New Delhi, April 10 -- John D Rockefeller was born in Richford, New York, in 1839 and moved with his family to Cleveland in 1853. He began in the produce commission business in 1859, entered oil refining in 1863, and co-founded Standard Oil in 1870, building it into the dominant force in the US oil industry and the first great American trust. Later, he turned increasingly toward philanthropy, helping establish or support institutions including the University of Chicago, the Rockefeller Institute, the General Education Board, and the Rockefeller Foundation.

He married Laura Spelman in 1864, and together they had five children, including John D Rockefeller Jr, who carried forward the family's philanthropic and business legacy.

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