George Samuel Clason was born in Louisiana, Missouri on November 7, 1874. He attended the University of Nebraska and served in the United States Army during the Spanish-American War. Beginning a long career in publishing, he founded the Clason Map Company of Denver, Colorado, and published the first road atlas of the United States and Canada. In 1926, he issued the first of a famous series of pamphlets on thrift and financial success, using parables set in ancient Babylon to make each of his points. These were distributed in large quantities by banks, insurance companies and employers and became familiar to millions, the most famous being "The Richest Man in Babylon." Today, these Babylonian parables have become a modern classic and are assembled in the book titled "The Richest Man in Babylon."