.
The Reform Committee leaders were released after paying large fines, but like many of the leaders, Hammond escaped Africa for good.
He returned to the United States, became a close friend of President William Howard Taft, and was appointed a special ambassador.
At the same time, he continued to develop mines in Mexico and California and, in 1923, he made another fortune while drilling for oil with the Burnham Exploration Company.
His son, John Hays Hammond, Jr., patented over 400 inventions, and is widely regarded as the father of radio control.