On February 14, 1924, the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (C-T-R) was renamed International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) by its new Chief Executive, Thomas J. Watson, Sr., who had been hired away from National Cash Register. He rose quickly at CTR after the death or departure of key figures in the company. IBM manufactured devices such as commercial scales, industrial time recorders, food slicers and punch-card tabulators. Watson’s slogan "THINK" became a lodestar for the company, which focused on making huge, customized tabulators for businesses and much of the U.S. government. In the 1930s, IBM’s German subsidiary, known as Dehomag, provided valuable punch-card technology to the Third Reich (which was a major customer), assisting Hitler in conducting a census for ethnic identification and “cleansing.” Pictured: IBM supercomputer, Columbia University, 1954.
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