Henry J. Heinz (1844-1919) went bankrupt due to an overabundance of one very pungent herb, but he came roaring back with his "57 Varieties" of food products and eventually built his new company into a multi-billion dollar corporation.

Henry J. Heinz was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on October 11, 1844. As a child, he worked in the basement of his Pittsburgh home, helping his father grind spices for his mother's pickles. Everybody in town loved the pickles, and after they were canned, young Henry would take them around to buyers. He became particularly adept at grinding the horseradish, and his later fortune rose and fell with this powerful herb. To make a living, he worked in his father's brick-manufacturing firm, eventually becoming a partner in the business.

The call of pickles and other prepared foods was too great, and Heinz left brick making to return to grated horseradish, one of his...